New plan for Waaga Way could last through 2010

Published 8:14 am Saturday, April 26, 2008

By PAUL BALCERAK

Staff writer

More construction is on the horizon for Waaga Way.

Kitsap County commissioners approved a plan on Nov. 26 that will extend a road off the northernmost end of Waaga Way at Clear Creek Road to Old Frontier Road.

But before drivers start to worry, there is good news.

“The one good thing about this project is that it doesn’t affect traffic,” said Tina Nelson, senior program manager for Kitsap County Public Works.

The $13 million project’s utility is twofold; it will hopefully relieve traffic through Silverdale to Highway 303 and also create potential business growth, according to Central Kitsap Commissioner Josh Brown.

“This road will help spur development,” he said.

The area surrounding the expansion has already been zoned commercial.

Design plans on Kitsap County’s Web site show a 3/4 mile, four-lane highway that would include bicycle paths and sidewalks. A 14-foot median would split the highway in two and planters would separate the sidewalks from the main road.

The approval of the extension by the commissioners has been a long time coming. Talk of the plan originated nearly 10 years ago and various funding was progressively collected during the years.

The county added it to its Transportation Improvement Plan in 2000, after which work began on the roadway’s design and engineering logistics.

Rezones and rising construction costs have driven up the cost of the project in recent years and prompted the commissioners to act quickly to approve the project, Brown said.

“This is a project that we’ve been talking about for several years,” he said. “It’s been my priority since day one (on the job).”

The timeline for the project isn’t nailed down yet, but planners hope to start taking bids by early next year.

“We’re looking at a two-season construction,” Nelson said. “It may be as long as ’til 2010.”

The county is still in negotiations with a landowner on two properties near the proposed extension. If those negotiations stall into the early months of 2008, construction could be delayed into the late summer, Nelson said, and the county is prepared for such an event.

Brown is confident everything will go according to plan.