PORT ANGELES — Crews are making “steady progress” on 10th Street reconstruction in west Port Angeles despite periods of rain, a city engineer said Wednesday.
“We see the light at the end of the tunnel,” added Jonathan Boehme, civil engineer and project manager.
“We are on track to be mostly completed by the middle of December.”
Lakeside Industries of Port Angeles and its subcontractors are rebuilding a 0.6-mile segment of West 10th Street between N and I streets under a $2.5 million contract with the city. Boehme said the project remains on budget.
City officials hope to have the work substantially completed by Dec. 21.
“The contractor, Lakeside, is working very hard to get this project completed as fast as they can,” Boehme said.
Final touches
After a winter break, crews will return when the weather improves — most likely in April — to add a final 2-inch layer of asphalt and paint the road markings, Boehme said.
Bicycle lanes will be added to both sides of the road and a sidewalk between N and I streets will be constructed to improve safety for pedestrians and students walking to and from Hamilton Elementary School.
The 10th Street project began in July with a targeted completion of late October.
An August strike by Local 302 of the International Union of Operating Engineers in Western Washington slowed the 10th Street project and several others on the North Olympic Peninsula.
“It affected a lot of subcontractors,” Boehme said.
The 17-day strike, which had a major impact in Seattle, ended Sept. 6.
Before the 10th Street project winds down, crews will grade the widened road west of M street, install a water main along M Street, pour concrete for portions of the sidewalk and replace concrete driveway entrances.
A 2-inch base layer of asphalt will be installed and temporary striping will be painted before the winter hiatus.
“It is very much weather dependent, this final stretch,” Boehme said.
The city received a $1.25 million state grant to help rebuild the crumbling section of 10th Street.
The city matched the grant with $504,999 in voter-approved Transportation Benefit District funding and $145,000 in real estate excise taxes. The rest of the expense will be covered by stormwater and water utility funds, according to city documents.
City voters in August 2017 approved a 0.2 percent sales tax increase to fund the Transportation Benefit District. West 10th Street was the first use of TBD funding.
The next TBD-funded projects will be chip seals for road preservation and a new asphalt surface for East Lauridsen Blvd. between Lincoln and Race streets, Boehme said.
For updates on the 10th Street project, go to the city’s website, www.cityofpa.us.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
A barricade marks part of the construction zone along West 10th Street at South M Street in Port Angeles on Wednesday. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
