By Pepper Fisher
PORT ANGELES – A broken watermain created a large sink hole and shut down the entire intersection at 5th and Lincoln Streets in Port Angeles Wednesday morning.
Director of Public Works Mike Healy gave us this update Wednesday afternoon.
“Well, we have a major break in a four inch line under the road that, quite frankly, has probably been going for a little while but, with the frost in the ground, it just hadn’t surfaced as yet. We declared an emergency, hired a contractor because…for the need for larger equipment and additional manpower beyond our capabilities. So, they’re making good headway today. Our current plan is that we would finish the work tonight and keep the intersection closed, and then pave in the morning. But with this rain coming in, we’ll have to see what Mother Nature does to play with our plan. But, as we speak right now, that is the plan.”
Healy says, if all goes well, they’ll have traffic moving through the area before the Thursday afternoon rush hour.
The water main break was reported at 8:20 a.m. on Wednesday. Remarkably, only about 10 Water Utility Customers have been impacted by the water main break, and all were quickly notified that a precautionary boil water notice is advised for customers impacted by the break until the water main can be disinfected and flushed.
