PORT ANGELES — A five-year effort to replace 19,000 feet of aging water pipes will begin next year on a small stretch of C Street.
Starting sometime in the spring, the city of Port Angeles plans to spend $1.5 million replacing 4,000 feet of the 50-year-old pipe between Lauridsen Boulevard and Glenwood Street.
The project is expected to take a couple months.
It will involve repaving the 0.2-mile section of C Street, referred to by city Engineer Mike Puntenney as one of the most in need of repairs improvements to its stormwater ditches, and the addition of bike lanes and other traffic-calming measures.
The pipe replacement is intended to avoid a large rupture, as seen on Park Avenue in 2004, when 3.8 million gallons of water were lost.
“When it ruptures, it goes big time,” Puntenney said.
C Street residents Bill and Lois Mair said the project will be the first time they have seen the road repaved since they moved there 20 years ago.
But it’s the narrowing of the road, with the addition of bike lanes, a three-way stop at the intersection of C and Glenwood streets that they are looking most forward to seeing.
The Mairs said too many people speed down the road, and they hope the new measures will help slow motorists.
“They go so fast, and with the kids and animals around, it’s not good,” Lois Mair said.
Over the next five years, the city plans to spend $6 million on replacing old water pipes, Puntenney said.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
