PORT ANGELES – Demolition of the Tumwater Creek bridge, one of the two Eighth Street bridges being replaced, now is expected to begin no sooner than Aug. 20.
Demolition of the Valley Creek bridge is expected to begin no sooner than Sept. 17.
Two weeks notice will be given prior to either bridge closure.
The closures are expected to last 14 months during the $18.4 million project to replace the aging bridges.
Parson RCI Inc. of Sumner will remove the two timber trestles over Tumwater and Valley creeks and build two new five-span, pre-stressed concrete girder bridges.
Temporary traffic signals will be installed on the Tumwater Truck Route to reroute traffic to the east side of the existing bridge support in the middle of the road during demolition of the bridge and construction of the supports for the new bridge.
One traffic light will be located south of that area and one to the north.
City Traffic Engineer Jim Mahlum said the traffic signals will be set on automatic timers instead of the traffic-activated lights elsewhere in the city.
“We pre-set the times,” he said.
“Typically we give 30 seconds each direction.
“If you look at your watch. it’s really 30 seconds, even if it doesn’t seem like it.”
The new traffic signal being installed at Tumwater Street and Marine Drive will be traffic-activated and will be coordinated with the one at the Tumwater Truck Route and Marine Drive since they are so close together, Mahlum said.
The new traffic signal at U.S. Highway 101 and the Pine Street Extension will be “semi-activated,” Mahlum said.
The light for U.S. Highway 101 traffic will remain green until the video camera detects a vehicle approaching on Pine Street, then turn red for a pre-set amount of time, he said.
If there’s no traffic on the Pine Street Extension, then the light on U.S. Highway 101 will remain green, Mahlum said.
Installation of a new permanent stoplight at Eighth Street and Pine Street will be done when that bridge’s demolition is complete, he said.
The city has planned since 2003 to replace the twin narrow bridges that have towered over Valley and Tumwater creeks for more than 70 years.
The city has designated detour routes mapped out on the Eighth Street bridges section of the city’s Web site at www.cityofpa.us.
