New power poles will be popping up alongside Highway 20 south of Oak Harbor in the coming weeks.

Work crews will replace 80 poles alongside the highway from Scenic Heights Road to Sidney Street.

Motorists can see the new poles lying alongside the highway. The new 80-foot-tall poles are being installed farther away from the highway to make room for a road construction project.

Dorothy Bracken, spokesperson for Puget Sound Energy, said the poles are being moved back about 10-feet on average.

Workers are expected to finish moving the poles by Oct. 1. Bracken said telephone poles are worth moving as they last between 40 and 60 years.

During the project, residents shouldn’t experience any power outages.

“We’re able to redirect power as we put up poles,” Bracken said. She added that several trees will have to be trimmed and that PSE has notified property owners about the trees.

The pole replacement project provides space for a road project undertaken by the Washington State Department of Transportation.

The estimated $7.2 million project will pay for increasing the width of shoulder, the installation of a left turn lane for southbound traffic at the intersection at Sidney Road; a right turn lane will be added for southbound traffic at Boon Road, and the southbound left turn lane at Monroe Landing Road will be lengthened by 50 feet.

Sidewalks will be added in the region of Eagle Vista Avenue and Swantown Road instead of a wider road. A bus pullout will be added south of Haga Road.

Bracken said the Washington State Department of Transportation will pay for the pole moving.

Dave Chesson, spokesperson for the DOT, said there shouldn’t be any delays in regards to the pole replacements.

There have been a string of projects designed to make Highway 20 on Whidbey Island safer.

Work crews have finished several projects north of Oak Harbor. Those projects included the installation of passing lanes, aligning intersections and turn lanes. They are currently working on a project near Cornet Bay Road that includes lowering the road to improve sight distance and aligning the intersection of Highway 20 with Deception Circle and Ducken Road.

The project south of Oak Harbor is expected to go out for bid in October with construction expected to be from the spring of 2007 to the fall of 2007.