Plans continue to move forward with repairing one of the busiest and bumpiest routes in town along Fir Street.

Sequim city councilors unanimously agreed to a local agency agreement on Aug. 8 between the city and Washington State Department of Transportation to allow funding from the Federal Highway Administration for purchasing right-of-way along the street.

In the agreement, city staff estimate it will cost up to $200,000 for right-of-way from Sequim Avenue to Fifth Avenue along Fir with the Federal Highway Administration covering 86.5 percent of the costs at $173,000 and the city matching it at 13.5 percent or $27,000 from its Transportation Impact Fees.

City Engineer Matt Klontz said the city won’t actually be purchasing any right-of-way but rather using funds for temporary easements for construction and Sequim School District will dedicate a portion of Fir Street to the city.

Klontz said right-of-way is where the street is now and the school’s right-of-way line comes between Third Avenue and Sequim Avenue into the middle of the street requiring that area be dedicated to the city.

“This is a big step,” Klontz said. “Right-of-way is on a critical path to be ready for construction for late 2017.”

Klontz said no homes’ right-of-way will be purchased and driveways will be built into new sidewalks on the south side of the street.

Despite no immediate construction plans on school grounds, City Manager Charlie Bush said city staff continue to coordinate with Sequim School District staff.

“Fir Street is not getting any better,” Bush said. “We need to continue along or it’ll get worse. We’ll work Fir’s design into whatever they do into the future.”

Klontz said construction will leave utilities available in appropriate places if the school district does develop new construction.

Brian Lewis, Sequim School District’s director of business services, said they haven’t seen final drawings but the city has engaged with the schools through its design process.

One significant change, which Klontz said is in the high-level concept stage and about 30 percent done with design, will be shifting the east dugout by the tennis courts to the north.

Klontz said this will be needed to accommodate a potential westbound bike lane and a planter strip/buffer between the curb and sidewalk along Fir Street.

“It is my understanding that school also sees moving the dugout north as an opportunity to potentially place bleachers along the third base line where none exist today,” he said.

Lewis confirmed this and said features such as the sidewalk, fencing, plantings and structures tentatively will move north within 20 feet of the current road edge, too.

Construction for surface repairs of the Fir Street stretch are estimated at about $3.3 million, but that estimate does not include underground utility work, construction engineering and management, and more elements of the construction process, Klontz said

The City of Sequim’s streets are currently rated at a 70 in the Pavement Condition Index, where city staff assess the condition of roadways. Klontz said this portion of Fir Street is rated a 26.