SEQUIM – Construction crews working for the state Department of Transportation will begin preparing for work at Eagle Creek on Monday.
Eagle Creek is the first of six streams or tributaries that crews will correct to improve fish passage and migration under U.S. Highway 101 between Gardiner and Sequim during the next two years.
The $109 million dollar project is anticipated to finish in late 2025.
Beginning next week, crew will begin mobilizing equipment into a work zone on Highway 101 between Diamond Point/Chicken Coop Road and Guilles Road/Knapp Road at Eagle Creek in Clallam County.
From July until mid-August, travelers will see occasional daytime one-way alternating traffic on Highway 101 at milepost 274.2, followed by a week-long around the clock reduction to a single lane.
August work
In August, traffic will be reduced to a crawl at times.
No detour route will be available during this work. Signs will be posted for local access only on nearby county roads.
From 7 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 13 through the evening of Friday, Aug. 18, Highway 101 will be reduced to one-lane of alternating traffic at the Eagle Creek culvert site.
That will lead to traffic congestion.
Travelers will want to plan ahead to help prevent delays, the state DOT said in a press release.
The state advised drivers to add up to 90 minutes of extra travel time, consider postponing discretionary trips, travel early in the morning or later at night — especially on Monday, Thursday and Friday.
The state also advises people to carpool, use Transit buses or telework if possible.
DOT said that this type of work in waterways can be done only during certain time frames in the summer to ensure fish and habitat aren’t unduly disturbed.
A U.S. District Court issued a permanent injunction in 2013 that requires the state to significantly increase the effort for removing state-owned culverts that block habitat for salmon and steelhead by 2030.
