This bridge repair will mean delays in downtown Bellingham for about nine months
Drivers heading to and from the northeast end of downtown Bellingham will face detours for up to nine months as a bridge over Whatcom Creek is replaced.
Construction starts Monday, April 19, on a $3.2 million project to replace the State Street bridge, one of two bridges that cross the creek next to a Puget Sound Energy substation near State and Ellis streets.
That 80-year-old bridge with timber pilings is deteriorating, according to a page describing the project at the city’s website.
“Traffic impacts will be significant as State Street is a main route to access downtown,” the city said.
Some 17,000 drivers use that route daily, according to 2017 data from the Whatcom Council on Governments.
Cost of the project is being funded with a federal grant for bridge replacement, the city said at its website.
The State Street bridge is planned to close on Monday.
Detour signs will route drivers along Cornwall Avenue and Ohio and York streets.
Local traffic will be allowed to reach businesses on State Street south of Ohio Street.
Traffic on the nearby bridge on Ellis Street won’t be affected, except for the last two weeks of April as various utility lines are rerouted, the city said.
This story was originally published April 19, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
