Though costs to repair the area surrounding Hoquiam’s Beacon Hill Drive have gone up, city officials estimate that the road could reopen as early as Thursday.
Following flooding and landslides earlier this month, repair costs for the area’s sewer, road and dirt removal amounted to about $500,000 as of last week. Several ruptured water mains have since raised the cost to about $800,000, said Brian Shay, the city’s administrator. He added that city officials expect all fixes — besides repairs to the sewer — to be finished by Thursday.
Beacon Hill Drive itself has remained closed since the flood and landslides earlier this month, with the only access for owners of property atop the hill provided by a logging road on the backside.
“Fortunately that road was there so people had access, but it’s still been a great inconvenience,” Shay said, adding that the city added cones and barricades to keep drivers safe on the poorly lit road.
An apartment complex at the top of the hill, Shay said, appeared to be on stable ground after an examination by the city’s geologists. The city recommended that the owner of the complex hire their own geologist to take a closer look, he added.
Even with repairs underway, Shay said the city is still concerned for the six residents whose homes were condemned after the slide.
“I think the most troubling thing about this has been those six homeowners who had a total loss of their homes,” he said. “Those are probably $200,000 homes and they are pretty much an entire loss, so my heart goes out to those people.”
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