Delays at Whittemore Grove as Traffic Signal at Failing Culvert Slows Travelers

Traffic backed up this afternoon on Briceland Thorn Road as new traffic signals installed today forced drivers to take turns traveling on one lane of the already narrow road. The lane closure allows construction crews to begin work on a failing culvert.

“The K-Rails and traffic lights are now up and running on Briceland Road, to implement the one lane road closure that has enabled the crews to start excavation on the inlet side of the failed culvert,” Public Works announced today on the County website.

Humboldt Public Works is hopeful that a method of lining the current culvert will enable travelers to use Briceland Thorn Road while construction is ongoing. The alternative, should the culvert lining attempt fail, is to detour through Old Briceland Road which will cause delays of up to an hour, according to Steve Finch, Road Division Manager for the County of Humboldt.

Finch told us that the excavator operator has made good progress today. “I didn’t think the culvert would be totally exposed until late Sunday but he’s already got it exposed,” Finch explained.

Tomorrow, Finch said, the operator will begin “ripping out the old piece of culvert.”

On Sunday, a crew member from the company that installs the liner will arrive and make the final call on whether it can be put in. “Then as soon as the liner gets here, it only takes one day to install,” Finch told us. The liner could take a week to arrive.

Other work to improve the culvert will be ongoing. The plan is to keep one lane of traffic open unless the pipe lining doesn’t work, Finch explained.