Thursday, Aug. 1 from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Eastsound Fire Hall

Progress to install radial curbs on Prune Alley in Eastsound were stymied at the last Eastsound Planning Review Committee (EPRC) meeting on July 11. The EPRC had been informed the day before, on July 10. that the county was not awarded government “Complete Street” funding for plans to improve the Prune Alley “Streetscape,” discussed at length at EPRC meetings and among affected property owners since last year.

“The funds were very competitive,” County Public Works engineer Shannon Wilbur said. The prospect of the funds and the County plans to chipseal Prune Alley in 2014 had spurred the EPRC to suggest collateral improvements such as curbs, sidewalks and gutters.

Klein summarized the streetscape project: “The goal now is to include radius curbs at intersections on Prune Alley when it is chip sealed in 2014.”

Progress on the Mt. Baker Road and trail reconstruction were also aired at the close of the meeting. Questions asked were submitted to the project manager, Colin Huntemer, whose responses on July 18 are reprinted below:

Schedule: The contract is for 90 working days beginning on Monday March 18, 2013. Working days are not charged for holidays or when critical path work was prevented due to weather, differing site conditions or significant changes to quantities of work. As of today the contractor must be physically complete by August 20, 2013 to avoid financial penalties.

Budget: This project is within budget. The annual road program for 2013 budgets $1.748m for the two County road projects, Mt Baker Rd Trail and Mt Baker Rd Improvements. Our projected construction costs are within the budget.

Compaction: We have not had any problems obtaining compaction for this project. We have a contract with a geotechnical testing consultant to perform regular compaction testing during the placement of aggregate.

Sidewalk: The original contract at bid award called for placement of a pervious cement concrete sidewalk along the south side of Mt Baker Road from North Beach Road to the entrance to Buck Park. It was later extended to the Crescent Beach preserve and thickened along the face of the embankment from 4 to 6 ½ inches.

Road Profile: During the course of construction we encountered significant drainage and utility conflicts near Madan Lane. To avoid expensive delays in relocating utilities, provide better conveyance in culverts and to elevate the road out of the adjacent wetlands we decided to raise the profile elevation of Mt Baker Road about one foot for about 200 feet either side of Madan Lane.

Colin Huntemer may be reached at  (360) 370-0514 or  colinh@sanjuanco.com

**If you are reading theOrcasonian for free, thank your fellow islanders. If you would like to support theOrcasonian CLICK HERE to set your modestly-priced, voluntary subscription. Otherwise, no worries; we’re happy to share with you.**