Gig Harbor drivers: Sinkhole under busy road means more construction. Here’s the detour
A Gig Harbor road the city has been working to repair since early this year will be closed to westbound traffic for one week starting Friday due to a sinkhole under the roadway.
In an emergency road closure alert issued Thursday morning, the city announced Borgen Boulevard’s westbound lanes will be closed between Peacock Hill Avenue and Olympus Way until June 24. Eastbound traffic will still be able to get through.
Because the sinkhole is under the roadway, there’s no gaping hole in the earth, but it is causing the soil to be unstable. Gig Harbor’s contractor will be removing a significant portion of the westbound lanes to install a structural fabric and subgrade. Crews will then replace the asphalt roadway along with a curb and gutter.
Drivers will be diverted from the construction to an approximately three-and-a-half mile detour. A map issued by the city showed the route drivers will have to take. The city said nearby roadways will be for local access only.
The road’s westbound lanes were closed earlier this year for issues with the pavement on Borgen Boulevard. In April, the city said heavy rains from the previous six months left the soil in poor condition. Public Works Director Jeff Langhelm called it “a soupy mix of clay and silt.” The area had been patched multiple times, the city said, but that was no longer an option for repairs.
The lane closure followed the headache of construction downtown for a roundabout at Harborview and Stinson, which has since reopened to traffic in both directions, according to a news release from the city.
It’s unclear how much it will cost to repair the damage to Borgen Boulevard. In April, the city said a geotechnical firm would investigate how the damage occurred, and the cost of repairs wouldn’t be known until that was complete. A spokesperson for the city wasn’t immediately available to provide an update Thursday.
This story was originally published June 16, 2022 at 12:24 PM.
