SEQUIM — Work on the Woodcock Road/Sequim-Dungeness Way roundabout is expected to be completed today, weather permitting, according to Clallam County Roads Department staff.
Nick Dostie, project engineer and lead inspector, said crews tried to work throughout the winter but had to temporarily close a few times due to snowfall, heavy rain and flooding that caused delays and necessitated repairs.
Cold temperatures also prohibited crews from moving forward due to thresholds for placing asphalt, Dostie said.
“We hope everyone likes (the roundabout),” he said.
“We had an aggressive timeline and the contractor was excited and willing to do it. Even though there were some pitfalls, we’re very excited and hope everyone else will be too.”
Interwest Construction, Inc. of Burlington started the roundabout, unincorporated Clallam County’s first, on Nov. 8 last year. It’s about 160 feet in diameter.
Clallam County commissioners approved Interwest as the lowest bidder for up to $869,000 with funding all from federal and state grants. Dostie said the project will top that amount but less than county staff’s original estimate of about $1.06 million and the entirety of the grants.
The increases are partly due to the addition of landscaping in the middle of the roundabout, featuring “low maintenance, low-growing native plants people are used to seeing in the area,” Dostie said.
No county funds have been dedicated to the project thanks to the grant, he added.
Commissioners opted for county staff in 2019 to pursue the option over a traffic light due to cost and because the intersection had the second-highest traffic and second-highest traffic collision rate (10) for the county’s 500-mile road system from 2013-17 compared to Old Olympic Highway.
For more about the project, visit clallam.net/roads.
