PORT ANGELES — Tar-coated crosswalks and shoppers’ feet downtown Wednesday, frustrating business owners who had to deal with the sticky mess.
The tar came from the fog seal applied the night before to the parking strips along both sides of First Street in Port Angeles.
City public works staff didn’t know why the sealant, applied by a contractor, hadn’t solidified.
They suspect it might be a problem with the material, said Mike Puntenney, city engineer.
“It just didn’t” set, he said.
As a possible solution, city crews began rolling fine basalt into the sealant Wednesday evening.
“We’ll roll it in and hopefully, that will help take care of a lot of the excess in there,” Puntenney said.
That work may continue this morning.
The incomplete crosswalks between Laurel and Lincoln streets exacerbated the problem since pedestrians had few options for avoiding the tar.
Some placed cardboard on top of it to keep their shoes clean.
Others stepped unknowingly into it.
That’s what happened to the early morning customers at the Itty Bitty Buzz at 110 E. First St., said manager Laura Calabria.
“As soon as I opened, all the people parked and, as soon as they got out of their cars, they stepped on it and tracked it inside,” she said.
“No parking” signs weren’t put in place outside her store until about 8 a.m., Calabria said.
“The tar was still there and fresh,” she said.
Calabria placed cardboard down on the floor of the coffee shop until the contractor, Road Construction Northwest Inc., sent someone to clean the mess.
Across the street at Country Aire, black footprints still
looked fresh near the front door that afternoon.
Store manager Linda Warder said the carpet was steam-cleaned last weekend.
That will have to be done all over again, she said.
“The longer it stays there, the more it will get worked in,” Warder said.
For now, she said, “we’ll have to do the best we can with the rug we have.SDRq
Puntenney said an “organic oil product” will be used to clean the crosswalks and sidewalks.
The work on First Street will finish either next week or the week after, he said.
Crews have been working between Valley and Lincoln streets since February.
They started by installing a new stormwater pipe under the right lane.
That was followed by street paving and construction of new crosswalks, which is ongoing.
________
Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
