The completion of the Newcastle Transit Center could be delayed for several more weeks as the Newcastle City Council debates over the color of its signs.

The $4.2 million Coal Creek Parkway project, mostly funded by Sound Transit, was scheduled to finish by early January but was held up when workers found unexpected utilities under the road.

Now center’s completion is being held back by politics.

“The whole project has become a little bit controversial, just more or less because of the signage and some of the design issues,” said Steve Roberge, interim public works director.

Two of the center’s three bus routes stop in Renton, the 240 and 114.

About a year ago the City of Newcastle began a rebranding campaign that replaced street and park signs with larger ones in a lime green, Roberge said.

However, three new council members are taking up community debate about the unusually large signs, said Rob Wyman, the interim city manager.

One transit center sign is 9 by 4 feet, he said. “There is a fair amount of people who really don’t like it.”

By time City Council decided to reconsider the branding effort, several of the transit center’s 10 signs had already been made. They’re being stored in the City Council Chambers for those curious or opinionated enough to check them out.

“People have been stopping by all last week to take a look at them,” Roberge said.

The council is scheduled to have a broader discussion of city signage at its regular meeting April 6, Wyman said.

Debate over signs is just one of many changes the new council has brought since January.

The city attorney position was cut, and the public works director resigned just before the city manager was fired, Wyman said.

“There is definitely a different feel for the council that wasn’t there before,” Roberge said.

The bulk of the transit center, located at the intersection of Coal Creek Parkway and Newcastle Way, is finished, with the exception of crosswalks and an irrigation box.

So far the project is under budget by about $400,000, Roberge said.

The bus stops are nicer than most storefronts, with wood paneling on a modern concrete design.

A wide sidewalk is lined with decorative stones and a line of sleek light posts.

The project better aligned the crooked intersection, which is good for traffic and visibility.

It was then paved with concrete instead of asphalt, which took longer but will need fewer repairs.

The original hope was to increase bus service to the area, but budget cuts to King County Metro and Sound Transit have stalled the effort, Roberge said.

“One of the issues that we know that is still there is that not being a true transit center we don’t have a parking area,” he said. “It’s not a traditional transit center.”