PORT ANGELES — The state Department of Transportation provided Clallam County commissioners with an update on its highway improvement plans and fish barrier projects during the commissioners’ work session on Monday.
One large upcoming project is improvements to state Highway 112.
Steve Roark, WSDOT’s Olympic regional administrator, said the state Legislature had appropriated about $9.7 million for the preservation and maintenance of Highway 112 between mileposts 0 and 42.
WSDOT is planning to spend about half of those funds on guardrail, slope, signing and culvert improvements between mileposts 0 and 7, Roark said. Construction likely will commence next summer.
“We’re looking for the highest and best use of this money, and the design team up in Port Angeles is pretty close to honing in on what that is,” Roark said.
In addition to state Legislature appropriations, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has provided a resiliency grant of about $25 million for Highway 112 updates.
That funding will primarily be used for one construction element and five planning exercises, Roark said.
The construction element will cover highway grade adjustments and shoreline stabilization of the roadway from mileposts 0 to 17.
The other five elements include analyzing the existing logging road network with the aim of improving emergency access to Neah Bay; doing a hydrologic study on the Hoko River crossing to determine potential realignment or implementation of a new bridge; and doing realignment studies of the Pysht River corridor, the Jim Creek area and Sumas Pass.
“We’ve got a lot left to get sorted out,” Roark said. “[But] we’ll work with the community to make sure we stay on the right track.”
WSDOT is still working on U.S. Highway 101 updates between Port Angeles and Sequim. Roark said the agency has wrapped up the predesign concepts and is compiling the online open house results, which will inform the preliminary engineering phase that is slated for later this year.
“More community engagement to come on what these suite of improvements will look like,” Roark said.
He also provided updates on the upcoming Tumwater Creek, Ennis Creek and Lee Creek fish barrier projects.
For the Tumwater Creek fish barrier project, Roark said work likely will start in January and wrap up next fall. The project will involve closing a portion of Highway 101 next year from March to May, Roark added.
The fish barrier projects at Ennis and Lee creeks will start in February and likely will take two years to wrap up.
For those projects, Roark said WSDOT has modified its plans to allow for two lanes of traffic at all times.
“We’re pleased to be able to maintain two lanes in each direction,” Roark said. “However, construction zones create friction, so I still would anticipate some lag/some amount of delay as you move through those work areas.”
Roark also provided an update on the Elwha River bridge replacement, which is open to traffic.
“What you have now is an alignment, a bridge and an intersection at Olympic Hot Springs Road that is wider [and] safer for everybody that uses this section of the highway,” Roark said.
WSDOT will wait until next summer to demolish the old bridge based on fish window timing.
“Construction seems to go on forever, and this one will too,” he said.
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Reporter Emma Maple can be reached by email at emma.maple@peninsuladailynews.com.
