PORT ANGELES — The city park at the north end of Francis Street reopened this week.
Francis Street Park had been closed since February because of work on a major city sewer project.
Crews with Ferndale-based IMCO Construction have substantially completed the work at Francis Street Park connected with 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 construction effort.
Part of first phase
“The work has been completed to the extent that the park can be reopened to the public,” Burke said.
The CSO project is meant to increase sewer and stormwater capacity between downtown Port Angeles and the city’s wastewater treatment plant about 2 miles to the east.
The park reopening Wednesday follows the reopening in May of the stretch of Waterfront Trail running from Hollywood Beach to Rayonier Inc.’s, former mill site in time for the Olympic Discovery Marathon this Saturday.
The work at the park included installing a launching station for a pipe inspection gauge, or “pig,” that will clean and inspect a roughly milelong length of pipe that dips down in elevation between the park and the treatment plant to the east, Burke said.
Minor work
Park visitors may see minor work being done at the park in the coming weeks, though Burke said none of it will close the park again.
“We’re going to leave the park open,” he said.
The pig-launching station has been built below ground level, Burke explained, and is invisible except for metal access panels used to maintain the launching equipment.
Reporter Jeremy Schwartz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jschwartz@peninsuladailynews.com.
