Two heavily-used bridges being replaced beginning this spring near downtown Bellingham
Bellingham will replace a pair of aging bridges over Whatcom Creek on the edge of downtown over the next 18 months.
Both the Meador Avenue and James Street bridges are part of an important truck and commuter route, said Eric Johnston, director of the Bellingham Public Works Department, in a Monday presentation to the City Council.
At least one of the two bridges will be open to traffic during construction, which is expected to start by February and finish in early summer 2025, Johnston said in a memo to the City Council.
“They are what we would classify as structurally deficient, which means they they’re not going to fall down, but they’re not really intended to be carrying the heavy loads that we see with modern trucks,” Johnston told council members.
“These two bridges are critical transportation corridors,” he said.
James Street north of Meador carried 6,900 cars daily in 2010, according to a traffic survey from the Whatcom Council of Governments. Meador west of James carried 3,900 cars a day.
Both bridges date to 1962, according to a project description at the city’s website.
The bridges were closed for several days during the torrential rain of November 2021, to inspect damage from raging water in Whatcom Creek.
State and federal grants will cover the project’s estimated $11 million cost, Johnston said.
Preliminary utility work closed the bridges for several weeks recently.
In-stream work can only be done during a limited “fish window” from July to September to ease the effect on salmon.
Under a planned construction timeline, the James Street will be replaced and a temporary bridge installed. Then the Meador bridge will be removed and replaced, said Mike Wilson, assistant director of the Public Works Engineering Division.
After that, a permanent bridge will be built on James Street.
“The bridges will be wider, as we overcome the structural deficiencies,” and have bike lanes and sidewalks on both sides of the street, Wilson said.
In addition, the project has 1,200 hours available for students in apprenticeship programs for work in the building trades.
