OPAL house will move from Main Street to Oberon on Thursday morning.
From OPAL Community Land Trust
UPDATE: The scheduled time for the house move has been changed to 11 a.m. on Thursday April 11.
On Thursday, April 11 between about 9 a.m. and noon, Nickel Bros. House Movers will transport a one-story house from Main Street next to Washington Federal Savings bank to the Oberon Meadow neighborhood on North Beach Road in Eastsound. The building has been donated to OPAL Community Land Trust.
“This should be an easy move,” states Jeanne Beck, OPAL’s project manager. “The greatest opportunity for impact on traffic will be at about 9 a.m. when the house will move onto the county road to begin the journey to its new location. Traffic could be blocked for anyone coming to or from Eastsound, so I’d like to encourage people to plan ahead. Turning onto Main Street could be a problem, so drivers should consider using the route that would use North Beach and Enchanted Forest Roads and Lover’s Lane.”
The house is 24 feet wide and may cause temporary traffic slow downs. It will travel a route beginning on Main Street, taking the right turn to Lover’s Lane, which becomes Mt. Baker Road. Main Street could be blocked for as much as 30 minutes, from 9 a.m. to 9:30. Lover’s Lane, Mt. Baker, and North Beach Roads will be partially blocked for approximately 1-1/2 hours after that, up until 11:00. Each road will be blocked to vehicle traffic in both directions. If there are cars waiting to pass on the route, Nickel Bros. will stop in places where it is possible to let people go around. Please remember these travel times are approximate.
“We are hoping to get the word out to as many as possible that this move will happen next Thursday morning,” states Lisa Byers, OPAL executive director. “People who are planning to take the 12:20 ferry or coming to Eastsound may want to consider alternate routes, if possible. Once the house is on Lover’s Lane and Mt. Baker Road, cars will be able to detour around the house,” she notes.
The residence will be renovated to provide another permanently affordable home for the island community. OPAL is delighted to receive another donated house that can be recycled to be permanently affordable housing for an island family.
