PORT ANGELES — Three fish passage barrier projects will be coming to Clallam County in the next few months, resulting in partial lane closures and detours for a few weeks.
The projects will be on U.S. Highway 101 at Tumwater, Lees and Ennis creeks.
The Tumwater Creek project has already begun, with pavement repair completed last fall. Work on the fish passage will begin in late February, with a detour beginning in early March.
The state Department of Transportation (WSDOT) aims to have the road closed for 80 calendar days and reopened by Memorial Day weekend, according to Brenden Clarke, assistant regional construction engineer for WSDOT’s Olympic Region. A detour will be set up that runs through Port Angeles.
“There is a lot of work that needs to be done during those 80 days,” Clarke told the Port Angeles City Council on Tuesday.
Once the road is reopened, there will be more work done to reconstruct the stream. That will require some nighttime lane closures, Clarke said.
To deal with lane closures, Clarke said WSDOT may adjust city traffic signals and get flaggers for intersections that have severe congestion.
The Lees Creek fish passage project will start in March, while the Ennis Creek project will start in late April or early May.
Those projects are projected to go into next year.
Neither of those projects will require a detour, as traffic will be shifted onto a temporary alignment, Clarke said.
Some flagging will be necessary for construction of the temporary alignment, however.
Those projects also will see a speed reduction to 25 mph through the work zone, and some right-in, right-out turn restrictions.
The three projects, plus one in Jefferson County, are part of a contract for about $120 million awarded to Kiewit Infrastructure West Co., Clarke said.
After the projects are complete, Clarke said Kiewit will monitor the streams for five years, and WSDOT will monitor them for 10 years, to make sure they are still fish passable.
________
Reporter Emma Maple can be reached by email at emma.maple@peninsuladaily news.com.
