POULSBO — The initial days of the month-long closure of Iverson Street between 8th Avenue and State Route 305 brought a few surprises to city and state officials.

City Engineer Andrzej Kasiniak had requested Poulsbo Police officers at the intersections of Caldart Avenue and Lincoln Road and Hostmark Street on Monday, but by Wednesday he reconsidered.

“Most of the traffic was focused on Hostmark (Street) and Liberty Road,” Kasiniak said.

The late afternoon traffic Tuesday at the Hostmark/SR 305 intersection was particularly heavy, and Kasiniak said he submitted a request to the Washington State Department of Transportation to lengthen the light there to allow better traffic flow across the highway.

Public Works Director Jeff Bauman said he, too, noticed the increased traffic volumes along Liberty and Hostmark.

“Our attention was on Caldart Avenue and really the bottlenecks were on Hostmark and Liberty,” Bauman said.

Instead of using police officers to assist with traffic control, adjusting the existing traffic signals should help alleviate those problems, Bauman said.

The initial days of the closure also brought changes from WSDOT officials, who received reports of drivers attempting illegal left turns onto the highway from Lincoln Road.

“The signs were up, but apparently drivers were unaware of them or ignoring them,” said WSDOT communications specialist Jamie Swift Wednesday. “In response, the contractor (put up) a flexible barrier in the roadway to discourage drivers from taking a left turn.”

Crews will continue monitoring the site to see how effective the barrier is, Swift said.

Although a flurry of activity sits just outside their doors, employees at Plaza 305’s Azteca and Viking Bank both said things have gone fairly well up to this point.

“We’re down about 10 percent, but people are still able to use our back entrance,” said Poulsbo Azteca manager Roberto Garcia. “So far, it’s just been a little problem.”

On the other side of the highway, Viking Bank branch manager Andrew Torres said he hasn’t received a large number of complaints, but cautioned that it is still early in the project.

“I think most folks saw it coming. We haven’t had problem with access so far,” Torres said, noting that even so the bank is reimbursing ATM fees charged by other financial institutions to customers who have problems getting to the bank’s SR 305 location.