After more than a year, First Street opens in east Vancouver

Much to the relief of east Vancouver residents and businesses, Southeast First Street has reopened after a yearlong road project wrapped up this week.

The upgrade included pavement widening, sidewalks, curbs, bike facilities, streetlights, stormwater drainage, and street resurfacing and striping, according to the city of Vancouver.

“I can tell you it reopened at 9:05 (Tuesday) morning. I was there when they were removing the barrier,” Fredrik English, co-owner of English Estate Winery, said Wednesday.

English said the winery received calls nearly every day asking how to navigate the construction zone.

“It was hard to avoid; it was right in our front yard,” he said.

Because of the construction, he estimates the business lost about 30 percent of its revenue.

“They were only supposed to be doing construction for one of the summers, but it ended up being for two of the summers, which is the busy season for our winery,” said Andrew Starr, the winery’s tasting room manager.

The project began in May 2024 and was originally expected to wrap up by April, but unexpected delays pushed the completion date back to late summer.

Nicole Walters, spokeswoman for the city of Vancouver, said the work was needed to meet demand from increased traffic and new development in the area, including new retailers near 192nd Avenue and a new HP campus, along with warehouses under construction on 192nd.

The new HP East Master Plan encompasses about 30 acres of HP’s 98-acre property at 18208 S.E. First St. The new section is located just east of the previously proposed campus — north of Southeast First Street and east of the future extension of Northeast 184th Street.

“Construction projects like the Southeast First Street project often need to move existing utilities like water, sewer, gas, power and communication lines,” Walters said, adding that work is happening in an area where infrastructure is already in place.

While adding to the construction timeline, Walters said relocating the existing utilities is done to avoid problems during construction, keep everyone safe and for regulatory compliance.

“Moving these utilities requires working closely with the franchise utilities that manage them. Even with careful planning, unexpected issues with utilities can happen. In this project, the completion of the road grading was delayed because some of the franchise utilities were delayed in completing their work. Only until that work was finished could the contractor complete the grading for the new roadway and wrap the project,” she said.

English said plenty of drivers are already using the newly reopened roadway.

“I was going somewhere this morning, and I had to sit and wait for a hole in traffic,” he said. “Yeah, it’s totally open.”

Unfortunately, the reopening wasn’t in time to save the winery’s summer season, Starr said.

“We just got done with our Friday night music series on Friday. We’re getting ready for harvest now,” Starr said.

The total cost for the road project is estimated at $10.1 million. Walters said some minor items are still pending so a final total isn’t available yet.