Stormwater drainage project in full swing at Simpson Ave and Ontario Street

Work at intersection expected to take two weeks

March 7, 2018 1:30 am
DAN HAMMOCK | THE DAILY WORLD Gravel is dumped into a trench carved into Ontario Street just north of the Simpson Avenue intersection. Crews were laying a bed for the larger stormwater drainage pipes that are hoped to alleviate chronic flooding at the intersection.
DAN HAMMOCK | THE DAILY WORLD Gravel is dumped into a trench carved into Ontario Street just north of the Simpson Avenue intersection. Crews were laying a bed for the larger stormwater drainage pipes that are hoped to alleviate chronic flooding at the intersection.

Construction to improve storm drainage and water pipes along Simpson Avenue is still progressing on schedule, with one recent wrinkle forcing the City of Hoquiam to make some decisions regarding some of the sidewalks along the route.

“We recently learned that the state Department of Transportation is delaying the paving project until next year, which is forcing us to make a decision on how to address some of the sidewalks that were cut or removed by our current project,” said Hoquiam City Administrator Brian Shay.

The work being done by the city was supposed to be coordinated with the state paving project, which would have included sidewalk improvements. The year delay means the city will have to deal with them until next summer when the paving project is expected to move forward.

An updated construction schedule was supplied by Shay late Wednesday.

March 9: East lane of Ontario Street closed.

March 12: One-lane traffic on Sumner at Ontario for paving. East lane on Ontario closed for paving. One lane traffic on Simpson at Ontario for saw cutting.

March 13-30: Barricades will be re-installed at the east end of the Simpson Avenue Bridge to direct all traffic down Port Dock Road. Road closed signs will be installed on Simpson past the first McDonalds entrance. Simpson will be closed from McDonalds down to the 27th Street intersection until about March 30. Once the Simpson and Ontario intersection and down past Dominoes is paved, road closed signs will be moved from the McDonalds entrance to east of the Dominos Pizza. Once that is done, the barricades on the east end of the Simpson Avenue bridge can be removed again, and detour left and detour right signs will be placed at the Ontario intersection.

As with any project of this magnitude, there will more than likely be changes made as the project moves foward. Get updates at bshay@cityofhoquiam.com.