PORT ANGELES — The public comment period for preliminary alternatives for the upcoming Olympic Hot Springs Road Long-Term Access Environmental Assessment has been extended for a second time.
Comments will be due by 10:59 p.m. Pacific Time on Wednesday, March 13.
The comment period was originally scheduled for Dec. 3 through Jan. 6, but the public was unable to post comments to the National Park Service Planning, Environment and Public Comment (PEPC) website during the partial federal government shutdown from Dec. 22 to Jan. 25.
So the comment period was extended to Feb. 24, but Olympic National Park received multiple requests for an additional extension, leading to another extension, according to Penny Wagner, park spokesperson.
The upcoming Olympic Hot Springs Road Long-Term Access EA will analyze various options including a no-action (current management) alternative, modifying the current roadway or relocating it outside the floodplain — one of which will be implemented in 2021.
The preliminary alternatives are available for review and comment on the project planning website at tinyurl.com/PDN-olympic hotspringsroad.
Comments also can be mailed or hand-delivered to Olympic National Park, Attn: Superintendent Sarah Creachbaum, Olympic Hot Springs Road Long-Term Access EA, 600 E. Park Ave., Port Angeles, WA, 98362.
The park service will solicit public comment on the draft environmental assessment. No timeline has been provided.
About 1 mile of Olympic Hot Springs Road within the Elwha River’s floodplain has repeatedly been impacted by floodwaters since the historic removal of the two Elwha River dams was completed in 2014.
The Elwha Valley is closed to the public at the park boundary after heavy rains led to flooding and river bank erosion.
National Park Service officials are considering relocating the road outside of the floodplain, modifying the current road or doing nothing
The purpose of the project is to rehabilitate 8.2 miles of the two-lane, asphalt concrete Olympic Hot Springs Road to provide year-round vehicular access to the Elwha Ranger Station and Glines Canyon Spillway overlook as well as seasonal access to Whiskey Bend Road and upper Olympic Hot Springs Road.
Affected by extensive flooding, the road would be improved by resurfacing, constructing walls, improving culverts and restoring shoulders, culverts and bridges.
There are 45 unstable sites within the upper 5 miles of the roadway, a few of which are associated with active landslides.
Under Alternative 1 — no change — park officials predict an increase in the severity and frequency of flooding, with road and trail closures during and following the flooding that could last days, weeks or months.
Under Alternative 2, the roadway would be realigned for about 1 mile from Sanders Creek to near the Elwha Ranger Station and built on higher ground away from the Elwha River.
Under Alternative 3, a mile of the roadway would be raised out of the floodplain, the existing alignment maintained and 58,000 cubic yards of material imported to raise the grade.
Elements common to Alternatives 2 and 3 include rehabilitation over 8.15 miles of Olympic Hot Springs Road, including reconstruction, restoration and resurfacing to functional and/or structural adequacy.
Under both alternatives, a bridge would be built across the Elwha River near Sanders Creek.
“The reconstruction portion of the project is intended to improve the roadway to the point that flooding and resulting flood damage would be less frequent and/or less likely to damage the one-mile portion between where the former Sanders Creek channel is and the Elwha Ranger Station,” according to the National Park Service’s Long Term Access/Environmental Assessment.
Rehabilitation likely would include minor alignment shifts, repairing and replacing existing walls and guardrails, new paving, signing and striping, and enhancing the Boulder Creek Trailhead parking area with striping, surface-area hardening and by adding Americans with Disabilities Act parking.
Comments submitted by phone or email will not be accepted — with exception of those that were received during the shutdown due to the website being inaccessible.
Comments submitted on behalf of other individuals — either by organizations or individuals — will not be accepted.
The entire comment — including personal identifying information such as address, phone number and email address — may be made publicly available at any time.
While the commenter can request that personal identifying information be withheld from public review, the park service said it cannot guarantee it will be able to do so.
