Crewmen with Pacific Civil and Infrastructure, the contractor for the Carlsborg sewer project, dig out an 8-inch sub-main line along Carlsborg Road and Business Park Loop for the gravity-fed sewage collection system Tuesday. (Matthew Nash/Olympic Peninsula News Group)

Crewmen with Pacific Civil and Infrastructure, the contractor for the Carlsborg sewer project, dig out an 8-inch sub-main line along Carlsborg Road and Business Park Loop for the gravity-fed sewage collection system Tuesday. (Matthew Nash/Olympic Peninsula News Group)

Travelers can expect more detours over next few weeks on Carlsborg Road

The Carlsborg sewer project is entering its next phase, and is still set for April completion.

By Matthew Nash

Olympic Peninsula News Group

CARLSBORG — Clallam County officials say a few more weeks of major traffic impacts are ahead along Carlsborg Road as crews continue work on the Carlsborg sewer project.

Meggan Uecker, solid waste coordinator for the county, said starting today, Pacific Civil and Infrastructure’s crews will begin installing the force main for the project, the third phase of the project, from the Olympic Discovery Trail to Smithfield Drive.

Construction on this portion of the project will last about three weeks depending on weather, and travelers can expect more detours, she said.

Uecker said this phase likely will have the biggest impact for travelers along Carlsborg Road.

“We appreciate people’s patience, as many people live and work along here,” she said.

“We’re trying to avoid complete blockages, but a few times we’ve had to close portions of the road. We’re trying to make those as short as possible.”

Uecker said county staff and employees with the construction firm continue to go door to door to tell neighbors and businesses when they’ll be impacted most.

“We know it’s been trying, but we should be moving off Carlsborg Road and on to some of the side streets soon,” she said.

On U.S. Highway 101, the westbound right lane at milepost 262 will remain closed through the end of this month, too, Uecker said.

It initially was set to reopen Sept. 9, but a redesign of the project underneath the highway bridge over the Dungeness River required fabrication of new parts, she said.

“We’ve been working with the contractor to move it along as quickly as possible,” she said.

Overall, the $9.025 million project remains on schedule to be “substantially complete” by April 1, 2017, Uecker said. It will connect the Carlsborg pump station to the city of Sequim via the bridge to a collection system at Grant Road and then on to the city’s Water Reclamation Facility.

Uecker said the project’s first installation was the gravity line collection system, followed by placing lateral piping from the gravity mains along Carlsborg Road to property lines.

She said the third phase, the force main, pushes sewage toward the highway bridge over the Dungeness River and eventually to the city’s facility.

The fourth phase includes installing sub-mains and tapping onto other roads such as Business Park Loop and East Runnion Road.

Uecker said homeowners and businesses will be able to connect to the system tentatively by March 2017.

Going forward, no new septic tanks will be allowed in the Carlsborg Urban Growth Area, but homeowners and businesses aren’t required to connect if they have a functioning septic tank. However, new construction must connect to the system, and when a property changes ownership, it must connect within one year.

Uecker said side sewers will be required for those who connect, which they can coordinate with the county and its contractor or a separate contractor.

The county’s contractor set the price at $21.75 per foot of 4-inch sewer line and $2,200 to decommission a septic system.

A connection fee is required, which Uecker said is discounted through March to $500 per equivalent residential unit, or $1,500 approximately by March 2019, or $8,000 after then.

Clallam County commissioners haven’t adopted a user fee system yet for the project, but a financial plan for the sewer system has been developed and adopted.

Initial user fees would be a base rate of $26 and $8.66 per 100 cubic feet of monthly water consumption for residences and the same for commercial/government customers except rates would multiply by the number of residential units each user represents.

Uecker said the average monthly sewer bill for a residence would be about $70.

So far, about 20 properties have signed up to connect, she said.

Uecker recommends homeowners and business owners contact her at 360-417-2441 or muecker@co.clallam.wa.us prior to March to apply, with questions and/or to let her know of plans not to connect.

For more information on the project, visit www. clallam.net/PublicWorks/CarlsborgSewer.html.

________

Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him at mnash@sequimgazette.com.

Starting today, travelers can expect detours along Carlsborg Road from the Olympic Discovery Trail to Smithfield Drive as crews begin work on installing a force main for the Carlsborg sewer project. (Matthew Nash/Olympic Peninsula News Group)

Starting today, travelers can expect detours along Carlsborg Road from the Olympic Discovery Trail to Smithfield Drive as crews begin work on installing a force main for the Carlsborg sewer project. (Matthew Nash/Olympic Peninsula News Group)

Starting today, travelers can expect detours along Carlsborg Road from the Olympic Discovery Trail to Smithfield Drive as crews begin work on installing a force main for the Carlsborg sewer project. (Matthew Nash/Olympic Peninsula News Group)

Starting today, travelers can expect detours along Carlsborg Road from the Olympic Discovery Trail to Smithfield Drive as crews begin work on installing a force main for the Carlsborg sewer project. (Matthew Nash/Olympic Peninsula News Group)

More in News

Power restored after more than 6,300 lose electricity

A fault on a Bonneville Power Administration transmission line… Continue reading

Tim Morland, front, and Rich Lear of Tualatin, Ore.-based Field Turf USA add fill to the playing surface at the new Monroe Athletic Field on Tuesday at the site of the former Monroe School near Roosevelt Elementary School in Port Angeles. The synthetic turf field, which is expected to be completed by mid-autumn, is being developed by the Port Angeles School District and will be available for community athletic events. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
Monroe field prep

Tim Morland, front, and Rich Lear of Tualatin, Ore.-based Field Turf USA… Continue reading

Petitions developed by local citizens seek to keep the “new” Towne Road unpaved and open to hikers and walkers. (Michael Dashiell/Olympic Peninsula News Group)
Public comment sought about Sequim’s Towne Road future

Meeting for residents scheduled for Tuesday

Eran Kennedy.
Sound regional publisher stresses local connections

Partnerships offer lifeline despite struggling industry

A crew from Port Townsend Public Works watches as a backhoe removes water-logged timber from a sinkhole on Kearney Street outside the Food Co-op on Tuesday at the start of construction of a traffic circle at the intersection of state Highway 20/East Sims Way and Kearney Street in Port Townsend. Traffic heading eastbound toward Port Townsend will detour at Benedict Street and turn left on Washington Street to return to Highway 20/East Sims Way. Traffic going westbound away from Port Townsend will turn right at Kearney Street and left onto Jefferson Street to continue on Highway 20. The detour configuration will last about four weeks, according to the state Department of Transportation. (Steve Mullensky/for Peninsula Daily News)
Roundabout construction

A crew from Port Townsend Public Works watches as a backhoe removes… Continue reading

Members of the Bagley family of Forsyth, Ill., from left, parents Jessica and Cameron Bagley, and children Cody, 10, Addie, 12, and C.J., 7, look at an information kiosk on the Olympic National Park wildfires on Tuesday in front of the park visitor center in Port Angeles. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
Blazes spread in center of Olympic National Park

Large helicopters requested to keep fires at bay

Wreck shuts down US 101 south of Brinnon for five hours

A semitrailer driver accused of falling asleep at the wheel… Continue reading

Peninsula College sophomores Ian Coughran, left, and Ciera Skelly were two of seven students participating in the inaugural Pathway Summer School at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory this summer that focused on education and career development in STEM fields. Both Coughran and Skelly plan to pursue degrees in environmental science. (Paula Hunt/Peninsula Daily News)
Internship through college presents career pathways

Students part of inaugural class at Sequim laboratory

Most Read