Crews working for Puget Sound Energy will begin a major natural gas pipeline project in downtown Bellevue on Monday, Aug. 4. Sections of principal roadways will be closed at times and some delays will be unavoidable.

The first section of roadway that will be affected is near the intersection of 110th Avenue Northeast and Northeast 10th Street. Workers will dig a roughly 6-foot-wide trench in the street, then lay 12-inch, welded steel pipe and a second 8-inch pipe before filling the ditch and repaving the road.

Starting at 5 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 6, 110th Avenue Northeast will be closed to southbound traffic from Northeast 10th Street to Northeast Eighth Street. However, all residences and businesses will remain accessible via Northeast Eighth Street. The southbound lanes on this stretch are scheduled to reopen around Aug. 16.

The work is part of PSE’s Bellevue Braids-Lake Hills Connector natural gas pipeline project. PSE is adding the 3.5 miles of new pipeline to accommodate projected growth in Bellevue’s fast-growing downtown and to provide a backup line for an existing line. That line is scheduled to be taken out of service temporarily during an upcoming Interstate 405 construction project by the state Department of Transportation.

More information about the project, including a detailed map, is at PSE’s website at www.pse.com/community/yourneighborhood/pages/CurrentProjects.aspx?tab=2&chapter=2.

For the latest information about lane closures and traffic impacts, visit the city of Bellevue’s Traffic Advisory web page at www.bellevuewa.gov/traffic_advisories.htm.

All downtown work is scheduled for completion by Nov. 15. Installation work on the rest of the pipeline will wrap up by the end of 2008; repaving work will be finished in spring 2009.

Using heavy machinery, workers will trench their way south on 110th Avenue Northeast at the rate of approximately 100 feet per day, crossing busy intersections at Northeast Eighth and Northeast Fourth streets along the way. Most of the work will be done from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays, although some night and weekend work will be necessary to help minimize roadway disruptions.

Later in August, PSE’s contractor for the work, Alaska Continental Pipeline, will add a second crew, which will start at Northeast Second Street at 112th Avenue Northeast. From there, the line will go south on 112th Avenue, east on Southeast Sixth Street where it widens to 16-inch diameter pipe, south again on 114th Avenue Southeast to 118th Avenue Southeast, then east on Southeast Eighth Street and Lake Hills Connector to 140th Avenue Southeast.