The in basket: Michael Drouin asks the status of two bridge projects in Kitsap County, replacement of the washed-out bridge over Chico Creek on Chico Way and the Manette Bridge.
I also got the Chico Way question from a couple people at a Winter Club dance at Kitsap Golf and Country Club on Feb. 7. Club members and patrons coming from the south have had to go north on Highway 3 or one of a couple county roads and then double back since the bridge washed out. Their return trips home require the same kind of detour.
And Michael Schuyler wonders if the Manette job will adversely affect the Boat Shed Restaurant, just to the south of the bridge.
The out basket: Information on both projects is available on the respective Web sites of Kitsap County, which has the Chico Way project, and the state, owner of the Manette Bridge. The Web sites are www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/SR303/ManetteBridgeReplacement/ and www.kitsapgov.com/pw/roadwork.htm.
The county’s site says about the Chico Way work, “The collapsed bridge has been removed, all permits have been obtained, and the design is complete. Bids were opened for construction of the replacement bridge on Feb. 17. A recommendation to award a contract to Quigg Bros., Inc., from Aberdeen, will be before the county commissioners on March 23. Construction is anticipated to commence the week of March 30 and be complete in early September of this year.”
Probably as a measure of the current economic climate, there were 13 bids on the job and all but one was under the county’s estimate of $1.12 million. Quigg Brothers’ bid is $717,239.
There is a May 5 open house set for the Norm Dicks Government Center in Bremerton to discuss the Manette Bridge job, set to begin construction next year. “Project staff will be on hand to explain all aspects of the bridge replacement project,” the state’s site says. “Public input will be sought on opportunities for architectural embellishments on the new bridge.“
The state’s Web site includes a drawing showing the difference between the aging 29-foot-wide span and its 44-foot-wide replacement, the $83 million price tag on the replacement and a wealth of other information.
It doesn’t say that the new bridge is expected to be ready for traffic by December 2012, and the old bridge will be torn down in the first half of 2013, information I got from project engineer Bill Elliott.
And even though the new bridge will be built on the Boat Shed’s side of the old one, with just three feet separating the spans while the old one remains standing, the restaurant shouldn’t be affected – not negatively, anyway.
“While close,” Bill said, “the new bridge can be built without impacting the Boat Shed restaurant. They’ll certainly have a front row seat for watching the construction.”
