James Street bridge replacement and road improvement plans

Neighbors living in the Lettered Streets and all Bellingham residents may experience heavy traffic and detours starting at the end of June through December due to the James Street Bridge Replacement and Road Improvements Project.

The James Street Bridge Project is going out for bid May 7, and the results will be announced on May 29. If the bid goes through, the estimated cost of the Street Bridge Project is calculated to cost $3.5 million.

This project will replace three culverts as part of a bridge maintenance report that was filed in 2006.

According to the Squalicum Corridor Upcoming Projects document, the bridge and road project will include replacing the old James Street Bridge with a new bridge, full curbs, gutters, sidewalk and bike lanes. Further road improvements will include a continuous left-turn lane, streetlights and trees near Sunset Pond Park up north to Orchard Street.

James Street will be closed off for six months, and a detour plan has been constructed. 

“The traffic is going to be very inconvenient, but I think long-term in my mind that it would be cool to have more recreational use land back there,” Andrew Good, Lettered Streets Neighborhood Association Mayor’s Neighborhood Advisory Commission representative, said.

According to the document, James Street will be closed between Sunset Pond and East Orchard Drive. Hannegan Road will be a detour route.

Businesses are set to remain open during construction.

In talking with local businesses located on the detour route, Spencer Holdridge, sales associate at Builders Alliance said, “Wow, I didn’t know about this, but yeah, this time of year is kind of when we’re so busy and we’re doing huge lumber packages all over town and Whatcom County like non- stop, so I’m sure it will slow down orders, but it will ultimately affect how much we’re paying the driver because they get paid by the house.”

Craig Muller, James Street Bridge Replacement Project Manager talked about traffic congestion problems that would evolve from this project as well.

“The last traffic count on James Street by the city counted 11,400 vehicles per day, so it will be a definite inconvenience to a lot of people,” Muller said.  

Muller also explained that there are no logical ways to avoid closing the bridge completely during construction and still get the project done because there would be an increase in wetland impacts, a raise in the cost for mitigations and the cost of traffic control.

“You would be looking at an additional cost of 60 percent to keep it open and another three-four months of construction,” said Muller. 

This James Street Bridge Replacement Project is one of the four plans, which are apart of the Squalicum Corridor Projects by the City of Bellingham.

These projects include the Bay to Baker Trail, Orchard Drive Multimodal Arterial Extension, James Street projects and the Squalicum Creek Re-route in regards to environmental problems.

Muller said that these projects all go through the Squalicum Corridor, which is a wet land common flood plain by Sunset Pond.

The next project planned is the Squalicum Creek Re-route.

Currently, only 25 percent of the floodwater stays in Squalicum Creek, while the rest overtops James Street, and goes around and under Interstate 5 to the intersection of Birchwood and Squalicum Parkway.

According to the document, both phases of the Squalicum Creek Re-route will comprise of re-routing large sections of Squalicum Creek around two man-made ponds, through a new channel to reactivate remnant chemicals and reconnect the stream with its floodplain. Phase one and two of the Squalicum Creek Re-route construction are said to begin July 2015.