The money is there.

But if the public support isn’t, then the project won’t take flight.

“To make this project successful, we need your support,” said county engineer John Van Lund to a small gathering of Orcas residents who came to learn more about the Mt. Baker Road improvement project on April 14 at the Eastsound fire hall.

The workshop was part of the pre-design process, which also includes wetland studies, tree surveying, and a geotechnical study. By the end of 2010, the county plans to have finished right-of-way acquisition, environmental permit strategizing, mitigation planning, and permit applications. Design will be completed in 2011 and construction will be finished in 2012.

The road improvements aim to boost public safety and road quality from 600 feet west of North Beach Road to Terrill Beach Road. The road is a designated truck bypass route around Eastsound, and at 20 feet wide with no shoulders, it is unable to safely accommodate bicyclists and pedestrians. The roadway surface is deteriorating and the road base is failing. There are drainage issues in several spots, and while the posted speed limit is 25 and 35 mph, traffic speed has been recorded as high as 51 mph. There have been a number of car accidents, including one fatality, in past years.

At a previous community workshop in November, many expressed the need for a four-way stop at the intersection of North Beach Road. Tamara Nack of Gray and Osborne, the engineering consultant firm working with the county, said that based on a study of current wait times, the intersection meets county design requirements. She said putting in more stop signs or a pedestrian crosswalk when it is not warranted could land the county in legal trouble if a lawsuit is filed.

“I think it’s a disastrous mistake to put a four-way stop in,” said audience member Velma Doty. “It would be chaos. So I am glad it’s not warranted.”

The proposed Mount Baker Road improvements include: widening the road to 30 feet (two 11-foot lanes and four-foot shoulders), rebuilding the failed road base and adding drainage features, designing for a 35 mph speed limit, removing or relocating road hazards such as trees, fences, and culvert ends to at least 10 feet from the edge of the new lanes, and enhancing or replacing wetlands.

The public has expressed a desire for a pedestrian trail on the road, and while the county has been denied grant money three times in the past eight years, it hopes to secure funding by the time construction begins on the road in 2012. Another grant application will be submitted this year, and preliminary design will happen in conjunction with the road improvement project.

County engineers presented three design alternatives, all of which include widening the road to 30 feet. Alternative A is a rural road, Alternative B includes a five-foot pedestrian path, and Alternative C features a curb and gutter and five-foot sidewalk inside the UGA boundary with the rural road section and 5-foot path the rest of the way.

Rick Christmas, a homeowner on Mount Baker Road, voiced trepidation about stormwater drainage.

“Drainage is a huge issue here,” he said. “What is your plan for the catch basins?”

Project manager Dan Vekved said they were in the process of looking at how to treat run-off from the road.

“We’re evaluating that now,” he said. “We’re also looking at low impact development, like using the water for agricultural land, for example.”

Some in the audience were concerned about removing trees.

“Let’s get some accurate representation of what trees will be cut down,” said Bob Gamble. “Let’s keep some of the scenic roads we have, not make it wider, straighter, and flatter. Instead of cutting something down, let’s meander. Add some s-curves. That will slow people down.”

Nack said the road design does include adding some slight curves, but creating s-curves means more right-of-way acquisition and possibly impacting the 17 wetlands that have been tagged along the road. She said an arborist is still surveying the trees, and any that are healthy will be preserved with a guardrail. Those that are unhealthy will be removed. Vekved said that new trees will be replanted farther back on the right-of-way line.

Audience member Lisa Byers said she was also concerned about a wider road encouraging more speeding, and was “sad to see Alternative C even presented.”

“It’s not what we want to see on the edges of Eastsound,” she said.

The entire project will cost $2.75 million. State funds are supplying 90 percent of the money, and the county is paying for 10 percent. One of the requirements of the state money is to widen the road to 30 feet. Van Lund told the audience, “if you have heartburn with 30 feet, then we have to give the money back. And I’ll have to lay people off … that’s not blackmail, it’s just how it is. Lopez had the same problem with the Fisherman Bay Road project (in regards to trees), but at the end of the day, they bought into it. And now it’s a safe road.”

Other 30-foot roadways on Orcas include the main road past the intersection at Fowler’s Corner, on the way out of Eastsound.

Some in the audience felt that the new design would not impact the scenic quality of the road.

Cathy Ferran, whose son often rides his bike on Mt. Baker Road, expressed support for a pedestrian/bicycle path.

“It is appealing to me,” she said. “And I think many parents would agree.”