An Olympic (Peninsula) Feat: Milestone achieved at Grays Harbor County fish barrier removal sites

By Angela Cochran and Brian Turner

While we recover from the excitement of the Paris Olympics and await the glory of the Paris Paralympics (say it three times fast), we have another kind of Olympic story for you. This story is about removing barriers to fish on the Olympic Peninsula. Although no one will get any gold medals, it’s still a win for people, the environment and fish.

Locations of work zones along US 12 and SR 8 in Grays Harbor County.

We’ve reached a milestone in Grays Harbor County between Montesano and the Thurston County line. You may have seen construction at several locations along US 12 and State Route 8. Our contractor, Cecannti, Inc., has finished building four bridges on the highways. A fifth bridge is complete on an adjacent roadway. A new box culvert is nearly complete at the site east of McCleary. All are designed to help remove barriers to fish. We’re also rebuilding streams at each location.

The culvert for Camp Creek in Montesano also goes under Simmons Road next to the highway. We completed the bridge there earlier this year.

That brings us to more good news. We’ve finished temporarily relocating highway lanes at all sites along US 12 and SR 8. If you live in or drive through the area, you may have noticed our crews are now working on the opposite side of the highway. Throughout spring and summer, each location has gone through a series of temporary changes. This allowed crews to start building the second round of bridges and install the second half of the box culvert. US 12 and SR 8 are divided highways, so structures must be built for each direction of travel.

But that’s not all we’ve been doing this summer!

Working with mother nature

What we think a fish window should look like.

While something like this completely made-up image may pop into your mind when we say we are in a "fish window," it actually means something else.

The fish window, or in-water work window, is the short period of time when we are allowed to work in a stream. The timeframe varies from project to project but is generally between July and October. It’s based on when there is the least number of spawning fish in a particular stream. This is determined by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

This little coho was recently moved out of the work zone at Mox Chehalis Road East near McCleary.

Before starting work in the water, we catch and document any aquatic life in the stream. We move fish and other creatures safely down or upstream away from the work. Then our crews do earthwork so we can rebuild the stream. Where does the stream go during this time? We divert it around the work zone. The stream is often contained to a pipe and diverted downstream.

Fish projects benefit all of us

This project is designed to benefit fish, but how does it benefit people? At some locations, you may have noticed an incline that wasn’t there before. That’s because some of the highway is in a floodplain. The structures we are building can handle increased stream flow and coastal flooding. They are also built to current earthquake safety standards. They replace old, outdated culverts that are reaching the end of their useful life anyway. The structures replacing them are built to last at least 75 years. This helps provide more reliable transportation routes for the communities we serve. Preventing flooding on the roadway also means less maintenance from water damage and reduced highway closures.

Smart signs keep people moving

A unique feature of this project is the innovative technology we use to keep people moving around the work zones. Each work zone has electronic signs. If there is a backup approaching the work zone, the signs will activate a series of messages. Most of the time, the signs are blank. We turn them on every weekend, but the messages are only activated when a backup reaches a certain trigger point. We’ve seen this happen on busy weekends when people are heading to and from the beaches. The message displays include: "Traffic Backups Present", "Slow or Stopped Traffic", "Use Both Lanes, Take Turns at Merge". These messages let people know what to do as they approach the work zone.

Our Queue Warning System uses sensors to activate messages on electronic signs during a traffic backup.

A quick note about zipper merging. We encourage the practice of zipper merging when traffic is slow and congested. That just means people use both lanes up to the closure point. Remember, "merge late, cooperate." We know this may be hard to do. Most of us were trained as young children to wait in line. As strange as it sounds, though, a zipper merge reduces the backup more quickly. Everyone getting in one lane super early actually increases congestion. Be kind to each other. We all want to get to our destinations.

Help us help you plan for more work in the roadway

After shifting the work zones, crews are now working on new structures at all of the sites. In early September, some of the bridges will be ready to add the support beams. Sometimes we use rolling slowdowns to get the support beams to the work zone. Rolling slowdowns use vehicles to temporarily slow or stop traffic so we can work further down the road. Please, never pass one of our vehicles while doing this. We do this for your safety. Plus, the crews further down the road are not expecting any traffic. Whether there are rolling slowdowns or not, always pay extra attention when traveling through work zones.

Workers use a large crane to pick up a support beam for the westbound US 12 bridge in Montesano.

We will let you know in advance when the work is scheduled. You can sign up to get email updates for work on state highways in Grays Harbor County. Use our online open house when planning a road trip to get information on all our major projects happening on the peninsula. Don’t forget to check our real-time travel center map and app before heading out the door.

We are on track to wrap up work on this project by the end of 2025. The minor traffic delays you see now are worth it in the long run. This project is a win for fish and people.