MANETTE — The City of Bremerton is finalizing plans for the Lebo Boulevard Improvement Project, and is hoping for state approval Feb. 28.

“Right now, we are currently completing the corrections to the plans, and those plans probably, by tomorrow, will be submitted to the Washington State Transportation Improvement Board for review,” said Rick Zimburean.

Zimburean joined the project as the project manager at the end of January; he has been heading other projects for the city for about six years.

He said that hopefully the plans will get approved “within a week,” after which the project will go out to bid on the Builder Exchange of Washington.

He said the going out to bid is a three-week process, after which the team will present a proposal to the City Council for their approval of a bid.

“Once City Council approves the project and bid, then the award will be given,” Zimburean said. “Then we’ll have another public information meeting, sent to all the residents and homeowners in that area.”

In the meantime, Puget Sound Energy, CenturyLink and Comcast are working on relocating off Lebo Boulevard to make room for construction.

“PSE is currently working on their design to relocate the poles,” Zimburean said. “Once that’s approved, then probably mid-May they’ll start on relocating their power poles; that’s necessary for construction to start.”

If all goes smoothly, Zimburean said they plan to begin construction on the improvement project in early June.

“Our goal is to have all of the hard scape — paving, curbs, gutters and sidewalks — completed by no later than mid-October,” Zimburean said. “Smaller things like landscaping and signage could go into the winter or as early as next spring.”

However, Zimburean said that those dates are subject to change, depending on how long the approval process takes

“Once it goes out to bid, then that will firm up a lot of the dates,” he said.

Project overview

The City of Bremerton was awarded a Transportation Improvement Board grant to reconstruct and rehabilitate a 1.1-mile stretch of Lebo Boulevard from Lower Wheaton Way to Sheridan Road.

Funds were granted to cover new roadway surfacing, new sidewalks, lighting, pedestrian improvements and landscaping, as well as updates to the stormwater system and minor improvements to the water and sewer systems, according to the project website.

According to the website, the current design direction includes:

— Roadway cross sections developed for sections of road to maximize on street parking, see cross sections below.

— Standard 6-foot sidewalks and bike lanes on the inland side of the roadway.

— Combined use pathways on the water side of the roadway.

— New pedestrian luminaries and utility poles will be located at the back of walk.

— Regulatory speed information is proposed as MMA markings on the street at 750-foot intervals.

— No parking signs (as needed) will located at back of walk.

— Bulb outs for traffic calming have been included at the intersections. This provides a location to place stop signs and street name signs, as well as recreational/wayfinding information out of the shared use space.

Learn more about the project at www.bremertonwa.gov/973/Lebo-Boulevard-Road-Improvements.

Michelle Beahm is a reporter for Kitsap Daily News. She can be reached at mbeahm@soundpublishing.com.