Manette's main drag finally gets its new coat of pavement
MANETTE, Feb 02, 2013 (Menafn - Kitsap Sun - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --The lingering construction cones around East 11th Street are finally departing.
Construction crews laid down the final coat of pavement Friday on a long-delayed improvement project that widened sidewalks and replaced the road on Manette's main drag between Pitt Avenue and Shore Drive.
"Finally," remarked Kathy Davis-Hayfield, owner of the nearby Boat Shed restaurant, "We can get back to the business at hand."
Davis-Hayfield watched as crews poured the final pavement Friday while out on a walk. She said the while the work hurt businesses in the corridor, she was pleased with the result. She added that business owners will be filling planters along the sidewalks and will care for them.
"We're super supportive of each other," she said of the Manette business community.
A state Department of Ecology grant funded 250,000 worth of environmentally friendly improvements that help keep stormwater out of Puget Sound and improve the area. Work started in October and was slated to be done by December, but weather continually delayed the project.
Crews got a lucky break in the weather Friday, when it was dry and warm enough to pave. Pervious asphalt -- required on parking areas because it can soak up stormwater without it going into the sound -- was particularly pesky because it requires even warmer weather (40 degrees and rising) than the traditional stuff (35 degrees) before it can be laid down.
The sidewalks span from the end of East 11th near the Boat Shed all the way to Pitt and 11th, where Kate's Jersey Subs operates. Ross Holt, an employee there for three years, said that while business slowed during construction, the street "looks a little more inviting."
"I'm stoked that it's done," he said.
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