This week the San Juan County Council approved the six-year Transportation Improvement Program for 2017-2022. Prepared by county engineer Colin Huntemer, the budget includes $9,430,000 in county road funds, as well as $4,963,000 in grant funds, for a working six-year total of $14,410,000.

The transportation improvement program includes funds for county roads work, gravel road conversion, improvements to marine facilities and improvements to county trails.

“I think every project on the TIP is something to be excited about depending on your audience,” Huntemer told the Sounder. “People who travel by ferry on Orcas may be interested to know about the new Park and Ride facility. People who visit Eastsound may be interested to hear about Prune Alley.”

The county road projects budget includes $370,000 for work on the Pear Point Road to Turn Point Road connector; and $710,000 to build the Orcas Village Park and Ride. The Park and Ride will create an 80-to-100-stall parking area for short and long-term parking, including expanded handicapped spots and provisions for charging electric vehicles. And the connector road is expected to relieve traffic flow along Warbass Avenue leading into the town of Friday Harbor, as well as provide access to proposed affordable housing on the property annexed by the town in 2009.

The Deer Harbor Bridge replacement project will receive $60,000; $620,000 is allocated for the West Beach Road culvert; and $85,000 is allocated for the Beaverton Valley Road culvert.

Improvements will be made on Orcas Road for $3,225,000; to Prune Alley for $2,570,000; to A. Street for $1,000,000; to San Juan Valley Road for $275,000; to Mackaye Harbor Road for $100,000; to Douglas Road for $2,060,000; to Bailer Hill Road for $10,000; to the Mitchell Bay Road intersection for $120,000; to the Lawson Road intersection for $390,000; to the Center Road intersection for $10,000; to the Crow Valley Road intersection for $50,000; and to the Dill Road intersection for $50,000. The plan includes converting these gravel roads to chipseal, which can be more economical for the county to maintain: Hoffman Cove Road, Broken Point Road, Kiehl Road, Prohaska Road, Halvorsen Road, Cormorant Bay Road, Channel Road, Lopez Sound Road and Coffelt Drive.

Marine projects include work on the following marine facilities: Orcas Landing for $50,000; Hunter Bay for $255,000; West Sound for $230,000; and Griffin Bay for $625,000. There is $180,000 allocated for county mooring buoys, as well, thanks to a 2015 amendment to the Revised Code of Washington 36.82.070 by the state legislature, which now allows “counties that consist entirely of islands” to use certain revenues deposited into a subaccount of the county road fund for marine facilities.

Some of our narrow, winding roads will soon be much safer. Projects to improve and complete existing county trail networks were allocated $465,000: $85,000 for Lopez Road trail; $170,000 for the Enchanted Forest Road trail; $170,000 for a Lover’s Lane trail; $20,000 for the Crescent Beach Road trail; and $20,000 for the Minnie Mae trail (part of a proposed American Camp Trail that could provide pedestrian access from the town of Friday Harbor). The pages of the TIP include the five-year accident history of each proposed trail/road segment — for Crescent Beach, it mentions one person “dead on arrival,” in addition to one to two injuries on Enchanted Forest.

Project updates are at www.sanjuanco.com/278/Current-Projects. The county department can be reached at pubwks@sanjuanco.com or 370-0500.