POULSBO — With the first day of Lindvig construction nearing a close, downtown merchants gathered at city hall chambers Wednesday to voice their continued fears for Viking Fest.

Historic Downtown Poulsbo Association members addressed the Poulsbo City Council at its May 14 meeting. They said they were unhappy that the Lindvig Bridge project, which has reduced the four-lane road to two lanes, began on the eve of Viking Fest, the city’s biggest event of the year.

“There’s going to be extra trucks and extra traffic down there and it’s going to be mayhem,” predicted Brian Ballestrasse, owner of Ballestrasse’s Shoes.

The project, which will replace the current restricted culvert between the headwaters of Liberty Bay and Dogfish Creek with a salmon-friendly bridge, was announced earlier this year. The bridge was originally expected to start in April or May of this year, but the plan to begin construction on May 14 was not announced to the city council until its May 7 meeting.

Councilman Mike Regis made a motion to move the start date to the Monday following Viking Fest at that time, however, his motion was not seconded. This week, both Regis and Councilwoman Kathryn Quade expressed disappointment that city staff had received the contractor’s schedule last month but the council had not.

“All this could have been dealt with in the month ago that the staff knew this was going to take place. I don’t appreciate the council not being told until last Wednesday,” Regis said. “Having it fall on the eve of Viking Fest is, in the history of Viking Fest, not what we do in this community.”

Shop keepers also claimed that at the last HDPA general meeting Mayor Donna Jean Bruce and Regis had assured them there would be no construction taking place during this weekend.

“If there is any problem during Viking Fest and the city closes down two lanes with 40,000 people that is a big liability,” commented Angela Wilkinson, owner of Mor-In Store.

Wilkinson asked if it was possible for the city to open the closed lanes on Lindvig just for the weekend to accommodate the 40,000 expected visitors.

City Engineer John Stephenson countered that the city had been true to its word, since construction crews would not be present on Finn Hill nor Lindvig Friday, Saturday and Sunday. However, while the Finn Hill traffic control was easily moved away, he said it was impossible to open Lindvig back up to four lanes for Viking Fest.

“It’s a 14-week closure, 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Stephenson said. “There’s no way we can restore that, we’ll actually be excavating the roadway.”

Stephenson added that yellow flags had been added to Lindvig detour signs for greater visibility, and that off duty police officers were on hand to help with traffic control.

Another concern HDPA members mentioned was the potential back-ups when Front Street was closed for both the parade and the road race. Poulsbo Police Department Chief Jeff Doran said there were already plans in place to help detour motorists at these times.

“This is not going to affect the detour routes that we have set up every Viking Fest,” Doran said.

As Lindvig traffic had already been restricted, the city council was unable to make any changes. Most HDPA members said they understood this, but left the meeting with one last challenge.

“What are you going to do about the Third of July since there’s nothing we can do about the weekend?” Gary Hoskins, owner of YES USA! asked the council and staff. “We do not want this to happen again.”