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WSDOT details multi-site fish-passage work in Port Angeles; one US-101 crossing to close 80 days
Summary
Washington State Department of Transportation officials told the Port Angeles City Council their contractor will close one US-101 crossing for about 80 calendar days this spring as part of a multi-site fish-passage contract, with traffic detours, temporary alignments and multi-year monitoring planned.
Washington State Department of Transportation representatives told the Port Angeles City Council the agency will begin several fish-passage projects this spring that will affect traffic on U.S. 101 and other local roadways.
Brendan Clark, who identified himself as an assistant to Mary Lou Shannon, Olympic Region Construction regional assistant regional administrator for WSDOT, and Amy Amos, the project engineer who will administer the contract, briefed council members on project timing, traffic impacts and long-term monitoring.
WSDOT said the contract covers four crossings in the Port Angeles area and a fourth crossing on State Route 116 in Jefferson County. Clark said work at the Tom Water Creek crossing on U.S. 101 will require an approximately 80-calendar-day full road closure, with a detour expected to begin in early March and reopen by Memorial Day weekend. The work, he said, will include construction of 24-foot-diameter foundation shafts, some 100 to 125 feet deep, placement of bridge girders on a roughly 75-foot-long span and reconstruction of roadway approaches. Clark said much of the stream shaping under the new bridge will occur after the roadway reopens and that some nighttime lane closures will be needed to allow equipment to access the site.
Clark said the prime contractor, Kiewit, has already completed pavement repairs on the detour route and will provide additional flaggers and coordinate with city operations to adjust traffic signals if needed. WSDOT plans to place speed-detection trailers on First and Front streets and will implement “write in, write out” restrictions at Marine Drive and South Cedar Street as part of the detour plan.
For two other Port Angeles crossings Clark said crews will build temporary alignments and shift traffic onto those alignments rather than fully detouring traffic; those operations will use daytime and nighttime flagging and reduced speed limits through work zones. Clark said work on the Ennis crossing is expected to start in late April or early May and run through February 2026.
Council member Latricia Suds asked whether Kiewit is performing all four sites; Clark replied yes, and said the contract is about $120,000,000. Suds also asked whether design plans are available online; Clark said conceptual plans are on the project website and that staff could post additional design details.
Council members and WSDOT staff discussed post-construction monitoring. Clark said Kiewit will monitor and be responsible for repairs under a five-year warranty and that WSDOT will monitor fish passage for 10 years under the agency’s agreement with the tribes; Clark specifically confirmed tribal involvement. Council members said they expect the monitoring data to be useful to local streamkeepers and tribal partners.
WSDOT advised residents to use the agency’s mobile app and project web page for updates, sign up for email notices and watch for an online open house the agency plans to publish.
The presentation did not require a council vote. WSDOT said the agency will coordinate traffic mitigation with city operations and follow the schedules and monitoring described during the presentation.
