Travelers will see weekday and weekend one-way alternating traffic on US 101 at Tumwater Creek as work wraps up. This area has a narrow highway and steep slopes. Flagging is necessary to safely pass travelers around the large equipment needed by the contractor to deliver the final materials to the stream bottom. Construction will be complete this fall.
Project overview
This project removes and replaces several outdated culverts under US 101 and State Route 116 at Lees, Ennis, Tumwater and Chimacum Creeks. Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife has identified these sites as barriers to salmon migration and other resident fish species.
WSDOT will replace outdated culverts with new structures for improved fish migration in the streams below as part of a statewide fish barrier correction program.
What to expect
The locations for culvert replacement are:
- US 101 at Lees Creek (milepost 250.5)
- US 101 at Ennis Creek (milepost 250.2)
- US 101 at Tumwater Creek (milepost 246.4)
- SR 116 at Chimacum Creek (milepost 0.22)
Travelers will see weekday and weekend one-way alternating traffic on US 101 at Tumwater Creek as work wraps up. This area has a narrow highway and steep slopes. Flagging is necessary to safely pass travelers around the large equipment needed by the contractor to deliver the final materials to the stream bottom. Construction will be complete this fall.
Construction at Lees and Ennis Creeks on US 101 just outside Port Angeles began in March. The speed limit at Lees and Ennis Creeks is reduced from 40 mph to 25 mph during construction. The highway at Lees and Ennis Creeks are both in their first long-term traffic shift. The roadway will remain in this configuration into the fall.
There will be no daytime lane reductions at Lees and Ennis Creeks.
Work on Chimacum Creek will begin in 2026. Travelers can expect a long-term closure of SR 116 at the creek between Shotwell Place and Chimacum Creek Drive. Travelers will use SR 19, Irondale Road and Chimacum Road to detour around the closure.
WSDOT and the design-builder will coordinate with local agencies and emergency services to minimize delays and keep people moving through work zones.
Crews will correct barriers to salmon migration under SR 116 at Chimacum Creek beginning in Summer 2024. Work on US 101 at Lees, Ennis and Tumwater Creeks will begin in 2025.
Replacing these outdated culverts and fish ladders with new structures will open up a combined 18 miles of upstream habitat for salmon spawning and rearing. Also, this work will remove significant velocity barriers for migrating fish species. In lieu of the concrete fish ladders, the in-stream work at all sites will incorporate natural components like logs and boulders to help stabilize the new channel, provide habitat features, and restore natural stream processes that have been disrupted since the culverts were installed when the highway was first constructed.
The new culvert and the natural elements will make it easier for fish to pass through the creeks. They will slow the water and create a more natural creek environment.
Correcting fish passage barriers is an important part of the state's efforts to protect and restore fish runs negatively affected by outdated culverts under state highways.
In 2013, a federal court injunction required the state to significantly increase the state’s efforts in removing state-owned culverts that block habitat for salmon, bull trout and steelhead.
