Callow construction starts Monday

Bremerton will once again be doing construction on Callow Avenue starting Monday, June 10.

This time it’s to lay a mile of pipe for the Callow Basin combined sewer overflow reduction effort, which the city has a mandate has to complete by 2007.

The Callow Avenue construction will begin Monday on the block between Burwell and Sixth streets. The project will move up the street in blocks until it’s done in about two months, according to Lynn Price, project manager at Public Works and Utilities.

Most of the construction will be done from 9 p.m.-6 a.m. to minimize impacts to the businesses and houses, said Tom Knuckey, managing engineer for public works.

“We’ve really carefully considered the negative impacts and tried to find a method that would reduce (those impacts),” Knuckey said.

For the construction to occur at night, the department had to apply for a variance to Bremerton’s noise ordinance, which Dri Ralph, environmental planner for the city’s planning department, granted.

In return for the grant, public works agreed to relocate several Callow residents to hotels. They are also prohibited from doing excessively loud construction, such as jack hammering, between 10 p.m.-7 a.m.

Dick Maurice, owner of the El Camino restaurant and Callow Pawn and Jewelry, said the night construction will help minimize the impact on his businesses.

“The work has to be done,” said Maurice. “We just have to do the best we can and hope we don’t get hurt too bad by it.”

Carlos Montgomery, a former member of the Bremerton City Council who lives in the area affected by the construction, said he is not concerned about the noise.

“It (the construction) has to be done and we’re going to have to tolerate it,” Montgomery said.

During the day, one Callow Avenue lane will be open to northbound traffic. Southbound traffic will be detoured to side streets, Knuckey said.

Stan Palmer Construction Company won the $3 million bid at the May 8 city council meeting. Grants and low-interest loans will fund the project, Knuckey said.

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