By Pepper Fisher
SEQUIM – Travelers, get ready for the next big fish passage project under Highway 101, coming up in August.
The first of a multi-year project to correct six culverts under 101 in Jefferson and Clallam counties, to allow salmon and other fish to migrate upstream, will take place where Eagle Creek goes under the highway, which is right about the midpoint between Knapp Road and Diamond Point Road.
From July until mid-August, travelers will see occasional daytime one-way alternating traffic on 101 as they begin prepping for a week-long, around the clock reduction to a single lane going around the work site from August 13-18.
WSDOT spokesman Doug Adams says it’s going to be disruptive, but they’ll be working around the clock to get it done in a week.
“We are going to have a period where we’ll see a lot of congestion there for that period. From August 13th to the 18th, we’re talking about miles-long backups out there. So, we’re going to need help from travelers during that time, and we’re going to be asking people to go early in the morning or late at night, and do everything they can to help reduce the backups on this.”
During that week, 101 will be reduced to one-lane of alternating traffic going around the Eagle Creek culvert site. No detour route is available during this work. To help reduce backups during this week-long lane reduction, travelers can:
- Add up to 90 minutes of extra travel time to help prevent delays.
- Consider postponing discretionary trips.
- Travel early in the morning or later at night, especially on Monday, Thursday and Friday.
- Carpool, use transit or telework if possible.
Eagle Creek is the first of six streams or tributaries that crews will correct under Highway 101 between Gardner and Sequim during the next two years. The $109 million dollar project is anticipated to finish in late 2025.
Adamson and his colleagues at WSDOT acknowledge that these projects are always right in the middle of tourist and travel season, but he reminds us that there’s a reason for that.
“We have a tight window to get this work done. It’s usually during July and August. If there were a different time of year we could do this work, we would. It’s sort of like painting. We have to have warm temperatures at a certain time of year to get it done. And we all know here in the Pacific Northwest how long our winters are and how short our summers are. So, that’s why we have to get this work done in a July/August time frame, within a certain window, for environmental reasons, to get it done.”
Learn more at wsdot.wa.gov.