Carpenter Road, a key link between Pacific Avenue and Martin Way that has been closed to most traffic since April, now is expected to reopen next week after this month’s snow and ice storm brought paving and striping plans to a halt.
The road was originally expected to reopen Wednesday.
Lacey design and construction manager Dale Mix hedged Tuesday, saying the next round of paving and temporary road striping will go forward as long as Mother Nature cooperates.
Striping can’t be done in the rain, he said.
The plan is to begin paving Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Monday, followed by two more days of road striping, he said.
“What we need to have is paving from curb to curb and striping for passenger traffic,” Mix said. “If I can get all of that done before the rains come, we’ll open the road.”
As for the weather, Mix said there is a “nice-looking window” to complete the work, with Friday and Saturday expected to be sunny.
Work to widen Carpenter Road to increase its traffic capacity began last spring and is expected to be complete this spring. The $7.5 million project, which includes water and sewer modifications, has been in the planning stages for years and finally broke ground in April. The overall project still is on target to be complete this April, Mix said.
Before it was closed, the one-mile stretch of Carpenter had about 17,000 vehicle trips every day, city Transportation Manager Martin Hoppe said. The city expects that by 2030, it will accommodate 32,000 trips daily, he said.
Next week’s road striping – if it goes forward – will open up the road for two-way traffic, traveling at 25 mph with the occasional traffic stop as crews continue to work, Mix said.
Some business operators have noticed a decline in business as a result of the road closure, while others have taken it in stride.
Kirk’s CHS Homecare on Martin Way near Carpenter Road, which supplies medical products and pharmacy services to the long-term health care industry, has been inconvenienced, but it hasn’t been a huge detriment to the business, regional manager Jim Rodgers said.
One of those inconveniences has been limited access to clients, such as Roolan Healthcare Center, a nursing home on Carpenter Road, southeast of Pacific Avenue, he said.
Roolan administrator and owner Craig LeVee, too, called the closure an inconvenience. He added that Carpenter Road was a “road that desperately needed to be redone.”
Rolf Boone: 360-754-5403
rboone@theolympian.com
www.theolympian.com/bizblog
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