Cushman Trail North of Rosedale to Close for Repairs

A roughly one-mile section of will be closed to the public between Monday, April 25, and Friday, April 29, while the city replaces a broken concrete pipe that passes water under the trail. The repairs are estimated to cost $50,000.

According to an announcement released yesterday, a section of the trail sank during the heavy rain on Dec. 12, 2010, creating a large void at the base of the embankment wall. City staff made emergency repairs to fill the void and limit further damage. But a follow-up video taken of the inside of the culvert revealed it had separated in several places and also contained a hole in the concrete.

The damage to the culvert means the “continued stability of the embankment wall is in doubt,” City Engineer Stephen Misiurak told city council members at their March 14 meeting. He asked for and received an emergency declaration of the problem, enabling the engineering department to expedite the process for making repairs.

The city has hired Active Construction, Inc. (ACI), an underground utilities contractor in Tacoma, to replace the old, 18-inch-in-diameter culvert with PVC piping that measures 24 inches wide. The repair site is located 900 meters north of Rosedale Street NW. As a result, public access to the trail will be closed between Rosedale and 96th Street NW while ACI completes its work.

Misiurak said that the city’s Emergency Preparedness Storm Water Fund will pay for $40,000 of the repairs. The remaining $10,000 will come from anticipated savings in storm water projects scheduled for this year. The city is negotiating with Pierce County, which had authority over the Cushman Trail when the original culvert was installed, to contribute funds as well.