PORT ANGELES — Traffic will be detoured around the Lauridsen Boulevard bridge area Friday for an improvement near the $4.5 million span under construction now.

At about 7 a.m., construction crews with Kent-based Scarsella Bros. Inc. will begin to install a new traffic light at the intersection of Race Street and Lauridsen Boulevard.

Work is expected to continue all day.

Southbound traffic on Race Street will be detoured east on Ninth Street, then south on Washington Street to Park Avenue, then west to return to Race Street.

Northbound detour

Northbound traffic on Race Street will be detoured east on Park Avenue to Washington Street, then north to Ninth Street and west to Race Street.

The span across Peabody Creek was poured by Port Angeles-based Angeles Concrete in February.

It was one of the last major steps in the bridge replacement project begun in August and expected to be wrapped up in mid-April.

It originally was expected to be completed a month earlier.

City Engineer Mike Puntenney said wet weather has been the major factor in extending work on the project.

“That more so than any other reason,” he said.

A federal grant is funding 80 percent of the project, with the city providing the remaining 20 percent of the cost.

Once completed, the new Lauridsen bridge will include two 12-foot-wide vehicle lanes, an eastbound center turn lane and two 5-foot-wide bicycle lanes.

The driving surface will be 18 feet wider than the 44-year-old bridge being replaced, which was demolished in August, and the new bridge’s sidewalks will be wider than the old ones.