Tremont widening gets top priority

Monday night’s meeting of the Port Orchard City Council proved an important step in advancing the city’s Six-Year Transportation Improvement Project, a collection of 16 separate projects slated to be completed between 2006 and 2001.

Port Orchard Public Works Director Maher Abed addressed the council, answering questions about the plan, its funding and the priorities of the individual projects, developed with approval of the Washington State Department of Transportation.

“I feel optimistic,” Abed said about the plan Monday before the meeting. “The city has a lot of transportation needs — some of them we can meet and some we can’t right now.”

But Abed believes this plan is both comprehensive and realistic.

“There’s a lot of needs in the community, but we have to develop a plan that’s financially viable,” Abed said.

“We’re not going to be able to address every transportation need right now, but this plan helps us prioritize those needs and obtain the funding to go along with them.”

The first project, the widening of Tremont Street with sidewalks and stormwater, is set to being on March 15.

“We’ve selected an engineer,” Abed said.

Also, he reports the city is currently trying to set up a contract with Berger-Abam to design the project and address the right-of-way needs.

Going down the list in order of priority, the plan encompasses a Bay Street Pedestrian Path, a sidewalk on Pottery Avenue, a residential paving program, a sidewalk improvement project, downtown improvements, a Sidney Avenue overlay, widening Pottery Avenue, widening Melcher Street, widening Fireweed Road, widening Sherman Avenue, replacing Arnold Creek Crossing, installing a sidewalk on Port Orchard Boulevard, widening Old Clifton Road and two more phases of the Bethel Road widening.

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