Numerous state Department of Transportation multi-million-dollar construction projects will cause significant delays and detours on the North Olympic Peninsula for much of 2023.

Closures of the Hood Canal Bridge, installation of state Highway 104 roundabouts and fish barrier projects are planned.

“We need people to help us out by staying informed and staying engaged,” said Steve Roark, Olympic Region administrator for the Department of Transportation (DOT). The region includes Clallam and Jefferson counties in addition to Kitsap, Mason, Grays Harbor, Pierce and Thurston.

DOT has set up a “virtual open house” that, although it will not take feedback, will provide updated information regarding construction projects in the area. It can be found at engage.wsdot.wa.gov/north-olympic-peninsula-2023-construction.

It includes information about downloading the DOT app, signing up for emails and other ways to stay informed about road work.

Work though the construction season will be concentrated largely on the eastern side of the Peninsula, with weekend Hood Canal Bridge closures a major disruption.

The Hood Canal Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic for four consecutive weekends beginning July 28. It will be closed from 11 p.m. that Friday, July 28, through 4 a.m. the following Monday, July 31.

It will be closed during the same hours from Aug. 4-7, Aug. 11-14, and Aug. 18-21.

The Hood Canal Bridge weekend closures will be in the middle of the construction work to install a $4.6 million metered roundabout on state Highway 104 at the Paradise Bay Road and Shine Road intersection. Work is expected to begin this spring and extend through the summer into early winter.

During the same time period, a $4 million non-metered roundabout will be installed up the road at 104’s intersection with state Highway 19, also known as Beaver Valley Road.

Another major project — this one on the west end of the Peninsula, the Elwha River Bridge replacement — will begin this year but will not disrupt traffic since the new bridge will be built next to the roadway. No closures of U.S. Highway 101 are expected until the end of the project in 2025, DOT officials said.

Replacement of fish barriers east and west of Port Angeles is not planned until 2024, although several barriers will be replaced this year elsewhere on the Peninsula.

In 2013, a federal court injunction required the state to significantly increase efforts in removing state-owned culverts that block habitat for salmon, bull trout and steelhead.

Hood Canal Bridge

The Hood Canal Bridge project will entail rehabilitating the center locks on the Hood Canal Bridge’s west half drawspan.

“They have served us well but they are at the end of their life,” said Roark, adding that the bridge needs constant maintenance because it rests in a harsh salt-water environment.

The center locks allow the bridge to be opened and closed and the state is obligated to open the bridge for marine traffic, including Navy ships.

They guide the span and keep both halves of the bridge connected.

The contractor also will have to “test and trim” the bridge after the new center locks are installed, which will require 14 nighttime closures, from 11 p.m.-4 a.m.

“There’s no way to avoid impacts from the bridge closures,” Roark said, adding that no mitigation is planned.

“We tried to fit them when they would have the least impact on commuters, people traveling to medical appointments and the movement of people and goods,” he said.

Olympic Peninsula Visitor Bureau Executive Director Marsha Massey said the state transportation department has been very communicative with the bureau regarding the projects and potential impacts on tourism.

“We appreciate that they came out here to talk with us and meet with us,” Massey said. “We started this conversation back in the fall. Our initial concerns were the Hood Canal Bridge closures.

“The tourism commission compiled a list of dates and asked them to consider not closing the bridge during those times. They were very respectful to take those into consideration,” Massey said.

“I feel like it’s been a dialogue. It’s not going to be easy. The big piece is communication,” she said.

DOT projects listed

Here is a list of fish barrier projects and more detail on other construction planned on the Olympic Peninsula:

• U.S. 101 Jefferson and Clallam counties fish barrier removal: This $41.6 million project will remove fish barriers at six locations under Highway 101 between Sequim and Discovery Bay in Jefferson and Clallam counties from 2023 to 2025.

At Eagle Creek, just west of Chicken Coop Road, Highway 101 will be reduced to a single lane around the work zone. Alternating one-lane traffic will be in place controlled by a signal for four days sometime in August.

At all other locations, two-lane temporary bypasses around work zones will be in place. Highway 101 will have reduced speed limits in place throughout the corridor to accommodate the work zones.

• Leland Creek bridge and unnamed tributaries culvert replacement: Traffic is being diverted around the bridge construction, which began Thursday.

At the northern and southern tributary sites, corrected barriers will produce nearly 4 miles of upstream habitat. At Leland Creek specifically, a new concrete girder bridge will allow nearly 14 miles of upstream habitat to improve migration for Chinook, coho salmon, steelhead, and bull trout.

At the north and south unnamed tributaries, box culverts will be replaced, one at a time, over a period of 25 consecutive calendar days. The closures will begin no earlier than July 16 and be complete no later than Aug. 19.

Traffic will detour onto Center Drive during those replacements. Freight haulers will detour around the construction zone via US 101, SR 3 and SR 105 as the Little Quilcene River Bridge has load weight restrictions in place.

The timeline for the $9 million project is late winter 2023 to late winter 2024.

• May Creek in the vicinity of Dowans Creek Road removal of fish barrier: This $9 million project on Highway 101 south of Forks is expected to begin in the fall and continue through the fall of 2025.

• Shine Creek, Swansonville Creek, on state Highway 104: This $8 million project will feature at Shine Creek a temporary two-lane bypass road around the work zone with a reduced speed limit. Two lanes of traffic will be maintained while installing the new culverts.

The Swansonville Creek project will feature one 10-day continuous closure sometime between Sept. 5-30. Travelers will detour on Center Drive during the closure.

The project timeline is summer 2023 to fall 2023.

• SR104 Paradise Bay Road and Shine Road Intersection Improvement: This $4.6 million roundabout construction project will feature shifted lanes around the work zone and intermittent lane closures.

Flaggers may be present at times.

One lane will be maintained in each direction as much as possible.

Short-term closure of Highway 104 access from Shine Road at milepost 14 will occur over a period of two weeks.

The timeline is spring 2023 to early winter 2023.

• SR104 and state Highway 19 Intersection Improvements: This $4 million construction project will feature shifted lanes around the work zone and temporary lane closures while crews work in phases on the roundabout.

Any closures will be announced in advance.

Short term closures of Highway 104 access onto Highway 19 will occur over a period of three weeks.

The time frame is from late spring to early winter this year.

• State Highway 20 and Kearney Street Roundabout: This project, as yet not contracted, will feature temporary detours around the work zone, each lasting a few weeks.

It is expected to be done this spring.

• US 101 Elwha River Bridge Replacement: The $36 million project possibly could begin in mid-March and last into late winter 2025.

Traffic will be maintained during construction. A full nine-day closure will be required at the very end of the work, with detours on state highways 112 and 113.

The project will produce a 40-foot-wide bridge with 12-foot travel lanes and eight-foot shoulders. Then the old bridge will be demolished.