PORT ANGELES — Most of the parking spaces at The Gateway transit center will be open for use at 7 a.m. today, and after the six months of delays, the downtown project also has a final completion date — June 5.
Port Angeles City Manager Kent Myers said a dedication ceremony will occur but that a date has not been set for the ceremony or when the building at Lincoln and Front streets and Railroad Avenue will be fully open to the public.
“Hopefully, around June 5, we can get The Gateway open and available for the public,” he said.
The city of Port Angeles and Clallam Transit — which are partners in the $14.7 million project — agreed last week to open the parking no later than today.
Opening of the 169 parking spaces has been delayed because the two public entities haven’t resolved issues over which utilities the transit agency, the city and Heckman Motors, which is responsible for managing the parking, will cover.
“We’re trying to calculate the utility costs and factor that in” said Myers, referring to the parking agreement with Heckman Motors.
“We still don’t know exactly how the numbers would shake out.”
Clallam Transit General Manager Terry Weed said the responsibilities for utility payments aren’t clear in the city’s and transit agency’s interlocal agreement. That agreement will have to be renegotiated, he said.
Parking available
Parking at The Gateway includes 32 free three-hour spaces, 90 long-term spaces at $11 a day and 47 permitted spaces at $15 a month, Weed said.
Heckman Motors currently has a parking agreement with Clallam Transit for The Gateway, and the transit agency has the final say over when the parking spaces will be opened.
Weed said the transit agency had put off opening the parking spaces in the hopes of negotiating a new agreement with Heckman Motors.
After the two public entities agreed to open the parking spaces, another temporary parking agreement was made with Heckman Motors that applies only to the west parking garage. That agreement will be in place until a permanent agreement is negotiated.
The original parking agreement also included the east parking garage, underneath the pavilion, which remains off limits until structural repair to the building’s eastern foundation wall is completed.
Repair by June 5
The city expects Primo Construction of Carlsborg to have repair completed by June 5, which will allow the entire facility to open.
Myers said Primo will begin the work, expected to take 10 working days, on Tuesday.
The city gave the go-ahead for Primo to begin the repair, which will cost about $22,000, last Tuesday.
“We are definitely getting close to the end of the project, and we are real excited about the completion,” Myers said.
“We know everyone is anxious for it to be built.”
The completion of the $14.7 million downtown project, expected last November, had been on hold while cracks in a concrete foundation wall, which radiated from underneath a horizontal support beam, were analyzed and repair approved.
Construction for the project began in June 2007.
Berger/Abam Engineers Inc. of Seattle determined in January that the cracks were caused by additional stress placed in the wall when the support beam was “post-tensioned,” with which high-strength steel tendons are tensioned with jacks to provide additional strength.
The additional stress occurred because the southeast corner of the wall connects with the southern and eastern walls at a 45-degree angle rather than a 90-degree angle.
As part of a change order, the 45-degree angle was chosen to avoid affecting utilities for the street lights at Front and Lincoln streets, according to city Public Works and Utilities Director Glenn Cutler.
‘Mat’ of concrete
City Engineer Steve Sperr said the repair consists of adding a 7-foot-long “mat” of concrete with rebar where the cracks occurred.
“This will make it at least as strong as the original design intended it to be,” he said.
The new concrete will extend 1 foot from the wall, Sperr said.
Bright Engineering Inc. of Seattle proposed the repair, which was approved by the city April 24.
The city was awaiting additional information from Bright.
Sperr said the city received that information in the middle of last week and then began negotiating a price.
The Gateway also includes a bus lane, which opened April 13, public restrooms, which remain closed because they are accessed through the pavilion, an office for the downtown police officer and clock tower.
It is funded with $8.1 million in state and federal grants, $6.1 million in city funds and $500,000 from Clallam Transit.
As of April 30, there was $84,665 left in the budget for the project.
The project has a total of 169 parking spaces.
________
Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
