The Snoqualmie City Council unanimously approved an additional $275,250 for phase 2A of the Town Center Infrastructure and Improvements Project Monday, Feb. 23. Chelley Patterson and Heather Munden were absent.

Phase 2A focuses on inspection and construction. The council approved the construction contract with Gray and Osborne, Inc. for $496,291 on May 12. The monetary extension provides a supplemental agreement of $265,250 and a $10,000 management reserve. The contracting completion date was extended from May to December 1, 2015.

Dan Marcinko, Snoqualmie Parks and Public Works  director, and Kamal Mahmoud, project engineer, weighed in on the need for a budget upgrade and extension deadline.

“In an aged infrastructure with a downtown historic area,” Marcinko began, “you always run into aged utilities that we weren’t aware of.”

The unknown utilities were specifically storm sewers, installed in the ‘40s and ‘50s but not documented. Their discovery and subsequent replacement required additional funding.

“(The city) did not document them or put them on plans and maps, so we kind of discover (things like) that as we go,” he explained.

Mahmoud said the need for an extension comes from a typical problem in construction: Weather days.

“We’ve always said it’ll be (finished) around (the) end of May, give or take,” Mahmoud began. “I’m not sure I would call it an extension. The contractor gets weather days, so if it’s pouring rain and there’s a lot of activities that’s weather sensitive, then the contractor gets a day off…

“Right now… weather’s improving, so this is the time to get busy and get this project done.”

Phase 2 is well underway and spans across Railroad Avenue Southeast, between Southeast Northern Street and Southeast River Street. The contractors have finished with the underground utilities and are in the process of installing underground power lines, building curbs and gutters, laying out sidewalk, landscaping, adding in lighting and finally paving and striping the road. The crew is also adding in a boardwalk, a kiosk explaining the city’s history and preserving the “legacy trees.”

“We’re doing all the utility upgrades per our comprehensive master plan,” Marcinko said. “Our engineers provided that to us, we (update) that about once every five years. For those comp plans, we upgrade the utilities for future use, and then as part of that, we’re upgrading aged infrastructure.

“This is more of an efficiency measure with taxpayers’ dollars. We have aged infrastructure that we needed to upgrade, so through those upgrades and improvements with our comp plan, rather than go through and do separate projects, we’re doing it all in one.”

Marcinko cited grant opportunities as an extra incentive to move along with this project.

During downtown’s face-lift, constructions crews have dominated the roads and businesses and residents are less than thrilled. The city is working to mitigate the distraction by opening up additional parking, installing LED signs that direct visitors to said parking and holding monthly meetings with Railroad Avenue business owners.

“There’s a lot of frustration with the traffic patterns,” Marcinko explained, “which is common to large projects of this nature and a heavy pedestrian use.”

Marcinko detailed the city’s mindset as “(We wanted to) disrupt them once, get it in, make it look beautiful and then get out. This will open up some opportunities for the businesses for all kinds of farmer’s markets and different things they can do downtown.”

The Snoqualmie Town Center project started in 2007, after the federal Economic Development Administration awarded the city $1.4 million for infrastructure improvements. The state Department of Transportation matched EDA’s contribution, and combined with a city utility revenue bond and other city funds, the budget reached $3.2 million.

Phase 1 of the four-part series was completed in October 2010. It included utility upgrades, pedestrian improvements, landscaping and lighting.

Phase 2 was funded by the city, state pedestrian and traffic programs, the Federal Highway Administration, Department of Housing & Urban Development, and the state fuel tax.

Phase 2B will segue into River Road to Newton Street and King Street to Northern Street. Phase 3 will involve Northern Street up to Snoqualmie Parkway and Phase 4 spans from Newton Street to Meadowbrook Way Southeast.