Port Angeles’ east-west Boulevard to be severed starting Monday for new bridge

PORT ANGELES — The aging Laurdisen Boulevard bridge over Peabody Creek may begin to come down as soon as next week after the bridge is closed Monday.

Jim Mahlum, the city’s civil engineer, said crews with Kent-based Scarsella Bros. Inc. will unveil detour signs along East Lauridsen Boulevard on Monday in preparation for the complete closure and replacement of the 43-year-old bridge that carries the boulevard over Peabody Creek.

East Lauridsen Boulevard is one of the city’s main arterial routes and provides direct access to Peninsula College.

Detours for vehicular and pedestrian traffic will go in effect beginning Monday.

The designated detour will direct vehicles traveling east on Lauridsen Boulevard north onto South Eunice Street then east again onto East Eighth Street and finally south to connect with Lauridsen via South Race Street.

Westbound vehicles will take the same route in reverse.

Mahlum said crews first will take steps this week to protect the creek from debris and other potential construction impacts before demolition work starts in earnest.

The demolition of the bridge could begin as soon as next week and take two weeks, Mahlum said, if crews have favorably dry weather for the entire time.

Weather also will play a role in the overall completion schedule of the $4.5 million project, Mahlum said, though the contract with Scarsella Bros. calls for the company to complete bridge replacement in 130 working days.

This puts an estimated date for completion of the project in late January or early February of next year, Mahlum added.

A federal grant will pay for 80 percent of the cost to replace the bridge, which has been deemed structurally deficient and functionally obsolete, while city funds will make up the remaining 20 percent.

The first week of work starting this Monday also will involve crews laying down temporary street-lane lines on South Race Street at its intersection with East Eighth Street, Mahlum said, to coincide with planned detours around the closed bridge.

Pedestrians are to take either the main detour or cross Peabody Creek to the south via South Race Street, East Park Avenue and South Peabody Street.

Residential streets branching off Lauridsen Boulevard between Eunice and Race streets will be for local access only.

Mahlum said the city has been in contact with property owners in the area that the detours could impact and will continue to be as the project progresses.

“We’ll have someone there on the ground on a daily basis if [surrounding property owners] need to contact anyone,” Mahlum said.

A temporary four-way stop will be installed at the intersection of Race Street/Mount Angeles Road with Park Avenue for the duration of the project.

The new bridge will feature a driving surface 18 feet wider than the existing one and include an eastbound center turn lane, two 12-foot-wide vehicle lanes and two 5-foot-wide bike lanes.

The traffic signal at the intersection of Race Street and Lauridsen Boulevard, just east of the bridge, also will be replaced as part of the project.

Mahlum said the traffic signal will be replaced toward the end of the project, and a temporary three-way stop will be put in its place while work is being completed.

For the city map of the detours, see www.cityofpa.us/LauridsenBlvdBridge.htm.

________

Reporter Jeremy Schwartz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jschwartz@peninsuladailynews.com.