PORT TOWNSEND— The shoring up of the void spaces beneath downtown sidewalks is scheduled for next spring, but a patchwork solution will begin this week.
“We are planning to do the major work at a time that will least affect businesses,” said planning director Rick Sepler.
“But there are areas that we need to get to right away, because they could cave in if there was a seismic event or if a truck were to drive on the sidewalk.”
The city is hosting a charrette — a public brainstorming session — to discuss the project today from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Cotton Building, 607 Water St., at which time it will provide information about the plans so far and solicit public input about how they should proceed.
“We are taking things apart so we’d like to know what people want when we put them back together,” Sepler said.
“This will be in place for the next 100 years.”
The areas in need of immediate renovation are on Taylor St., the largest stretch being the access corridor into the Undertown.
Also included are portions of Water Street and Washington Street south of Taylor Street, and two short areas on Taylor Street close to the waterfront.
Sepler said the emergency repairs will not disrupt any businesses aside from the closing of the Undertown’s tunnel (the restaurant has another entrance on Tyler Street).
The full repairs, scheduled to begin in March, are expected to impact downtown businesses as the process will require digging up the sidewalk and replacing it after the repairs are made.
Sepler said the repairs will take a few weeks and will take place in March because it is the slowest month for many merchants and will cause the least loss of revenue.
The $2 million project funded by three grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency — or FEMA — will proceed in three phases.
Work will begin on Taylor Street, continue south on Water Street, then run north on Water Street for the final phase.
The order of the phases is governed by the grant process, since the grant to repair Taylor Street expires in 2012.
The project is scheduled for a 2013 completion.
Sepler said that several merchants have asked the city to defer filling the voids until economic conditions improved, but waiting is not an option.
“If we don’t fix it and it breaks, there will be a lot of unplanned labor costs and traffic disruption that we aren’t prepared for,” he said at the last public meeting about the project in June.
Several weeks ago the city determined that Taylor Street could not wait until next spring, so the temporary fix — which involves putting up braces at key weight points — needed to be done right away.
The Port Townsend Film Festival had several activities on Taylor Street over the weekend, but Sepler said festival personnel were warned to not drive any vehicles onto the sidewalk.
Trees and planters were also removed from the street when the emergency was discovered, he said.
Sepler said the city has already discussed the situation directly with building owners in the affected areas, although not all individual business owners have been contacted.
Lehani’s restaurant co-owner Lynn LeMaster said she is worried about the impact of the repairs on her business, since sales are down already.
“They tell us they want to hear what we say but I don’t think they are going to listen,” she said.
“They have already made up their minds about what they are going to do.”
More information about the project can be found at http://tinyurl.com/pdntunnels.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
