BRINNON — Unless the state Legislature finds funding, it is unlikely that passing lanes will be built on U.S. Highway 101 at Mount Walker to help ease traffic congestion during the Hood Canal Bridge replacement project.
Lloyd Brown, spokesman for the state Department of Transportation, told the Quilcene-Brinnon Chamber of Commerce that federal mitigation funding can’t be used to build anything permanent, and that his department doesn’t have the money in its budget.
Brown estimated the cost of the passing lanes at between $2 million and $5 million.
“We would be happy (to build the passing lanes), but they aren’t a priority,” Brown said.
People will have limited options for driving between Jefferson and Kitsap counties during the eight-week closure that will allow workers to replace the eastern portion of the bridge originally built in 1961, according to Brown.
Those options are driving around Hood Canal, riding passenger-only ferries or not making the trip, Brown said.