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Sedro‑Woolley reports progress, delays and change orders on street, roundabout, park and vehicle‑storage projects
Summary
Public works staff gave a multi‑project update: street improvements are substantially complete, the SR‑9 roundabout is under detour with paving and lighting still pending, Olmsted Park is roughly half finished with paving next, and the new vehicle‑storage building is nearly complete. Several projects have modest change orders and schedule risks.
City public‑works staff told the Sedro‑Woolley City Council that four major capital projects are in active construction and nearing key milestones.
“Right now, they're basically substantially complete,” Public Works reported for the 2025 street improvement program, which included State Street, Township Street, Bingham Place and a Warner Street block. Staff said most paving and striping are done; the remaining work is utility‑cover adjustments and cleanup. The overall contract price for the street program is running slightly under the engineer’s estimate and the city’s budget, with staff reporting a roughly 4–5 percent underrun across the full contract after reconciling underruns and overruns on individual segments.
SR‑9 roundabout: Work is under a detour and utility relocations are complete; crews were preparing subgrade and anticipated paving in late September with “temporary striping for a couple weeks” while the asphalt cures. Staff said installation of illumination (streetlights) has a longer lead time and some RRFB (rapid‑flashing beacon) components were delayed; the city plans to install two crosswalk RRFBs now and add the remaining fixtures later.
Olmsted Park: The park project is roughly 53 percent complete, with stormwater piping, pavilions and two large pavilions wired and plumbed; staff said parking‑lot paving is the next major task and the caretaker residence is nearing interior finish work. Park work has seen modest change orders (for PUD backflow assemblies, concrete finish and lumber grade upgrades); staff reported being within about 3–3.5 percent of the contract budget and expected paving in coming weeks.
Vehicle‑storage building: The new facility is about 95 percent complete and staff expect to occupy it in October. Photos and project walkthroughs shown to council highlighted framing, slab work and closeout items; the building has only minor final tasks remaining.
Change‑order and risk summary: Staff summarized several predictable change orders—WSDOT signage for the detour on SR‑9, stormwater adjustments, utility relocation costs that may be asked back to utilities, and a worst‑case traffic‑control overrun estimate of roughly $50,000–$80,000 on the roundabout. Public Works also identified a roughly $40,000 force‑account cost to remove unexpected old concrete in one segment. Overall, the department said it is monitoring risk and expects to manage most items within the previously authorized budget.
Council members asked about pedestrian safety near the roundabout and timing for substantial completion; staff said the roundabout should be open to all legs of traffic in October (substantial completion) and that activated push‑button crossings and temporary signals had aided safe school crossings during construction.
Ending: Council thanked crews and residents for patience; staff committed to returning with final cost reconciliations as projects reach final completion.
