PORT ANGELES — The Washington State Department of Transportation is moving ahead with two major projects that will impact travel on the North Olympic Peninsula in the coming years.
WSDOT Olympic Region Administrator Steve Roark told county commissioners this week that the long-planned US 101 repaving and safety upgrade between Port Angeles and Sequim is now entering engineering. The project includes two new two-lane roundabouts — one at Taylor Cutoff Road and another at Mill Road — along with sidewalk improvements east of Port Angeles.
“The project is going to start preliminary engineering very soon here in our office, which means we’ll be back out in the community as we advance the design. I anticipate we’ll go out for construction bids in early 2027, which would put actual construction starting in the summer of 2027,” said Roark.
Roark added that early modeling shows the two roundabouts will operate efficiently despite being close together, and WSDOT has not yet determined whether they’ll be built at the same time or in phases.
He also updated commissioners on the Hood Canal Bridge, where crews will return this spring for another round of center-lock replacements — the hardware that keeps the drawspan secured.
“We expect two to three weeks of work, likely in May. We’re looking at sporadic overnight closures, but we should be finished by June with the center-lock work, which will restore some much-needed preservation to the bridge,” said Roark.
Roark noted the bridge sees about 350 openings a year, mostly from recreational boat traffic, and WSDOT is working with the Coast Guard to evaluate whether any changes are possible during next summer’s World Cup events.