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City explains Eighth Street bridge sealing after multi‑day closures; residents criticize traffic impacts
Summary
Public works director described the material and schedule for sealing work on two Eighth Street bridges and asked for patience while crews accelerated hours to shorten the closure; residents and council members criticized concurrent closures on nearby state projects that compounded traffic backups.
Port Angeles — The Public Works Department defended its choice of timing and material for a multi‑day sealing operation that closed two Eighth Street bridges starting the week of July 1, saying the product requires daylight application and warm temperatures and that accelerating contractor hours aimed to reduce total closure time.
Public Works Director Scott Curtin said the bridge‑sealing product is a liquid material that must be poured, covered and allowed to cure under warm, direct sunlight. For construction speed and cost, the city contracted a single continuous closure rather than phased night work; Curtin said that method reduces total project duration and contract cost but acknowledged the closures have created traffic bottlenecks when the state Department of Transportation was also operating alternating lane closures on nearby Highway 101.
“We chose this method based on being…what we felt was meeting the need at the lowest cost with the quickest turnaround,” Curtin said. He said the contractor extended evening work and staff were hopeful the product would be done by Friday evening. City staff said they had coordinated with state and county agencies but that they cannot direct state contractor operations.
Residents and council members called for clearer advance notice and questioned whether alternative schedules (night work, more phasing) would have reduced disruption. A resident asked whether other recently built bridges in the area should require similar sealing, and Curtin said crews prioritize structures based on condition and life‑cycle goals.
What’s next: City staff will continue to monitor contractor progress and share updates; Director Curtin said the work intended to extend service life of critical bridge structures and that tradeoffs between cost, duration and community disruption were considered in the contracting decision.
