PORT ANGELES — The state Department of Transportation is in the midst of a fish culvert replacement project on state Highway 112 and Eden Valley Road west of Port Angeles, affecting highway traffic and Eden Valley residents.
Eden Valley Road was closed at Coville Creek in July.
Area residents have been using Dan Kelly Road as a detour.
State Highway 112 has been reduced to one lane of alternating traffic with temporary closures of both lanes.
The state distributed fliers to local residents early in the project advising them of the detour.
“We still are looking at the end of September for the project to be done,” Transportation spokeswoman Claudia Bingham Baker said.
“But it’s possible that it could be open before then.”
Two fish passage culverts are being replaced, one under the highway and one under Eden Valley Road.
“During the work, crews will cut the roads open, remove the existing culverts and install larger, wider culverts that will allow fish passage and a more natural streambed environment,” the flier said.
“Once the new culverts are in place, the road will be repaved to its previous condition.”
Bingham Baker said the new culverts are considerably larger than the old culverts.
“The philosophy now when we put in culverts is we want to emulate the same width of the stream,” she said.