It’s been a landmark for 40 years, and its removal next week could impact you
A 40-foot-tall wooden overpass at Boulevard Park will be taken down next week, which will affect your access to the park and part of the South Bay Trail.
Crews will bring in a large crane to remove the structure, part of which arches over the railroad tracks on the north end of the park.
The work is part of a $3 million project at the waterfront park.
The city of Bellingham closed the walkway, also called a trestle bridge, in February 2016 because of rot and damage caused by carpenter ants.
It is beyond repair, Bellingham Parks officials have said.
The overpass was built in 1979 to give pedestrians who were on South State Street a way to cross over the train tracks on their way to Boulevard Park. At the time, there was no other such access.
The project’s schedule could change depending on weather and railroad safety needs.
For now, the expectation is that contractors will start setting up a crane in the area on Wednesday, Nov. 20.
That, in turn, will close Bayview Drive to vehicles and block the South Bay Trail in the area.
Bayview Drive empties into the park entrance and its main parking lot. People can still walk into Boulevard Park from Bayview.
People who live nearby will be able to access Bayview Drive and 10th Street but should expect delays, the city of Bellingham said in a release on Tuesday, Nov. 12.
Bayview Drive will be closed intermittently from Nov. 20 to Nov. 22.
Flaggers and signs will direct pedestrians and traffic around the area.
The South Bay Trail into Boulevard Park will be closed on Nov. 21 to allow the crane to safely remove the overpass, according to the release.
The closure of part of the trail will affect people who use it to walk or bicycle between Fairhaven and downtown Bellingham.
Next week’s work has prompted Gina Austin, the city’s Parks engineer, to advise people to avoid the lower part of the park, if possible, during that time.
If you want to see the crane in action, Austin said you can do so in the upper part of the park, just off South State Street.
There also will be places in the lower part of the park to see the crane at work, as long as you’re a pedestrian coming in from Bayview, according to Austin.
The work next week will be the last piece for this project, which included rerouting all of the park’s utilities — water, sewer, telecommunications and power — from the wooden overpass, where they were attached.
The new utilities were then buried in the ground from Bayview Drive to State Street, according to Parks officials.
“Removing the old wood structure over the railroad will require careful coordination. The city asks for everyone’s patience while contractors work with the railroad operators to remove this large structure,” said Leslie Bryson, Bellingham’s Park and Recreation director, in the release.
For project updates, go to the Bellingham Parks and Recreation Department’s Facebook page.
This story was originally published November 13, 2019 at 5:00 AM.
