The Bellevue City Council on Monday awarded a contract for construction of “neighborhood identity” treatments at six locations in Newport Hills and Lake Heights.

Residents of the two neighborhoods have been working with city staff since the fall of 2007 to plan a series of coordinated entry treatments that celebrate those neighborhoods’ character and history. City Manager Steve Sarkozy called the treatments “a significant project for these great neighborhoods.”

Funding for the $100,000 project will come from a capital fund established by the council “to communicate Bellevue’s civic and neighborhood identity to citizens and visitors.”

The Newport Hills/Lake Heights effort began with formation of a steering committee of local residents and went on to include neighborhood tours, community meetings, neighborhood mailings and questionnaires. Both the Newport Hills Community Club and the Lake Heights Neighborhood Association played key roles in the process of defining projects and obtaining community feedback.

If the Newport Hills/Lake Heights identity project continues on schedule, construction could begin late this month on treatments at 119th Avenue Southeast near Southeast 48th Street, 119th Avenue Southeast near Southeast 45th Place, 116th Avenue Southeast at Southeast 48th Street, Southeast 60th Street near Lake Washington Boulevard, Southeast 60th Street near Coal Creek Parkway, and 123rd Avenue Southeast at Newcastle Way.

Site preparation and installation of signage should reach “substantial completion” by the end of July. Installation of landscaping would take place in fall in order to avoid planting during the hot and dry weeks of summer.