The Bainbridge Island City Council unanimously approved a design contract to make improvements to Wing Point Way Wednesday that will include sidewalks and bicycle lanes.
The city’s design contract with HDR, an engineering consultant firm with headquarters in Omaha, Neb., totals $347,584. The project will ultimately add sidewalks to the street between Ferncliff Avenue to Park Avenue, as well as storm drainage improvements, curbing, gutters and bicycle lanes.
HDR, along with subconsultants Beck & Baird, will provide general project management and conceptual design development, as well as public information and outreach, environmental permitting, landscape architecture, and engineering plans.
And that’s not all.
“It also includes work by the consultant to help us with documentation preparation and negotiate for easements that will be required to construct the project,” Interim Public Works Director John Cunningham told the council Wednesday.
Consultants will also take a look at the city’s utilities while they’re working in the area.
“The consultant will do a quick water and sewer analysis for us, to help us determine if there is any work we need to do on those utilities in conjunction with this project,” Cunningham said.
The city has not budgeted for any utility projects in the area, however, so public works will have to return to the council should any projects arise.
The consultants will also hold stakeholder workshops with adjacent property owners, management of the Wing Point Golf Course management, Kitsap Transit and others. A community workshop to review the design options is also planned.
The consultants’ work on Wing Point Way is expected to begin in August, and will be completed by June 2015, according to a services agreement submitted by HDR Inc.
The council, however, is hoping that the work can be done sooner than later.
“I’m hoping that we can put in on the fast track,” said Councilwoman Debbi Lester. “We will be coming up to the time period for the next round of grants. Having this work done before then, we would be in a much better position.”
Cunningham said it was a good suggestion and he will look into speeding things up.
The city council began planning for the project in May when it set aside $57,477 from the general fund for Wing Point Way. The funding was aimed at garnering a matching grant that would pay for the bulk of the project. City officials were recently notified by the Puget Sound Regional Council that it had awarded $303,398 in federal grant funds to go toward the project.
The Wing Point Way project was one of 21 “ready to go” projects that would receive a portion of $24 million in federal funding from the Federal Highway Administration.
