PORT TOWNSEND — A house will be moved through Port Townsend today and is expected to cause minor traffic backups starting at 10 a.m.
It will be the second of three single-story houses to be moved to a Port Townsend neighborhood near 20th and 21st streets after it was brought to Port Townsend from Victoria on a barge Tuesday night.
Port Townsend Police Officer Troy Surber did not know why the houses were brought to town.
The three houses were anchored in Port Townsend Bay for a few hours until the tides were high enough to move them to dry land, he said.
One of the houses was moved through Port Townsend on Wednesday without major incidents, Surber said, although police directed traffic around the house for about an hour when it was stuck on Sheridan Street.
The second house is scheduled to start moving down Washington Street toward Kearney Street this morning. The route will be the same as Wednesday’s — down Kearney Street to Sims Way, where it will head toward the Safeway before heading up Haines Street to 12th Street.
Minor delays
The house will pass in front of the Haines Street Park and Ride, causing minor delays for buses leaving that station, he said.
There will also be slowing on Landis to 19th Street and 19th Street to 21st Street, according to Surber.
“They could be done really quickly if it all goes smoothly,” Surber said. “All the houses are under the wires, so we don’t have to worry about any of those kinds of issues.”
The final house is being stored near the Pourhouse near the intersection of Washington and Decatur streets, according to Surber. He said that house is scheduled to move Oct. 12 using the same route. A time hasn’t been decided yet.
“Anywhere between noon and 2 in the morning,” Surber said.
Surber said there have been two or three tentative dates for moving the houses, but everything came together Wednesday with good tides and good weather.
“We almost postponed it because of the weather last night,” Surber said. “Everything just worked, so we moved.”
The Port Townsend Police Department sent out an alert through Jefferson County Emergency Management to warn people of possible delays.
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Jefferson County Editor/Reporter Cydney McFarland can be reached at 360-385-2335, ext. 55052, or at cmcfarland@peninsuladailynews.com.
