The city of Oak Harbor took a step forward with plans to ease congestion and beautify the section of Highway 20 in the south end of town.

The Island County Regional Transportation Planning Organization awarded the city a $1 million grant this week to help fund a project to add lanes, three landscaped roundabouts and medians in the stretch of the highway between Beeksma Drive and Swantown Road.

The city is chipping in the required 13 percent match. In all, it’s enough money to fund engineering and environmental permitting for the project. Earlier this year, City Development Director Steve Powers estimated that the total cost, including construction, at $10.5 million.

“This is the first piece of the funding puzzle,” City Engineer Eric Johnston said in a press release. “It’s a big step in the right direction.”

The Island County RTPO had $1.76 million in federal transportation funds to divvy out for the 2006-2007 funding cycle. The organization provides funding for “regionally significant” transportation projects throughout the county.

The City Council chose to submit a grant request for the highway project instead of the municipal pier project because members felt the road project had a greater chance of winning funding. Apparently they were right.

Yet plans are complicated by the fact that the state Department of Transportation is responsible for highway improvements, but the state has limited dollars to spend on non-safety-related projects.

City staff has been working with — and urging along — DOT staff for years. Last year, the city and DOT completed a corridor study on the section of highway. The council unanimously approved the study, as well as a $300,000 contract for pre-design work.

According to a city press release, a central part of the highway improvement project is the creation of three landscaped roundabouts. “They will occupy space at the Beeksma Drive interchange, at Erie Street and at Swantown, where a roundabout will serve as a manicured welcome mat to the city,” the release states.

Traffic engineers at the state DOT tend to love roundabouts, which are intersections with one-way circulation around a center island, eliminating the need for a traffic signal. Studies have shown that they are safer, keeping traffic flowing more efficiently and are much less expensive than intersections with conventional traffic signals.

But roundabouts are different and new, which means they tend to be controversial until drivers get used to them.

Johnston said the city will likely hire a consultant for the design work later this summer. In the meantime, Oak Harbor officials will be looking for even more money to complete the rest of the project.

According to the city, the state transportation department will be working closely with the city to hunt for additional funds. City and DOT officials need to persuade elected officials in Olympia and Washington, D.C. that more dollars should flow to this vital stretch of highway that moves local traffic, tourists and freight at an existing volume of about 24,000 vehicles per day.

“This is a long-term project,” noted Johnston. “This is going to take several years before we get to the point where we’re ready to build.”

You can reach Jessie Stensland at jstensland@whidbeynewstimes.com or 675-6611.