PORT ANGELES — Starting today, drivers will encounter a detour along Race Street at Lauridsen Boulevard just east of the new bridge construction as a crane platform used to install the new bridge’s concrete girders is removed.
Beginning this morning, northbound Race Street traffic will be detoured east onto Park Avenue, north onto Washington Street to Ninth Street, then west back to Race.
Traffic headed south on Race will be detoured east onto Ninth Street, south onto Washington Street, west onto Park Avenue, then south onto Mount Angeles Road/Race Street.
The detours will be in place, barring any unforeseen circumstances, through Sunday, according to the city.
Next steps
Construction crews with Kent-based Scarsella Bros. Inc. will remove a steel pad that held the crane used to install the new bridge’s concrete girders in December.
The next step in the $4.5 million bridge replacement project is to pour the concrete deck that will form the base of the bridge’s new driving surface, said Jim Mahlum, city public works project manager.
Mahlum expects crews will start that Friday, Feb. 14.
He expects no more than a daylong detour around Race Street/Lauridsen Boulevard.
Scarsella crews will then begin work building the wooden forms for the bridge’s sidewalks and barriers, Mahlum said.
Finish in March
Due to weather-related delays, Mahlum said crews expect to finish the bridge replacement project in early March.
A federal grant is funding 80 percent of the project, with the city paying the remaining 20 percent.
The new structure is replacing the 44-year-old bridge that was demolished in August.
The sidewalks of the new bridge, which will resemble the two Eighth Street bridges, also will be wider than those of the old.
A new street light at the intersection of Lauridsen Boulevard and Race Street, as well as improvements to the surface of the intersection, is also part of the bridge replacement project.
________
Reporter Jeremy Schwartz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jschwartz@peninsuladailynews.com.
