PORT TOWNSEND — An early morning landslide across Water Street in Port Townsend blocked traffic for a few hours Monday, but crews quickly cleared the roadway and there was little damage to infrastructure.
The slide occurred on a section of Water Street between the Bayview restaurant and the ferry terminal, Port Townsend Public Works Director Steve King said.
The slide blocked the southbound lane of Water Street, which is also a portion of state Highway 20, but both lanes of traffic were closed while crews were working.
The state Department of Transportation reported the slide just before 2 a.m. Monday, noting traffic to the nearby ferry terminal would likely be detoured. King said he first became aware of the slide at about 6:30 a.m.
Upon initial assessment, King said the only damage appeared to be a utility pole that was dislodged but not knocked over.
“It didn’t take it out, but the power pole is leaning pretty good,” King said.
King said a follow-up assessment of the site would be done later in the day.
The utility pole is owned by Jefferson County Public Utility District No. 1. Crews inspected the pole Monday and found it to be stable, although guidewires that kept the pole upright were broken, said Will O’Donnell, spokesperson for the utility.
Crews are set to make further repairs today, O’Donnell said. The utility hopes it will not require service interruptions.
“If so, we’ll try to minimize (outages) as much as possible,” O’Donnell said.
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Reporter Peter Segall can be reached at peter.segall@peninsuladailynews.com.
A landslide blocks the road at Water Street in downtown Port Townsend on Monday. (City of Port Townsend)
