PORT TOWNSEND — Jefferson County PUD will contract to have poplar trees removed on the boatyard side of Sims Way next month.
Motivating the project are concerns around reliability and resiliency of the power line running adjacent the trees, as well as safety. The line is the PUD’s direct transmission line to its substation on Kearney Street.
Contract bids for the removal of 65 trees were due Monday and the work is to be completed within the month of May, said Will O’Donnell, the PUD’s broadband and communications director.
Work could begin within a week or two, depending on contractor availability, O’Donnell said.
The PUD expects some community feedback during the very visible removal process, O’Donnell said.
“It’s been an emotionally fraught project,” O’Donnell said. “But it’s really a win, win, win for the community. We have more reliable power, we get to expand the boatyard. Longer term, I think the additional pedestrian path and the new landscaping will be an improvement to the corridor.”
The PUD said in a press release that no trees will be removed on the Kah Tai Lagoon side of the road.
“Because of the frequent contact between our transmission lines and the poplars over the last 10 years, the PUD regularly cuts off power to our overhead transmission lines along that section of Sims Way,” said Kevin Streett, the PUD’s general manager, in the release. “During storm seasons, and in the event of outages, it leaves us with one hand tied behind our back in terms of keeping power on in the City. Undergrounding the power solves a lot of problems for us and the City and Port.”
When the power is turned off along Sims Way, the PUD does have an alternate route and, typically, customers’ power should not be interrupted, but in cases when the power is interrupted on the alternate path and the power has been shut down to Sims Way, service can be interrupted, O’Donnell said.
“It’s like directing most of your traffic to the detour route,” he said. “Then if anything happens to your detour route, you don’t have a backup, and it takes longer to get everyone online.”
When the direct line is out and the alternate is out, crews have to go out and address the situation manually, O’Donnell said.
“It’s not ideal,” he said. “It hasn’t been ideal for a while.”
The project also addresses safety concerns.
“This project resolves the danger of a metal mast touching the high-voltage lines, and the danger of electrical arcing into those poplar trees,” said Eron Berg, the executive director of the Port of Port Townsend.
The tree removal is the start of the multi-step, multi-year, Sims Way gateway and boatyard expansion project, a collaboration between the city of Port Townsend, the port and the PUD.
The project, which is expected to cost $2.3 million, also will see funding from Jefferson County, which is funding $1.3 million through its public infrastructure fund, according to the release. The city, the port and the PUD will fund the remaining $1 million.
O’Donnell said the PUD estimates the removal will cost about $123,000.
“At the end of the project, there will be no overhead power lines anywhere in the boatyard,” Berg said.
Work could be completed by next spring, depending on contractor availability, O’Donnell said.
The Port of Port Townsend will be responsible for installing a walking path and new landscaping along the corridor where the poplar trees are currently located, O’Donnell said.
The removal of the poplars, the overhead lines and the transmission poles will allow the port to expand about 25 feet towards Sims Way, Berg said in the release. Those 25 feet will increase the boatyard by an acre, which will allow for larger boats to be worked on in the area, he added.
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Reporter Elijah Sussman can be reached by email at elijah.sussman@sequimgazette.com.
