For over a month, there have been traffic delays and single-lane closures on Magnolia Street and its intersection with North State Street for water main replacements, along with a gas leak disruption that occurred in early-May. Even with flaggers to help with traffic, navigating is complicated around the construction site and the single-lane opening is often crowded during morning and early-afternoon hours, according to nearby businesses.
The 2013 Water Main Replacement project and its construction began in the York Neighborhood in mid-April and has continued into mid-May, with roads of focus being Magnolia Street and its intersection with North State Street. The construction manager for the City of Bellingham, Paul Reed, said that the water main replacements should wrap up in its entirety sometime in July and in mid-June for the Magnolia Street portion. While he has had no major complaints about the traffic, Reed said that in most cases, traffic has been able to move through the site, as well as the Whatcom Transportation Authority buses. There is no completion date according to Faber Construction, the company repairing the water mains, and York is one of the three neighborhoods to be affected by the construction, including the Birchwood and Cordata neighborhoods.
“I travel through the construction area all the time because it’s near downtown,” said Felicia Watters, a student-resident of York, “The traffic hasn’t been horrible but it’s inconvenient. I didn’t know the construction was for water main replacements, which is good, but all of the construction is confusing when you’re driving.”
The road restrictions update on the City of Bellingham website stated that the construction in the area and intersection between North State Street and Magnolia Street will continue over the next few weeks, as well as moving up Magnolia Street towards Ellis Street for the water main repairs.
York residents like Watters are puzzled and inconvenienced by the traffic, as are other people and nearby business employees passing through, but the biggest traffic delay so far has been the natural gas leak that occurred on Tuesday, May 6.
An excavator that is meant to break up asphalt hit the gas line and caused the natural gas to leak around 2 p.m., according to the City of Bellingham. Emergency crews from the Bellingham Fire Department, City of Bellingham Public Works, and Cascade Natural Gas were on the scene shortly after the initial leak. The broken gas line needed immediate repair and the City of Bellingham sent out a notice that asked everyone to stay out of the area until the repairs were completed and expected the gas line to be fixed by 6 p.m. that evening.
However, repair of the line continued until 5 a.m. the next morning, says Hannah Underwood, a hairstylist at The Velvet Rope Hair Studio. The hair salon and a few other businesses were evacuated after the gas line broke, according by the City of Bellingham and businesses near the site of the gas leak.
“A construction worker came in and said we should leave now,” said Underwood, “He told us to come back in half-an-hour but it ended up taking all night.”
She said that other people had come out of their businesses and everyone was dispersed around the area. Underwood and her employees were under the impression that they needed to evacuate because of harmful fumes, but the emergency crews did not anticipate any hazard to the community, according to the City of Bellingham.
The Velvet Rope Hair Studio is on the corner nearest to where the gas leak occurred and Underwood said that the odor from the gas leak had an extremely strong smell. Many people near the leak were complaining about the smell, she said, and it was still noticeable when her and her co-workers went home. Underwood said that the hair salon was closed down for the rest of the workday, as were the other businesses near the gas leak, but that the Velvet Rope Hair Studio opened up accordingly the next morning.
Assistant Public Works Director, Eric Johnston, said that the city is not expecting any further difficulties from the gas line break, but the risk of damage to an underground facility during an underground utility project is always present.
In regards to the construction and traffic that can be seen right through the hair salon’s window, Underwood stated that navigating around the construction area is very confusing.
“So many people are trying to navigate and get through that street. There’s a lot of commotion during certain times of the day,” said Underwood, “In the morning or when I come to work around 11 or 12 a.m., there are a lot of cars and it becomes really confusing. I have no idea what to do or where to drive sometimes, even though there are flaggers.”
Underwood also mentioned that the area has been very crowded and noisy, and the crew has told employees that construction will continue for a while, as was affirmed by Reed.
The area has gathered much attention from the traffic and recent gas leak. There is no completion date on the construction but the City of Bellingham said that it will continue into the summer months.
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