PORT ANGELES — Elwha River Road will close at the new bridge over the river for up to three weeks sometime between Monday and the end of April.
The closure at the Elwha River bridge is needed to install a guardrail on the vehicle deck of the 85-foot-tall structure west of Port Angeles.
“We do believe the contractor can get it done in significantly less than even that 21-day period,” Ross Tyler, Clallam County engineer, told the county commissioners on Tuesday.
“As soon as it’s done, we’ll open it back up again.”
The exact timing of the closure still needs to be worked out with the contractor.
The work was postponed last month as county officials finalized a contract with Parsons RCI and waited for Federal Highway Administration approval of the 42-inch-tall steel rail.
The precautionary railing will replace the temporary wooden rail that has been on the sides of the double-deck bridge since it opened in September.
Most pedestrians cross the river canyon on the pedestrian path — part of the Olympic Discovery Trial — suspended by cables below car deck.
Some bicyclists, however, cross the scenic river valley on the upper deck, where the existing rail is thought to be too short for safe crossings on a bicycle.
The county has close to $100,000 in prefabricated railing already in supply.
Parsons would likely subcontract the work to a local company, Tyler has said.
The $19.7 million, 589-foot span replaced the one-lane Warren-truss-type steel bridge that served the county from 1914 to 2007.
In other action on Tuesday, the commissioners approved two contracts to provide service to unfunded clients through the Chemical Dependency/Mental Health program fund.
First Step Family Support Center received a $19,067 contract for postpartum depression support.
Klallam Counseling Services received a $54,680 contract to assist adults with co-occurring disorders.
Earlier in the meeting, Capt. Warren Mitchell received a certificate of appreciation for the nearly 30 years he represented Clallam County on the Ferry Advisory Board.
“Back in the old days, there was a whole committee, and he was the most effective member of the committee,” Commissioner Mike Doherty said.
“Eventually he became the committee.”
Mitchell, who is retired from the Coast Guard, advised county officials on schedules, fares and new ferries in the Puget Sound area and Hood Canal.
“To have somebody from the Coast Guard who actually knew a little bit about the maritime community and ferry traffic — it was great to have you serve Clallam County,” Doherty said.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.