Everett Broadway Bridge Closure May Create Confusion and Opportunity

Won’t be long now before the City of Everett shuts down Broadway over the railroad tracks between Hewitt and California to replace the aging bridge. As part of the official detour route the city has made changes to Cedar street between Hewitt and Everett Avenue. Those changes include adding two lanes northbound on Cedar between Hewitt and Everett, changing the angle parking to parallel in those two blocks and removing the northbound and southbound stop signs on Cedar at the intersection with California. Eastbound and Westbound traffic will still have to stop at that intersection.

The shutdown will happen this month and the project is not expected to be completed until sometime in 2016. Why so long to finish the Broadway bridge replacement? Here are a few reasons provided by city traffic managers…

• No over-track work allowed while trains are running – 44 freight trains on average per day.
• No over-track work allowed from October to December – BNSF major freight season restriction.
• Total demolition and new construction of the bridge with new foundation and abutments (as opposed to swapping out a bridge span like the temporary Skagit River bridge.)
• Different vertical alignment – for improved sight distance and railroad clearance.

As far as opportunity, a new pub has opened right on the corner of Cedar and Hewitt. Formerly the Kozy Tavern, it’s now known as Twin Foxes. According to the menu, new owners Ian Hunt and Brian Rebeschini are paying homage to the original Twin Foxes Public House in Stevenage, a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England. Hunt’s family had been involved with that pub for sixty years and the story goes they wanted to bring a bit of that spirit to Everett. Look thru the menu to discover the very interesting story about the name.

The City of Everett has dedicated a website to the Broadway bridge replacement project that includes links to live cameras so you can gauge the traffic back-ups. In the meantime if traffic is bad, Ian and Brian likely won’t mind if you stop in for a brew or a bite.