Opening ceremony slated today for Pine Creek bridge

Highway 27 will reopen to traffic between Oakesdale and Tekoa today, Thursday. The highway has been closed since the beginning of September as crews from Thompson Bros. Excavating of Vancouver rebuilt the road approaches to the new Pine Creek Bridge under a contract with the state Department of Transportation.

DOT spokesman Al Gilson said local and state dignitaries will cut a ribbon at 11:30 a.m. to officially open the highway. The road will be open to traffic later that afternoon, upon completion of the ceremony and removal of detour signs.

The state’s official detour called for motorists to use Warner Road from Oakesdale to the Tekoa -Farmington Road. Area residents also made use of the Fanning and Lone Pine Roads to bypass the construction site.

The new concrete bridge replaces a 73 year old wooden bridge. The Highway 27 segment rated high on the DOT district’s weather closure list because runoff water in Pine Creek topped the bridge, often several times a year.

The new bridge was built eight feet higher and the road was relocated 64 feet to the north to get out of the flood plain.

Thompson Brothers replaced the bridge under a $2,3091,453 contract. Funding derived mostly from gas tax proceeds.

Final paving of the road will not be done until temperatures warm next spring, said Gilson.