By Ann McCreary
Drivers and pedestrians will have to negotiate construction on streets in the northeast part of Twisp, where a $1.2 million water and street upgrade project is expected to get underway next month.
Segments of six streets east of Twisp’s downtown area will be dug up to install new water lines. Pavement on those sections will be reconstructed after the water lines are installed, said Twisp Public Works Director Andrew Denham.
“It’s going to be a long project. There will be periods of time with road closures,” Denham said. The town expects to select a contractor for the project in early May and begin work soon after that, he said. A little over one-half mile of streets will be impacted.
Streets involved in the work include Second Avenue east of Glover Street, Methow Street, the lower part of Third Avenue, Twisp Avenue, Lincoln Street and North Glover Street. The project includes improvements to the intersection at Second Avenue and Lincoln Street, and new sidewalk construction on Second Avenue from Glover Street to the end of the street at the Methow River to provide a route for pedestrians to the central business district.
The project will replace aging water lines with larger pipes to improve fire flow in residential areas and will repave the streets after the water system work is completed.
Deciding factors for working on these street segments included low fire flow and aging water lines, Denham said. The water pipes “were way undersized” and pavement on those streets is deteriorating, he said. “We put together a project to take care of both of those problems.”
The town received $500,000 in grants and loans from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development program for the water line upgrade, and $771,000 from the state Transportation Improvement Board for the street work.
