The City of Renton may condemn some property on Rainier Avenue so it can proceed with a multimillion-dollar project to make the highway safer and more efficient.

This is the second phase of a roughly $42 million project stretching from Grady Way to Second Avenue South that already has replaced three railroad overpasses with wider ones to accommodate the Rainier Avenue improvements.

This second phase will cost about $24 million, including about $5 million for right of way acquisition.

Of the $5 million, about $3.1 million will go toward buying the land. The other roughly $2 million will pay for other expenses, such as appraisals, title searches, negotiations and attorney work.

The City Council was briefed on the condemnation process Monday evening before it went into an executive session to discuss purchasing strips of land that are needed for project right of way, permanent easements or for use during construction.

Condemnation is a strict process that requires public notification and letters to all affected property owners – about 185. The ordinance detailing the process is being published in the Renton Reporter as a legal notice today and again next Friday.

The City Council is expected to adopt the ordinance on May 2. The council’s Transportation Committee reviewed the ordinance Thursday.

The Rainier project will affect 48 properties along Rainier Avenue. Eleven of those properties have what’s called a “substantial agreement” with the city.

“We haven’t had anybody say they are against the project,” Rich Perteet, the city’s deputy public works administrator, told the council.

The project’s environmental review is nearly done; experts must still determine whether there are any Native American habitats on the route. Perteet said because of the location away from Lake Washington, the investigators aren’t expected to find any artifacts.

The project design work is almost done, too.

There are five properties that Gregg Zimmerman, the city’s public works administrator, described in an interview Tuesday as “problematic” because the city isn’t making “much progress” in negotiations. However, the next day he said at least one of the owners is talking with the city.

Because of ongoing negotiations, city officials can’t disclose which properties are involved, as allowed under state law.

For the rest of the properties, the city is in various stages of negotiations with the owners for outright purchase of the land or for a possession and use agreement. In some cases the city may still need to take legal action to settle on a price to use of the land.

Condemnation is rarely used, usually when strips of land are needed for transportation projects. However, the City Hall property on Grady Way was condemned years ago so that the City of Renton could acquire it and the building.

The city must show condemnation is being done for the public good.

Property acquisition is holding up when the city can advertise for construction bids. In the best-case scenario, the city could seek bids starting in late May, a four-week process. Construction could begin in August.

Already the bidding process is five or six weeks behind the original timeline.

More likely, the city will advertise for bids in September, with construction beginning in last November. However, the city probably would opt not to start construction then because of bad weather and it’s also the beginning of the Christmas shopping season.

“We are trying to do this project in a way that accommodates the businesses,” Zimmerman said.

Rainier will remain open during construction, with driveways to all businesses he said.

The project will add a new northbound and southbound business access transit lane for buses. Sound Transit is contributing about $15 million for the work. Money is also coming from King County, the state and federal govenments.

To improve safety, left-hand turns will be eliminated, except at intersections, which will have U-turn options at a signal. There will be wide sidewalks, set back from the street, with new landscaping and street lighting.

Work is expected to take 18 to 24 months.