PORT ANGELES — Come Thursday, it’s going to get a lot harder to travel to and from the West End.
The first planned four-hour delay for construction on U.S. Highway 101 at Lake Crescent is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. that day.
Other four-hour delays are planned the following week — Sept. 12, 13 and 14 — each from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., said Penny Wagner, interim spokeswoman for Olympic National Park.
“Travelers should plan ahead to drive through the construction zone at Lake Crescent on Highway 101 before 9 a.m.,” Wagner said in a press release.
Work began in the spring on the $27.5 million project to rehabilitate 12 miles of U.S. Highway 101 around Lake Crescent and East Beach Road. The National Park Service and Federal Highway Administration are managing the project.
During the four-hour delays, the turn for Barnes Point where Lake Crescent Lodge, Storm King Information Station, NatureBridge and trailheads are located will be accessible only from Highway 101 eastbound from Forks.
Highway 101 westbound from Port Angeles will be open to East Beach Road near milepost 232.
Due to heavy truck traffic for removal of rock debris Thursday, a pilot car will lead all traffic on Highway 101 between milepost 225 and 228 located west of Barnes Point during this four-hour period and travelers should expect 15- to 30-minute delays.
Other long delays are promised but have not yet been scheduled. Six‐hour overnight delays will be planned from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. Mondays through Wednesdays only, Wagner said. The four-hour and six-hour delays must be announced two weeks in advance, she said.
Drivers have been experiencing half-hour delays since spring.
Those will continue around Lake Crescent on Mondays through Fridays during work hours — two hours after sunrise to two hours before sunset — through Sept. 23.
During the four-hour delays, Clallam Transit will not run the No. 14 bus around Lake Crescent.
The commuter buses will wait for the right time and return to their points of origin, Clallam Transit Operations Manager Steve Hopkins said last Monday.
East Beach Road has reopened to through traffic now that Log Cabin Creek culvert has been replaced. The new culvert allows for fish passage.
But work on East Beach Road is ongoing. Flaggers will continue to direct traffic during work hours. Drivers can expect half-hour delays. Paving operations on East Beach Road are scheduled to begin after Labor Day, Wagner said.
On Wednesday, paving patches will begin between the Lyre River Trailhead for the Spruce Railroad Trail and the intersection of Joyce-Piedmont and East Beach roads. Drivers can expect 30- to 60-minute delays between 8:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.
On Thursday, access will be restricted on this section of road from 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. Following this period, paving patches will begin on East Beach Road with 30-minute delays until 6:30 p.m.
East Beach Road paving patches will continue during work hours Friday with 30-minute delays. Paving operations will continue the weeks of Sept. 11 and Sept. 18.
Delays also are planned on state Highway 112 near Sekiu.
On Tuesday, state Department of Transportation contractor crews will begin to stabilize and repair two damaged sections of roadway at the far west end of Highway 112.
Drivers will encounter around-the-clock, signal-controlled, one-way alternating traffic and a reduced speed limit at milepost 1.83.
After work is completed there, crews will relocate to milepost 0.5.
During this project, crews will construct a rock buttress wall to stabilize the hillside supporting the road, and also resurface the roadway, the DOT said.
The project is scheduled to be completed in October.
The good news for West End travel is that the Elwha River bridge is open to traffic with no restrictions now.
Maps of the area and access information are available on the park website at http://tinyurl.com/PDN-101delays.
