Drivers in Kent will need to detour around the West Meeker Street bridge over the Green River from 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 1 through 4 a.m. Monday, Aug. 11.
The city will close the bridge to traffic for minor deck repairs and resurfacing the road. Detour signs will be posted for vehicles and pedestrians. Drivers will be directed to use State Route 516.
Previous work completed last summer and fall included minor bridge repairs and repainting of the bridge. The goal of this project is to maintain this important bridge for increased use and longevity for decades to come, according to city Public Works staff.
The bridge is a major entry and exit point to the city’s core via Meeker Street with access to and from State Route 516 (aka Kent Des Moines Road) and Reith Road. The bridge is next to the large Ethos Apartments complex and the city-owned Riverbend Golf Complex.
City officials expected Longview-based Mericka Group LLC, the contractor for the $2.71 million project, to complete the work last year. Instead, the contractor took a couple of weeks longer than expected to paint the bridge and didn’t finish the repairs or resurface the road before the weather began to change in October.
“The painting preparation took the contractor longer than expected,” City Public Works Director Chad Bieren said in a Kent Reporter article last year about the delay. “The silver lining is that the steel bridge members and connections are in good shape.”
There will be no additional cost to the city because of the delay.
“The contractor caused the delay, and is therefore responsible for additional costs,” Bieren said.
There was no contingency fund in the contract for a potential delay, Bieren said.
The bridge, built in 1958, prior to 2024 was last painted in the 1990s, according to city documents.
Federal grants received by the city will cover most of the costs, according to city documents. One grant covered repainting the steel superstructure and the other one for rehabilitating the bridge deck.
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