Design funding to restore Johnson Creek trestle moves forward

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, July 29, 2026

SEQUIM — Funding to design the restoration of Johnson Creek Bridge west of Whitefeather Way and along the Olympic Discovery Trail is moving forward after a few years in limbo.

Sequim City Council members agreed on July 13 to have City Manager Matt Huish enter into a local agency agreement with the state Department of Transportation for a Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Equity program (RAISE) grant worth $400,000.

The city will not have to pay any matching funds in this phase, staff said.

The 410-foot-long, 85-foot-tall timber railroad trestle was retired and later refurbished and then reopened in 2003 to pedestrians along the Olympic Discovery Trail. The bridge is made up of 28 bents each with five to six timber piles and timber cross bracing, girders, railroad ties and trail decking, according to the grant application.

Nicholas Dostie, Sequim’s city engineer and deputy director of Public Works, said Sequim hasn’t chosen a design consultant yet, but city staff have submitted a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to WSDOT Local Programs for review.

He said Sequim staff members anticipate advertising for engineering and design services by the end of the third quarter this year.

The project is included in the city’s Capital Improvement Program, Dostie said, with design currently planned for completion in 2027 and construction depending on securing construction funding.

Its construction costs at the “current high-level planning estimate” will be about $1.6 million, he said.

“Once WSDOT approves the RFQ, the city will advertise for a design firm and establish a more detailed design schedule,” Dostie said.

City council’s approval of the design won’t be required.

Sequim contracted with Sargent Engineers and Fickett Structural Solutions in 2022 to conduct a structural analysis of Johnson Creek Bridge, according to city documents.

“The project was delayed while the Federal Highway Administration worked through updated grant terms and conditions, during which grant funds could not be spent,” Dostie said. “That issue has since been resolved, and the city has received approval to proceed under the original terms, allowing the RAISE grant project components to move forward.”

In 2023, Sequim and 11 other entities were awarded a RAISE grant to connect gaps and improve safety along the Olympic Discovery Trail from Bainbridge Island to La Push. Sequim City Council members originally authorized the RAISE grant in August 2024.

The pedestrian bridge hovers over Johnson Creek and near a creek bridge on U.S. Highway 101 that was part of a fish passage project in the area. That fish passage project to improve habitat was completed in August 2025 featuring a new 185-foot bridge over Johnson Creek.

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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. He can be reached by email at matthew.nash@sequimgazette.com.