SEQUIM — City leaders are working to extend water and sewer service east to serve Sequim Marine Research Operations for the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the proposed Wayne Enterprises resort near John Wayne Marina.

The completed project, which ultimately would widen West Sequim Bay Road from East Washington Street to Whitefeather Way ending at U.S. Highway 101, is estimated to cost $37.9 million.

It also would widen the roads and add either traffic lights or roundabouts and highway interchanges.

City leaders are hoping to apply for grants and other state and federal dollars as well as charge developer impact fees to finance the infrastructure and road improvements.

City Public Works Director Paul Haines said the city needs to find funding sources to secure “economic vitality” for the lab.

The city is in the process of annexing land to include the lab site on the shores of West Sequim Bay in its utility service area.

“We are going to collect impact fees as the city grows, and those are going to go toward this,” Haines told the City Council on Monday.

Facility expansion

An increase in research and development contracts has required the Sequim Marine Research Operation, which is on a 104-acre site on the shores of West Sequim Bay, to expand facilities for additional jobs.

The first phase of the project, at an estimated cost of $3 million, would bring water and sewer service to the research lab also known as Battelle, which is now on an artesian well and has a septic system that has reached capacity.

The lab is a leader in the development of alternate energy, and Sequim City Council members have cited as one of its goals to make Sequim a center for the development of alternative energy.

Because the expansion proposal is pressing the lab’s infrastructure needs, the lab must have the initial water and sewer system improvements by 2012.

About 3.5 miles of West Sequim Bay Road and Whitefeather Way would serve as the connector roads to the lab site and the proposed 166-acre Wayne Enterprises resort near John Wayne Marina.

West Sequim Bay Road runs from downtown, connecting at East Washington Street and Whitefeather Way, and carries traffic from Highway 101 east of Sequim toward the marina.

Future uses

The project improvements also would benefit future residential and retail users, city officials said.

The Wayne project proposes 472 residential units, 16,000 square feet of office space and 31,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and resort service space.

West Sequim Bay Road’s two lanes would be widened to a three-lane boulevard-style arterial with landscaped medians, bicycle lanes and sidewalks with landscaped roadsides, stormwater and bus stops, as proposed.

City leaders also discussed the need to complete the interchange at Simdars Road and Highway 101 at the east entrance to Sequim’s Washington Street leading to downtown.

That would allow an off-ramp on eastbound Highway 101 at Simdars Road, which now only has an eastbound on-ramp to the highway.

Roundabout

Haines also recommended a roundabout at the intersection of East Washington Street and West Sequim Bay Road, with a stoplight at West Sequim Bay and Rhodefer roads.

An improved interchange for traffic at Highway 101 and Whitefeather Way is also proposed to the state Department of Transportation.

“My big concern is, where are we going to get the money?” said council member Ted Miller, adding that he worried the Sequim Marine Research Operations would not be contributing enough.

“We want taxpayers to understand the benefit,” Miller said.

The councilman voiced concern that the project would “come to a screeching halt because taxpayers revolt . . .

“We want to ensure taxpayers that there will not be a tax increase.”

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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.