The County Council opened sealed bids on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2008, for the Fisherman Bay Road Improvement Project on Lopez Island. There were seven bids, including six from mainland contractors. With a bid of $1,836,806, the apparent low bidder, Island Excavating, Inc. of Orcas Island was three percent under the County Engineer’s Estimate.

The second low bidder was Grade, Inc., Woodinville, at $1,936,571.10 and the third low bidder was Interwest Construction, Inc., Burlington, at $1,989.965.

County Engineer John VanLund was pleased with the quality of the bids. “It is an indication that contractors are anxious to get work now,” he said.

VanLund also noted that the bulk of the project’s cost will be covered by state and federal funds: $756,000 of the cost will come from federal sources, $750,000 from the State of Washington, and the balance from the County Road Fund. Design engineering was done by the Public Works Department Engineering Staff with support from a number of local consultants.

Tuesday, the County Council passed a resolution forwarding the bids to Public Works for further review and recommendation to the County Administrator for implementation.

The 1.75-mile project begins at the intersection with Hummel Lake Road near the library at the south end and extends to the intersection of Military Road at the north end. It is anticipated that some construction work will begin late this year with minimal impact to traffic. Major work will begin in spring 2009 and continue through the summer. A detour route will be posted and local access will be permitted during construction. Speed limit in the construction zone will be posted at 20 miles per hour.