Without major fanfare, the bridge at Dungeness Railroad Bridge Park is open once again.

Volunteers from the Peninsula Trails Coalition still are making upgrades to the bridge early this week — including modifications to the stairs, observation deck, raising the top of the rail and more — but PTC members welcomed the bridge’s first group of users on Friday morning, March 25 — visitors from Greywolf Elementary School visiting the adjacent Dungeness River Audubon Center.

Construction to build a new pedestrian and bike bridge across the Dungeness River in Railroad Bridge Park began in late August 2015 and was completed on Christmas Eve.

The $2.5 million project replaced the structurally unsound wooden trestle with a 750-foot steel pedestrian foot bridge. A total of 180 creosote pilings were removed as well as 166 feet of railroad grade from the floodplain.

The bridge was closed once again on Feb. 15. Thanks to a $100,000 donation from the First Federal Community Foundation, officials with the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe were able to redo the decking on the historical Dungeness Railroad Bridge and adjoining ramp at Railroad Bridge Park.

As of Monday, March 28, volunteers had dedicated more than 1,400 hours to re-decking and other maintenance to the bridge, according to Gordon Taylor, Peninsula Trails Coalition special projects manager.

“Lots of folks came and walked the bridge and trestle (on Friday), admiring the artwork and the new surface,” Taylor said.

See photos of volunteers working on the project at the Olympic Discovery Trail Facebook site at www.facebook.com/OlympicDiscoveryTrail.