PORT TOWNSEND — The Water Street Enhancement Project team will check one more item off its to-do list this week as the first stage of street paving begins.
Interwest Construction will pave Water Street between Taylor and Polk streets on Thursday. Work will begin at 7 a.m. and continue until 6 p.m., with traffic reduced to one lane and travel delays of up to 15 minutes or more.
Sidewalks will be open, except for those on Tyler Street, which will be closed during the afternoon hours.
Laura Parsons, manager of the Water Street Enhancement Project, suggests drivers use Washington Street as an alternative route.
“Vehicles will be allowed on Water Street as there will be one lane open at all times,” Parsons advised. “But, there will be delays because of the heavy equipment moving around.
“Expect to see large 50-foot trucks funneled up Lawrence and then looped around to Water Street where they will drop their loads in a continual cycle.”
Parsons warned that, in addition to an unpleasant odor, there will be a vibration felt during the day-long process.
She said a message board will be installed at Kearney Street advising motorists to use Washington Street to access downtown businesses.
City Public Works Inspector Scott Studeman is pleased with the work and progress to date on the enhancement project.
“It’s been very fast-paced,” Studeman said. “This has been one of the most pushed, yet organized projects I’ve ever been around in my 45 years in the business.”
The project began on Jan. 2 and has experienced only one lost day due to snow. Workers are from Sequim and Port Angeles, with two crew members from Chimacum. The teams work four 10-hour shifts and use Fridays to catch up with unforeseen projects that need attention.
“The fact that everything is going in at the same time makes this project somewhat unique,” Studeman said. “We’re putting water in, putting in sewer repairs, sidewalks, doing joint utility trenching for PUD power and communications, putting in fire service lines, putting in all conduit for tree lighting and irrigation. Then there’s what we’ve taken out, too.”
Parsons said the public doesn’t see what’s going on in the trenches, but it looks like a different world down there to an engineer.
“The undergrounding project is a new approach to delivering power,” she said.
”The PUD decided to take the opportunity to do this since we were digging up the whole street. It will really help with the beautification of downtown, besides being practical. You don’t have to worry about wind knocking power lines down or cars running into poles.
Studeman said that the PUD “needs the room we’ve been using in order to do their job. They need to pull all their wiring through the conduit. It is quite a process.”
Parsons said by 2020 all the poles will be removed. In the meantime, the poles will continued to be used until the switch is made.
The crews did not discover any artifacts during the dig, but there were a few surprises.
“We found sewer services that were about ready to fail,” Studeman said.”We replaced all the old clay pipes with PVC, and all the old gas lines were removed.”
Parsons said workers discovered an old concrete highway under the asphalt on the east side of Water Street. They knew it was there, but didn’t realize it had rebar in it.
“It took extra time time and effort of an unexpected nature to deal with it,” she said.
Pedestrians will note the sidewalks are a bit bigger. Parsons said the parking spaces were a bit wide, so they were narrowed and that allowed more room.
The trees that were removed were causing problems, according to Studeman.
“The roots were growing into the foundations of buildings,” he said.
Replacement trees will begin being planted on May 14, and are species that are considered a little less aggressive.
“The maples on Water Street have been vetted by the City’s Street Tree Advisory Board,” Parsons said. They are Autumn Blaze maple trees, also known as Jeffer’s Red. Rain gardens will be installed to treat the stormwater before it goes out to Puget Sound.”
James Gambell, Interwest Construction’s superintendent of the project, is grateful to the residents and businesses that have had to deal with a lot of interruptions.
“This project has been very busy and challenging, but everyone has been so nice,” Gambell said. “The Belmont has provided the crew with lunch, twice. Ribs and lasagna.
“One traffic controller got roses. Howell’s provided sandwiches for the crew.
“Everyone has been very patient. We really appreciate it.”
Gambell said that the hardest part is about done.
”The rest should go fast. “
After the paving is done, the project will move west towards the ferry terminal.
And, to add to the congestion, the state Department of Transportation will begin grading work today, said city officials, starting at the ferry terminal in preparation for resurfacing state Highway 20 to Four Corners Road.
The six-mile project, which was awarded to Lakeside Industries Inc., will necessitate overnight single lane closures each Sunday through Thursday from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., according to the Transportation website.
Daytime delays also are planned for installation of 13 ADA-accessible sidewalk ramps.
Work is expected to be finished by the fall.
