PORT ANGELES – The sluggish process to reopen Olympic Hot Springs Road in Olympic National Park is taking another step forward.
The road has been closed to auto traffic since November of 2018 and many times previously due to flooding in heavy rainfall. On Monday, the National Park Service will release the Olympic Hot Springs Road Environmental Assessment (EA) for a 45-day public review and comment period.
During the public comment period, the National Park Service (NPS) will host one in-person public meeting where Park and Federal Highways staff will be available to discuss the EA. That meeting will be from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm on Wednesday, November 13 at the Elwha Klallam Heritage Center on First Street in Port Angeles.
The EA analyzes three options which include a no action alternative, modifying the current road alignment to raise grade, or a reroute of one mile of the road outside the floodplain. The National Park Service says they prefer the reroute of the one mile section.
The EA will be available beginning November 4 for review and comment on the project planning website at https://parkplanning.nps.gov/OHSREA.
Photo: Olympic Hot Springs Road washout from 2018.