POULSBO — Drivers attempting to make left turns at the intersection of Caldart Avenue and Lincoln Road will find the maneuver less challenging before summer begins.

Bids for a new traffic signal at that intersection went out today, and City Engineer Andrzej Kasiniak said he expects work on the $860,000 project to begin by mid-May.

In addition to the signal, a left turn lane will be installed on the westbound lane of Lincoln Road and a sidewalk will stretch from Caldart Avenue/Lincoln Road to Forest Rock Lane, Kasiniak said.

“This should in the long-term help us circulate traffic,” Mayor Kathryn Quade said. “It also should make it safer for people to get across Lincoln.”

Currently, crossing the intersection is hazardous at best for pedestrians, so the signal is a much-needed improvement, Quade said.

The necessity for the traffic improvements was spurred by the influx of new homes in the area, and, in particular, the nearby 101-unit Caldart Heights, Kasiniak said.

“That project couldn’t be built unless we had the signal in place within six years,” he said. “It was a level of service issue.”

Even though the city is picking up the majority of the tab for the project, it received a federal grant for $200,000 and a low impact development grant for $265,000 to offset costs, Kasiniak said.

“The reason we received the LID grant is because we’re installing (environmentally-friendly) pervious sidewalks from Caldart Avenue to Forest Rock Lane,” he said.

Despite beginning the project while school is still in session, Kasiniak said he doesn’t expect any major traffic issues resulting from the work.

“There is already a lot of conduit in place, so it’s a matter of installing the pole and controller,” he said.

As the $14.9 million State Route 305 project ramps up this summer, the new signal will give the city and state another way to control traffic flows and hopefully minimize delays, he said.