PORT ANGELES — Four days.
Friday’s announcement that U.S. Highway 101, the major route to and from the West End, will be closed around Lake Crescent for up to four days beginning at 6 a.m. Monday to allow completion of rock-scaling work near milepost 229 prompted flurries of phone calls and changed plans, said residents of Forks.
“Twilight” fans are heading to Forks this week for the Forever Twilight in Forks festival that begins Thursday, with pre-festival events planned Tuesday and Wednesday, said Lissy Andros, executive director of the Forks Chamber of Commerce, which sponsors the annual festival.
“People are scrambling to figure out how the closure will impact them and how they can work around it,” she said. “Hopefully, it is the only time the road will be closed for a prolonged period of time.”
The closure means drivers must take the longer route via state Highway 112, a detour described as “challenging” by Rod Fleck, city attorney and planner.
“It’s not a road that should have that much traffic on it,” Fleck said, adding that log truck drivers who have used 112 said “it took forever.”
The Clallam Transit bus on Route 14 will travel via Highway 112 and state Highway 113 between Sappho and Laird’s Corner.
The schedule is posted at www.clallamtransit.com.
“We’re trying to stick to the schedule as posted, but with all the traffic on 112, I’m sure we’re going to be slowed,” said Kevin Gallacci, Transit general manager.
Work may be completed earlier, but it may take through Thursday to get it done, said Penny Wagner, Olympic National Park spokeswoman.
She explained that the change was made after the first planned four-hour closure Thursday because of reports of property damage to vehicles as they traveled through the area. It was a decision reached “in the last 24 hours,” she said Friday.
The Federal Highway Administration recommended a full closure until the work is completed, she said.
“They want to do the work with a full closure to protect public safety,” Wagner said.
The contractor is bringing in additional crew members and has received a waiver from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to increase work hours to get the work done as soon as possible “so it doesn’t go on for weeks with a potential for property damage or for someone to get seriously injured,” she said.
Forks residents are glad to see public safety protected.
“We appreciate the safety of our residents, visitors and the construction crew being put first,” Andros said.
Fleck said the early Friday afternoon announcement from Olympic National Park “is a bit of a surprise, but we all have been watching that rock wall work, realizing that that is a much bigger problem for the contractor. It probably makes sense.
“We do want this project done on time and as safe as possible, and we don’t want them to have to come back in a couple of years and do it again,” he said. “The safety issue is imperative.”
The timing of such announcements could perhaps be improved, Fleck said.
“If they saw it as a potential issue, [then we could have discussed] how do we prepare the community for that,” he said.
“We’re looking forward to discussing with the park on how to deal with known unknowns,” Fleck said.
He said the park got out as much information as it could in this instance.
“Penny [Wagner] deserves a medal. She’s had a rough day,” Fleck said Friday.
“We just have to game out how to get efficient, effective communication as soon” as possible, he added.
Mayor Bryon Monohon said that “some people have been very unhappy with the closure. Some people thought it was to be expected and figured it was coming. A lot were upset that comments came out late on a Friday with no chance to participate or make comments on it. A couple wondered why repair work hasn’t been done 24 hours a day to try to speed things up a little bit.”
A video posted on Facebook and on the Forks Forum website from Mya Helseth shows the kind of work being done on the slope above the highway.
“It’s kind of staggering,” Fleck said.
During the closure, Highway 101 eastbound from Forks will remain open up to the turn for Barnes Point where Lake Crescent Lodge, Storm King Information Station, NatureBridge and the trailheads are located.
Highway 101 westbound from Port Angeles will remain open up to milepost 232/East Beach Road.
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.
Maps of the area and access information are available on the park website at http://tinyurl.com/PDN-101delays.
________
Executive Editor Leah Leach can be reached at 360-417-3530 or at lleach@peninsuladailynews.com.
