An extension of Kinsman Road is under construction, with the pipeline planned for its right-of-way
The first pieces of the Willamette Water Supply Program (WWSP) pipeline have been laid in the Kinsman Road Extension project.
Created by the Tualatin Valley Water District (TVWD) and the City of Hillsboro, the WWSP is going to tap into the mid-Willamette River at Wilsonville to create additional water supply source for the TVWD and Hillsboro. Although the pipeline will run through Wilsonville, the City of Wilsonville won’t be paying for construction or using the water. The City is, however, partnering with WWSP and funding the $8.3 million Kinsman Road Extension. Negotiations with the WWDP about compensation for the use of the Wilsonville water treatment plant and for other inconveniences the City will undergo are ongoing.
Design for the WWSP started in January 2014 and has been in various phases of design with construction starting in 2016. Despite the City of Tualatin opting out in August and the City of Beaverton still deliberating if they want to be involved in the project, the first steps in the regional water system partnership to supply additional water to the area are underway.
Starting with its intake source at the Wilsonville water treatment plant in the mid-Willamette, the nearly 30-mile stretch of mostly 66-inch diameter water pipeline will have water storage tanks and water intake improvements to the existing water treatment plant.
The construction project began in July with work to extend Kinsman Road, combining existing infrastructure projects to help minimize congestion and reduce expenditures by not having multiple construction crews and management agencies, according to WWSP Media and Community Relations Coordinator Marlys Mock.
For the Kinsman project, a nearly half-mile extension of Kinsman Road, north of Barber Street to Boeckman Road, is set to improve north-south access, improve freight and residential mobility and add bike lanes, sidewalks and nature crossings.
While roadway infrastructure is being added, an upsized sanitary sewer pipe as well as a section of the WWSP water pipeline will be installed in the right-of-way. The estimated $8.3 million Kinsman project is being funded by the City of Wilsonville with partial federal aid assistance from the Federal Highway Administration, providing $3.6 through a combination of two federal grants.
“This cost includes design, property acquisition, permitting and construction for the roadway project,” Civil Engineer Zach Weigel said. “The project also includes upsizing and relocation of a sanitary sewer pipe at an additional total estimated cost of $1.4 million of which no federal grant money is included.”
One of the City’s WWSP project advisors, Mike Kohlhoff, said that the City is still in negotiations with the WWSP about compensation for the use of the water treatment plant and for other inconveniences the City will undergo. Kohlhoff said that they hope to reach an agreement by the end of the year but that there is no set timeline.
Whatever the negotiated figure comes out to be, according to Mock, the project is taking advantage of every cost-cutting measure available without sacrificing quality, including using Portland-based Northwest Pipe Company. By using the local company, the project is saving trucking costs while hauling the 66-inch pipes, benefitting the local economy.
Although the WWSP is priced in total at $1.2 billion, Wilsonville taxpayers shouldn’t be concerned about their taxes increasing.
“It’s not paid by taxes at all,” Mock said. “The project is funded by ratepayers in the TVWD and City of Hillsboro service district area and there’s going to be a bond spread out over time.”
Read original article in the Wilsonville Spokesman
