PORT ANGELES — The stretch of the Waterfront Trail running from Hollywood Beach east to Rayonier Inc.’s former mill site reopened last week after being closed for seven months during a city construction project.
That portion of trail had been closed to pedestrian and bike traffic since October while the city completed sewer and stormwater line excavation as part of the $16.7 million first phase of the city’s combined sewer overflow, or CSO, project, said James Burke, the city’s project manager for the CSO work.
The CSO project will increase sewer and stormwater capacity between downtown and the city’s wastewater-treatment plant near the Rayonier property.
The end of Ennis Street, at the south end of the Rayonier site, also was opened Thursday, Burke added.
The reopened section of trail, running about 1½ miles, winds through the Rayonier site, Burke said.
The deadline for reopening it was May 15, per a milestone included in the city’s contract with Ferndale-based IMCO Construction, which is completing the CSO work.
“They’ve just completed that milestone earlier than expected,” Burke said.
The May 15 date was set so the segment could be opened in time for runners signed up for the North Olympic Discovery Marathon, set for the first Sunday in June, to train on the Waterfront Trail, which hosts part of the marathon, Burke explained.
The Waterfront Trail is part of the cross-Peninsula Olympic Discovery Trail.
Shifting the trail
Once the marathon is done, Burke said, the stretch of the Waterfront Trail winding through the Rayonier property will be closed off.
The trail will be straightened, redirected over a concrete bridge being built over Ennis Creek as part of the CSO project.
Burke said the trail will be shifted “by the end of July, tentatively.”
Francis Street Park, closed since February due to other CSO work, is expected to be reopened by June 14, Burke said.
“Our true goal is to have [Francis Street Park] opened by the marathon, but that all depends on weather and construction activity,” Burke said.
Since the park has been closed, Burke said, IMCO crews have installed a 36-inch gravity sewer line from the park east to the city’s wastewater treatment plant.
A launching station for a pipeline inspection gauge, abbreviated “pig,” also was installed at the park, Burke said.
When the lengths of pipe are fully operational, the pig will be used to clean and inspect a roughly mile-long stretch of pipe that dips down in elevation between Francis Street Park and the treatment plant, city officials have said.
Burke said the pig launching station, built below ground level, will be invisible except for metal panels used by city public works staff to access the launching equipment.
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Reporter Jeremy Schwartz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jschwartz@peninsuladailynews.com.
