EVERETT — Broadway is going to get more congested over the next six months as work crews replace 1,400 feet of water main.
This is a smaller project than last year’s replacement of the Broadway Bridge, but it still likely will be disruptive to drivers.
This is also separate from the city’s ongoing “Sewer M” replacement and stormwater separation project in the city’s Northwest neighborhood. That project is in its second phase and is expected to be complete by May 2017.
The water main lies underneath the southbound lanes of Broadway between 35th Street and Pacific Avenue. There have been several main breaks in the past several years in the area.
The work begins Monday and is expected to be complete in the spring of 2017.
That time frame includes a contingency for bad weather, said Michael Kangas, the city’s project manager. Crews can’t repave or stripe the roadway in the rain.
“If everything goes according to plan, it could be done by mid-January,” Kangas said.
”We’ve given a cushion for it to be complete,” he said.
The 12-inch cast-iron pipe has ruptured twice in the past five years.
In addition, an adjoining segment of water main on 35th Street between Broadway and Lombard Street has broken three or four times in the same period, said Kathleen Baxter, a spokeswoman for the city’s Department of Public Works.
Those pipes were installed in 1956, she said. Each time they’ve broken, the flooding has damaged properties to the east and downhill of the break.
The shorter segment on 35th Street was replaced this summer, Baxter said.
The section on Broadway was put on the project list after it broke in July 2015.
“It was likely to continue to fail and damage private property,” Baxter said.
The entire project is estimated to cost about $750,000, the majority of that consisting of construction costs because the design work was done in-house, Baxter said. Lynden-based Faber Construction is the city’s contractor on the project.
The work is expected to start at 35th and move northward one block at a time. Broadway will not be entirely closed while the work is ongoing.
Instead, the southbound lanes in the work area will be closed between 6 a.m.-3 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, and traffic routed into the center turn lane. The west side of some intersections also will be closed periodically.
Drivers should expect delays and seek out alternate routes during work hours.
Water service is not expected to be disrupted until the new main is ready to be brought online and the flow is shifted over, Kangas said.
Chris Winters: 425-374-4165; cwinters@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @Chris_At_Herald.
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