OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK — While a road in the Quinault Valley will close later this summer, a high-elevation road close to Port Angeles is expected to be reopened by this weekend.
Roadwork along Graves Creek Road in Olympic National Park is scheduled to begin Aug. 10.
Both the road and the Graves Creek Campground will be closed to all traffic, both vehicle and pedestrian, for about 30 days, said Dave Reynolds, park spokesman, in a statement.
The closure will allow contractors to repair damage caused by erosion along a 210-foot embankment, near Milepost 1.8 and downstream from the Graves Creek trailhead and campground.
Work in the $476,634 project will be performed by Erick Ammon Inc. of Silverdale and involve the placement of large logs along the length of the embankment, with the logs’ rootwads facing into the stream to encourage the development of fish habitat.
Rip-rap will be placed to secure them into place and prevent buoyancy, and the gravel road will then be rebuilt overtop the logs.
At the same time, roads at upper elevations are opening up for the season.
Deer Park Road east of Port Angeles is expected to reopen on or around Saturday.
Park workers have removed snowdrifts, and the road is being graded and contoured.
Another park road closed by snow in the wintertime, Obstruction Point Road, was partially opened Friday and is expected to be fully cleared of snow by early August.
It is now open from Hurricane Ridge to Waterhole at Milepost 3.2. Crews are now working to clear snow from the rest of the road up to its terminus at the Obstruction Point trailhead.
Snowdrifts up to 6 feet in height had delayed the road’s opening, originally slated to occur July 1.
Timing for the Graves Creek repairs is dependent not only on summer weather, but also on designated in-water work windows designed to protect spawning fish.
For the Quinault River and tributaries, the work window runs Aug. 15-30.
Current road information is available by phoning 360-565-3131 or visiting http://tinyurl.com/3hbuum8.