By MICHAEL WHITNEY
Published September 29, 2021

Bickford Avenue bridge awaits paving, may reopen Oct. 7


Michael Whitney photo
The bridge is exposed.

SNOHOMISH — Bickford Avenue will remain closed at the bridge over state Route 9 through Oct. 7.
State bridge inspectors found “no repairs needed” to the bridge’s wooden deck from making a full inspection Wednesday, Sept. 22, regional state Department of Transportation spokesman Bart Treece said. It is Transportation’s bridge structure.
The city was waiting for this all-clear before having it paved Oct. 6 on a preset schedule. The city built a gap into the schedule in case repairs were needed, city engineer Yosh Monzaki said last week.
The road is scheduled to reopen Thursday, Oct. 7 to allow a day for the fresh pavement to cool, Monzaki said. The city is scheduled to grind the pavement approaches at both ends of the bridge on Monday, Oct. 4 as part of the paving.
The entire project repaves from the roundabout at 15th Street to the end of the bridge.
A detour sends drivers up Lake Mount Drive and through the neighborhood to route drivers to 56th Street SE east of Highway 9.
The project was always going to take more than one week, Monzaki said.
Residents have expressed mixed feelings about the closure.
Resident Megan Kennett praised public works at last week’s City Council meeting It’s better that the bridge is getting a thorough inspection, she said, saying that the closure is an inconvenience to people only if they ignore the need for bridge safety.

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