PORT TOWNSEND — Several downtown streets are going to be closed over the next two weeks, forcing traffic onto sidestreets.
But once the work is finished, overhead utility poles — part of the downtown streetscape for more than a century — will become history in the historical district as utility lines are buried out of sight.
Road closures officially began on July 30 with a brief blockade of Madison Street near City Hall, but city project manager Tom Miller said closures will be more noticeable in the coming days.
For example, Monroe Street between Water and Washington streets — which originally was scheduled to be closed for utility line burial Tuesday, is expected to be closed today.
“The closure of Monroe on Tuesday has been bumped back to [today], but we are still right on schedule to close the roads next week,” Miller said.
Sections of Water and Monroe streets will be closed then.
The schedule:
Water Street will remain closed between Monroe and Hudson streets until next Wednesday, Aug. 13.
During the construction, flaggers will reroute traffic along secondary roads.
