PORT ANGELES — Fish barrier corrections on U.S. Highway 101 at the South Pine Street cutoff and Tumwater Truck Route are on track to finish on time.
The Clallam County Commissioners were updated on that project and several others during their work session on Monday.
“We did our long-term closure then realized ‘Wow, we need 12 more days,’” said Steve Roark, the state Department of Transportation’s Olympic Region Administrator. “We needed more time to get the work done without having to delay to next year.”
The additional closure of the truck route over the past two weeks paid off, Roark said.
“We’re going to be able to complete the work on time. It worked well,” he said.
The project at Ennis Creek is poised to be completed next year, Roark said.
For the state Route 112 preservation and maintenance project, work will resume in 2026 to complete final paving and guardrails, he said.
“We’re going to get some preliminary paving done before winter,” Roark said. “One problem we’re having is there are nesting eagles out there.”
During the eagle nesting period, certain types of construction work are forbidden because they would disturb the eagles, he said. For that reason, those projects were postponed until Aug. 15.
For the state Route 112 project, Roark said construction is set to begin in the 2028-29 timeframe and that WSDOT received a $12 million grant from NOAA for that and five other projects. WSDOT is looking to raise the highway grade and stabilize the shoreline along the 112 embankment, according to Roark’s presentation to the commissioners.
For the roundabout projects between Sequim and Port Angeles, Roark said there will be quite a bit of work going on with paving during summer of 2027.
To replace the culverts at Peabody Creek and White Creek, WSDOT is currently modeling stream hydrology and hydraulics, investigating subsurface conditions and studying environmental considerations, according to Roark’s presentation.
He said both of those projects are funded, but construction is still a few years away.
Commissioner Randy Johnson asked if Roark had any information about the Hood Canal Bridge, so Roark shared about the work WSDOT did during overnight bridge closures last week.
He said the drawspan runs on giant wheels, which were starting to get divots so WSDOT was working to grind those down to make the wheels smooth again.
“The age of structure requires constant maintenance to keep it running,” Roark said. “We don’t like to work on the bridge Oct. 1 until May. That’s what we call the storm window.”
He mentioned a huge project is coming to replace girders on the bridge, but he added that project is still years away.
The public has been providing a lot of feedback on marine openings, requesting that WSDOT make marine traffic wait during peak hours, but Roark said they’re not allowed to do that.
“We have to open that bridge for marine traffic,” he said. “It’s a federal regulation.”
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Reporter Emily Hanson can be reached by email at emily.hanson@peninsuladailynews.com.
