Detours ahead: Fish frenzy brings two highway closures to south Kitsap County

By Angela Cochran and Mark Krulish

Q: What is black and white and rolls around the Puget Sound but is definitely not a soccer ball?

A: An orca.

This wasn’t a very good joke (we made it up). But we wanted to tie in fish passage with this summer’s big soccer championship. You know the one. We can’t say the name for legal reasons, but it’s in Seattle. Athletes from around the “world” are going to be there. The title includes another word for a beverage container.

We spotted a pod of orcas playing near the Tacoma Narrows Bridge last September.

Anyway, one of the benefits of removing barriers to fish is feeding orcas! We’re doing our part to appease our marine overlords (well, at least they might see it that way).

If you live in Kitsap or Mason County and plan on attending any of the games, you’ll want to plan extra travel time.

Although the matches don’t start until June, we’ve already started work at two fish passage projects. One is in the Gorst area. That project ultimately will remove barriers to fish at five locations along State Route 3, SR 16 and SR 166. The other fish barrier is south of Port Orchard under SR 160, known to most as Sedgwick Road.

Fish passage projects will close two highways on the same day in Kitsap County. SR 3 will close near Sunnyslope Road, and SR 160 will close near Long Lake Road.

Double red card

We plan on closing both SR 3 and SR 160 (Sedwick Road) on the same day, Saturday, June 13. We know that any road closure is at the least inconvenient. The closures will allow crews to remove and replace the highway in a relatively short time. SR 3 will be closed for 16 days so crews can install a new culvert that allows fish migration. Sedgwick Road will close for about four months while crews build a new bridge over Salmonberry Creek.

For both locations, closing the road means faster construction time and reduced environmental effects from building roads in wetlands. For the SR 3 location, it also comes with a cost savings of about half a million dollars.

Please note that we’re well aware of what’s happening in Seattle and the number of tourists who’ll surely visit this side of Puget Sound. We’ve done a lot to limit construction effects in the Greater Seattle area due to the tournament that we can’t legally name (rhymes with pearled pup). At the same time, we have a limited time period that we can work in a stream. This is determined by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife when fish are less active, and it varies by location. Plus, we’re under a federal court injunction to remove hundreds of barriers to fish by 2030, and that isn’t too far away.

SR 160/Sedgwick Road closure near Port Orchard

Travelers will see two signed detours for the SR 160 closure. 

If you’re headed towards the Southworth ferry, be prepared to take a short detour around a closure on Sedgwick Road (SR 160). In the late evening on Saturday, June 13, the highway will close between Blackberry Hill Lane and Long Lake Road until the end of October.

• Drivers will use Jackson Avenue, Salmonberry Road and Long Lake Road to get around the closure.
• People who walk, roll or bike will use Phillips Road, Salmonberry Road, Long Lake Road and Lakeview Drive.

Once the roadway reopens, work will stop until crews return in summer 2027 to remove the culvert and recreate the stream. The work at Salmonberry is one part of a larger fish barrier removal effort. A second location at Blackjack Creek on SR 16 near the Sedgwick Road interchange is scheduled to be complete in fall 2026.

SR 3 closure near Gorst

The morning of Saturday, June 13, we’re planning on closing a section of SR 3 between Belfair and Bremerton. The highway will remain closed around the clock for 16 days.

SR 3 travelers should plan extra time for the detour route. Signed detours will be available for people who drive, walk, roll or bike.

During the closure, our contractor will remove a section of the roadway near Sunnyslope Road Southwest. A new 150-foot-long box culvert will replace the smaller, outdated culvert under the highway.

SR 3 will remain open to residential and business traffic just north and south of the construction work zone. We’ll also have signed detours so you can still get to your destination with a little advanced planning.

While SR 3 is closed, travelers will see three signed detour routes:

• Drivers will use Sunnyslope Road Southwest and Southwest Lake Flora Road.
• People who walk, roll or bike can use Northeast Old Belfair Highway/West Belfair Valley Road.
• Commercial vehicles will be routed to SR 16 and SR 302.

Crews will work double shifts to make sure the work is completed on time.

While we are pretty sure that the SR 3 closure will happen on June 13, the schedule may change for a couple of reasons. The new culvert is being assembled off-site. If there are any issues with the assembly process, the closure could happen later. We are also waiting for the creek to dry out. Gorst Creek is a seasonal stream. This means that at some point during the warmer months, there is very little to no water in the stream. If we get a lot of rain between now and the closure date, we may need to divert the water, which can take more time to set up. We will continue to monitor the culvert assembly and weather for changes. We’ll update the project webpage and real-time travel map as schedules are finalized.

A larger concrete culvert will replace the current one under the highway. The blue flags mark the corners of the new culvert.

Why we remove fish barriers in seasonal streams

Some streams have seasonal flow, which means they may be dry at times, but they are still important to fish. For example, chum and pink salmon fry migrate directly to saltwater shortly after emerging from gravels in the spring. So, a stream that dries during the summer is not a concern for their life cycle. These streams can also sustain young or juvenile coho salmon. According to researchers, this is because there are often residual pools scattered through watersheds where they can wait out the dry periods. In these situations, young fish can benefit from using seasonal streams. It has been documented in studies linked on the Washington State Department of National Resources and on the Forest Service and U.S. Department of Agriculture websites, juvenile coho using seasonal streams are larger and have a greater chance of survival than streams with year-round flow. Researchers think that this may be due to reduced competition for food resources compared to year-round streams.

Gorst Creek potentially supports chum, coho, steelhead, sea-run cutthroat and resident trout.

SR 16 construction

Work is underway on SR 16 near Tremont Street West. People will see nighttime lane closures for early work and into construction as crews start building a temporary bypass road. The temporary bypass road will have two lanes in each direction. Travelers will also see detours for people who walk, roll and bike. Once the bypass road is in place, crews will start work digging up the highway. Travelers will see the speed limit temporarily reduced from 60 mph to 45 mph. A bridge will replace the outdated culvert under the highway. We expect this site to take two years to complete with work pausing for winter.

During work on SR 16, a signed detour via SR 16 Spur, Feigley Road and Southwest Old Clifton Road will be available for people who walk, bike or roll.

Future work

Work is also planned at three other locations: SR 16 in Gorst, the intersection of SR 3, SR 16 spur and West Sam Christopherson Avenue in Gorst, and Southeast Mile Hill Drive (SR 166) near Veterans Memorial Park in east Port Orchard. We are still working through some details on start dates and how traffic will move through these work zones. We do know that travelers will see lane closures as well as detours for people who walk, roll or bike.

Travel tools

No matter which work zone you need to navigate through this summer and beyond, we will get you where you need to go. It just may take a little longer than usual.

Make sure to check our online open house for the latest updates. You can also sign up for email alerts on state highway projects happening in Kitsap County. Download our app for real-time traffic information and alerts.

Earth Day, every day: How we’re protecting Washington’s environment together

By: Tina Werner, WSDOT maintenance communicator

Today is Earth Day (April 22), a time to celebrate our planet and reflect on the role we all play in protecting it. For us, Earth Day isn’t just a once-a-year moment. It’s built into the work we do every day. In fact, we launched our first Sustainability Action Plan on Earth Day 2019. This plan outlines how we’re protecting Washington’s environment for future generations. That commitment guides how we plan, build and maintain our transportation system.

Ecology crews collect trash along US 101 in Thurston County in April. Part of our commitment to protecting our planet is to plant native flowers and shrubs along the roadsides. Many restoration projects include site specific work that benefit pollinators.

The work you see (and the work you don’t)

When many people think of Earth Day, they might think of litter. And along our highways, it’s a very real issue. Our highway maintenance crews work with the departments of Ecology and Corrections and Adopt-A-Highway volunteers. Together, we work to keep roadsides clean, but it’s a constant struggle. Addressing this problem requires strong partnerships among state agencies, organizations and communities. The traveling public plays a crucial role too. The best solution is to stop litter from reaching roadways in the first place. By working together, we can keep Washington clean, safe and beautiful for everyone.

Litter cleanup is funded through a limited highway maintenance budget. That same budget also supports critical roadway operations and safety efforts. That includes things like:

• repairing damaged guardrails and potholes
• striping roads
• maintaining rest areas
• responding to snow and ice.

Generally, litter is not considered a critical highway safety task unless it is blocking a travel lane. Our maintenance crews must prioritize critical safety work. Crews remove deceased animals and large items, such as abandoned refrigerators, from roadways. If you see something that is an immediate safety concern, please call 9-1-1. They can dispatch law enforcement as well as our crews to the site. It is important to note that discarding items along the highway is illegal. Under state law, litter tickets and fines can be issued but a sworn law officer must see the littering take place. Tickets can’t be issued based on reports given to or seen by our field staff.

Multiple parters, one shared goal

Litter is picked up by departments of Ecology and Corrections crews, as well as our Adopt-A-Highway volunteers. Sometimes, contractor crews are hired by corporate sponsors. Those pick-up crews and volunteers leave full litter bags in a pile along the highway. Then, our maintenance crews collect them and record the volume for reporting purposes. These are the same crews who plow highways of snow and ice in the winter months. Most litter is generally collected between March and October. That’s when there’s less rain, and winter operations aren’t active. When crews are already working in an area, they often combine tasks. Planning ahead to sweep, pick up litter and remove graffiti all at once helps reduce future disruptions for travelers.

Ecology crews collect roadside litter along US 101 near Olympia in April. Our highway maintenance crews provided traffic control and disposed of the bagged litter. They also mowed and conducted vegetation management within the closure area.

And what our crews find can be surprising.

In 2025, together with Ecology, we spent more than $17 million on litter cleanup and disposal. These are large investments, but they do not fully capture the ongoing scope and complexity of litter challenges we face each year. Last year, our crews collected 726 tons of litter along state highways. This includes large items like mattresses and desks as well as bags of litter collected by volunteers and contractor crews. We do not have regular, dedicated litter crews. We also don’t have the funding to create them, which is why our partnerships with other agencies, communities and the public are so important. Preventing litter starts with all of us.

Thinking about joining? Adopt-A-Highway volunteers commit to taking care of a designated two-mile stretch of highway over a two-year period. Many of our volunteers take great pride in cleaning up our highways in the communities where they live and work. We currently have more than 800 active volunteer groups across the state, but we’re always looking for more to help make a difference. Volunteers must be at least 15 years of age and in good health. We provide litter bags and safety materials before each cleanup.

Adopt-A-Highway program volunteers for the Quilcene Harbor Yacht club. They had a successful litter cleanup last fall in the Olympic Peninsula

But litter pickup is just one piece of a much bigger picture.

Behind the scenes, our highway maintenance crews are managing stormwater systems, controlling weeds and preparing for wildfire. They are also thinking ahead and implementing a more environmentally friendly snow and ice program.

We created a pollinator-friendly habitat along Interstate 5 at the Scatter Creek Safety Rest Area. This is part of our roadside landscape program. Pollinator meadows like this require less mowing and upkeep compared to traditional turf grass. Besides benefiting pollinators, they help conserve resources, reduce emissions and lower maintenance costs.

We also have a team that include biologists, cultural resources specialists, permitting specialists and environmental quality assurance professionals. These environmental professionals help ensure compliance with local, state and federal regulations and policies.

Making a difference across Washington

Across the state, our work to protect the environment shows up in many ways:

• Since 2013, we’ve corrected 200 fish barriers. These corrections restore access to more than 705 miles of upstream habitat.
• We’re partnering with agencies, tribes and conservation groups to improve how we treat stormwater. Together, we’re working to remove harmful pollutants before they reach waterways.
• We’re building wildlife crossings that help animals move safely while reducing collisions on our roadways.
• We’ve signed a contract with Eastern Shipbuilders to construct up to three hybrid-electric 160 auto-ferries. We expect delivery of the first vessel in 2030. When terminals are electrified in the next few years, the vessels will operate on battery power. This decreases fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.
• We’re working to create edge buffers and fire-resilient native plant communities in Eastern Washington. We need to reduce the possibility of roadside fires before they start.
• We’re protecting wetlands and riparian areas as part of our highway construction program. We’re using principles of avoidance, minimization and mitigation.
• We’ve transitioned much of our fleet to renewable diesel — reducing emissions by about 70%. This also lowers maintenance impacts and costs.
• We’ve launched the second round of an e-bike rebate program. Rebates have already given more than 11,000 people the opportunity to reduce the upfront cost of e-bikes. The program makes e-bikes more affordable by providing rebates of either $300 or $1,200, depending on income eligibility.
• We’re investing in programs that help communities create safer travel options. Examples include bicycle education and helping reconnect neighborhoods divided by highways.
• We are reducing the effects of underwater noise on marine mammals. We are on the leadership committee of Quiet Sound. They recently recognized us for our leadership in voluntary vessel slowdowns. Since 2015, we’ve been one of just two U.S. entities in the ECHO Program. This program helps us understand and reduce the impacts of shipping on whales throughout the southern coast of British Columbia.

Protecting our planet includes correcting fish barriers under state highways. This example is along State Route 20 near Sedro-Woolley. This project reopened over half a mile of habitat for salmon and trout. It also created safer crossings for wildlife like deer, elk and black bears.

It takes all of us

Protecting our environment is a shared responsibility. We’ll continue to explore new ways to reduce our environmental impact and deliver sustainable transportation solutions. As a friendly reminder, small daily actions from all of us make a real difference. Simple choices like securing your load before every trip or choosing not to litter help keep our roads safe and our environment clean.

Because Earth Day isn’t just today. It’s every day.

Final pieces coming together on I-90 Sunset Creek fish passage project

By: Casey Conley

Much like a jigsaw puzzle, large-scale construction projects take shape one step at a time. Each interlocking piece builds on the last.

Taking that metaphor a step further, the full picture of the I-90 Sunset Creek fish passage project in Bellevue’s Factoria neighborhood is starting to come together.

Construction began on this multi-step project in early 2023. The expectation was that work would continue into 2027. We’ve reached a lot of milestones during the last three years. There are just a few more to go, and they are planned through 2026.

The most significant achievement so far is the construction of four bridges across Sunset Creek. Our contractor, Guy F. Atkinson Construction, built these new spans along I-90 and Southeast 36th Street.

The fourth and final bridge, constructed along Southeast Eastgate Way, opened to traffic in October 2025.

Final touches

People driving across the new Sunset Creek bridges can be forgiven for thinking the project is mostly complete. After all, the most visible pieces of this puzzle are now in place. But there is plenty of activity happening beneath those new bridges.

Since construction began in early 2023, contractor crews have built four new bridges across Sunset Creek.

Contractor crews are building concrete walls extending up to 50 feet below the freeway. These walls hold the steep hillside in place. The first phase of these walls is done, and work is underway on the remaining walls.

Contractor crews are currently building concrete walls that extend up to 50 feet below the freeway.

Once that’s done, we will remove the maze of culverts that previously carried Sunset Creek beneath nearly a dozen traffic lanes. These culverts prevent fish from swimming upstream.

We’re also planning important upgrades within Sunset Creek itself. Crews will construct a new stream channel running north-south between the bridges. We will place woody debris and other habitat improvements, giving fish a shady place to rest and stay safe from predators.

Then, we will reintroduce the stream into its new, open-air channel. This is one of the final pieces in this project. Depending on weather and other variables, we expect this will happen in early or mid-2027.

More work remains

We designed this project to minimize congestion and delays for people who live or commute along this section of I-90. We’ve had a healthy number of overnight lane and ramp closures over the last three years, but these occurred when traffic volumes were lowest. We’ll continue to have occasional overnight lane and ramp closures throughout the year as work enters the final stages.

Last spring, our environmental crews counted 43 juvenile coho salmon and 16 cutthroat trout in Sunset Creek near Southeast Eastgate Way. 

The eastbound I-90 HOV lane, which closed in spring 2023, will remain that way for much of the year. This closure makes space for crews to move construction material into the stream bed.

We’re planning more work along Southeast Eastgate Way in 2026. Crews began drainage and grading work in late March. We expect weekday single-lane closures on Southeast Eastgate Way near the new bridge to continue through much of 2026.

Improved fish habitat

The Sunset Creek drainage basin covers nearly 850 acres within the city of Bellevue from its source near Eastgate Park. There are chinook, coho, sockeye, steelhead and cutthroat trout in the stream.

Last spring, our environmental crews counted 43 juvenile coho salmon and 16 cutthroat trout in a small section of Sunset Creek north of I-90. The biggest fish was a cutthroat more than five inches long.

By the time we’re done, this project will open 1.65 miles of potential upstream habitat to salmon and resident fish.

More pieces to this puzzle

This project contains fish passage improvements bundled together into a single contract. Bundling work like this saves time and reduces construction costs.

Construction is now complete fish passage improvements along SR 203 south of Carnation, left, and SR 203 in Fall City. 

Later this year, three culverts that block fish passage on SR 161 in Federal Way and Milton will be replaced along tributaries to Hylebos Creek. We expect work in these areas to resume in early summer and wrap up in early fall. This part of the project opens a combined 2.2 miles of potential upstream habitat.

And in 2024 and 2025, we completed fish passages beneath SR 202 in Fall City and SR 203 to the north and south of Carnation. Taken together, these projects in east King County built three new bridge structures and opened a combined 3.4 miles of potential habitat.

Like a good puzzle, this project has taken time for the pieces to come together. But once the work is finished, we believe you’ll like the finished product.

Streaming soon under US 101: Season 3 of major fish passage construction on the Olympic Peninsula

By Angela Cochran

It may not be the show you’ve been waiting for the past several years (looking at you, Stranger Things!), but it’s sure to be the talk of the town for summer travelers on the Olympic Peninsula.

With eight new episodes – uh, we mean work zones – it’s lights, camera, action – ok, well it’s just lights. Red, yellow and green ones. Traffic lights, to be specific. But don’t worry! They are all temporary.

You’ll see a lot of these guys if you’re traveling US 101 along the coast this summer.

If your summer plans include taking the “loop” (US 101 on the Olympic Peninsula), you’ll want to include some extra travel time. But we’ll keep you moving through the work zones.

This is the third season of our “Coastal 29” project. The work removes barriers to fish at 29 locations under US 101 and State Route 109.

All of the fish passage locations that are part of the Coastal 29 project.

We reached the halfway point for the project last fall after completing work at five locations under SR 109 near Ocean Shores and four locations under US 101 south of Forks. This summer, we’re getting US 101 ready for its closeup.

Bonus episode

In addition to the fish passage sites, we have a ninth location where US 101 is reduced to one lane of alternating traffic. This is due to erosion along the highway near Kalaloch. In the next several weeks, our contractor will work to repair the hillside and reopen both lanes.

Plot summary

The temporary changes will remain in place at the eight fish passage work zones through the end of the year. The changes include a temporary bypass road. Most of the locations already have traffic on bypass roads. These locations all have one-way alternating traffic around the clock. The bypass roads will open at the remaining locations within the next couple of weeks.

Aerial image of a bypass road with a temporary bridge. 

Once traffic is shifted onto the bypass road at each location, crews will start digging up the highway and relocating aquatic life in the stream. Before stream work begins, we temporarily divert the stream. This happens during a time when fish are less active in the stream. We call this the “fish window”. This window varies by location. For these streams, it starts in July.

Up next

After the Independence Day holiday, we will block off the project area with fencing and move fish and other species up or down stream of the project. We also document the number and types of species found in the stream during this time. A pipe is then used to divert the stream around the project area, which gives crews the room they need to rebuild the stream bed. Once that work is complete, tree trunks and native plants are added for shelter and nutrients. In addition to the stream work, we build the new structure.

Fish passage work includes relocating aquatic life before working in the stream.

Main character arc

One of the projects just hit a big milestone. We placed girders, or large support beams, on the new bridge over May Creek. This project is located at the Jefferson/Clallam county line south of Forks. Girders act as the backbone of a bridge. They are placed on top of the piers and support the driving surface. The new May Creek bridge has five girders that are each 175 feet long – the size of the Seattle Ferris Wheel!

Now that the girders are in place, we are working on the bridge deck. The contractor expects to finish most of the bridge work and open it by the end of this year. If this happens, they will pause work for winter and perform stream work when the fish window opens in summer 2026. We expect to complete the whole project in fall 2026.

Next season on Coastal 29

All bingeworthy series come to an end. By the end of this year, we will have removed barriers to fish at 22 locations under US 101 and SR 109. It’s been blockbuster work since 2023.

That means our construction series finale will be a little shorter. We’ll only have seven culverts left to replace along the coast in 2026 and 2027. Crews will finish work at the two sites under US 101 near Forks next summer. We will also replace culverts under SR 109 at five locations to complete this massive endeavor.

As always, you can tune in for live traffic information on our app and statewide travel map.

It’s rewarding work removing barriers to fish. You could call it a rerun (but, you know, with fish).

Baby salmon (doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo) and a huge milestone for the US 12/SR 8 fish passage project in Grays Harbor County

 By Angela Cochran

Spring is a time of new beginnings – from cherry blossoms and tulips to hatching chicks and ducklings, we see signs of new life after our long, gray winter. In Grays Harbor County, our crews witnessed such an event at a recently completed fish passage site on State Route 8 near McCleary. Remember all those adult salmon we showed you last fall? We are seeing the fruits of their labor – or at least the fruits of some more recent spawning salmon – baby fish!

Our workers saw dozens of baby coho under SR 8 in early April.

These coho salmon fry (the term for baby fish) hatched recently upstream from SR 8 near Mox Chehalis Road East. In summer 2024, we removed the small pipe culvert that blocked fish from swimming under the highway. The new culvert is a large concrete box that allows fish to access habitat that they haven’t been able to get to since the highway was originally built.

We spotted these adult fish upstream of the new culvert in fall 2024. 

The stream is a tributary of Mox Chehalis Creek. It may not seem like much, but this small stream is clearly important to the ecosystem, as we can see that salmon are spawning in it. According to our partners at the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, the stream also supports other species of salmon, such has chum, as well as resident, steelhead and sea run cutthroat trout. And that’s just the protected fish species. For a small stream, that’s a lot of fish! It stands to reason that giving them access to even more habitat, even just a mile or so, will help them have room to thrive.

More coho fry in the stream under SR 8.

What our crews report seeing in real time is that more habitat means more fish. It’s like that disembodied voice said in that little baseball movie from the 80s, “If you build it, they will come.” This concept also applies to neighboring culverts. Sometimes there are multiple culverts making fish passage difficult or blocking it altogether in a stream but only one that we, as a state highway department, have the authority to correct. However, once we correct ours, counties, cities and even private property owners may be more likely to receive grant funding to help correct theirs.

Good news for highway users

In addition to the baby news, we have some good news for travelers on top of the highway. We expect to complete work at all five locations early. When we designed the project, we expected stream work to take two summers to complete. That meant we would start opening lanes at each site in the fall of 2025. Since our contractor, Cecannti, Inc., was able to complete all the stream work in one summer, we are able to start opening lanes early. As of  Monday, May 19, traffic is now back to its original configuration with two lanes in each direction at Camp Creek in Montesano and the Mox Chehalis Creek tributary east of McCleary.

A look under the new US 12 bridges in Montesano.

Daytime lane closures will still occur as our crews complete landscaping and other final work along the roadway. This will mostly happen on weekdays, which is good news if you’re heading to the beach on a weekend. We also have to remove the large temporary light poles. Once that happens, the speed limit reduction will go away at those two sites.

That will leave only three work zones with around-the-clock lane closures. The speed limit will remain 50 mph approaching Elma from either direction. We’re working at these locations to get them to the next stage throughout spring and summer. You’ll see temporary changes to the roadway while that happens as well as some rolling slowdowns. This allows us to leave one lane open in each direction while paving and striping the closed lanes. Please don’t pass vehicles slowing traffic. They are there for your safety and to protect our workers.

When a traffic backup triggers the Queue Warning System, this electronic sign will display messages like "Traffic Backups Present", "Slow or Stopped Traffic", "Use Both Lanes, Take Turns at Merge".

Travelers will also notice the Queue Warning System moved closer to the remaining work zones approaching Elma. The Queue Warning System uses sensors to detect traffic backups and then displays messages on an electronic sign. The messages let people know what to do as they approach the work zone. We’ve seen these signs activate during busy holiday weekends, so you may notice them if you’re headed to or from the beach for Memorial Day.

Approaching the finish line

We expect to complete work at all sites in the fall. We want to thank you all for your patience. We know it’s been a long road (ha ha!), but we’ve almost arrived at our destination, and you will, too! When planning your summer trip to the beach, make sure to visit our online open house for information on all of the projects happening on the Olympic Peninsula. Check the statewide travel map and WSDOT app for real-time information before heading out the door.

The makings of a PNW autumn include rain and returning salmon

By Olympic Region Communications

Some things in life you can set your watch to – assuming this is something people still do.

As The Byrds sang, “to everything, turn, turn, turn, there is a season turn, turn, turn.” In the Pacific Northwest, that season change means our warm summers eventually fade to autumn. Rain begins to fall, filling our creeks and rivers.

There are other things you can count on in case that old Timex stops ticking: fish.

A chum run unlike any other in Chico Creek

In the waters of the Pacific Northwest fall also means fish runs. This time of year, we see salmon and other fish returning to streams to spawn and start the life cycle all over again. This year, though, we’re seeing something more: a lot of fish at streams where they haven’t been in years. We’ve heard from local communities, crews and co-workers who grew up here that it’s a chum run like they’ve never seen.

Salmon make their way upstream in Chico Creek under the new SR 3 bridge

In recent weeks, this was the case at Chico Creek in Kitsap County. The sight of salmon so thick in the creek brought tears to locals’ eyes.

We’re also happy to see the increased fish runs and to have played a part in their overall return. In many locations our fish passage projects replacing aging culverts that blocked fish migration have let fish swim more freely under state highways.

A team effort at Chico Creek

A case in point is Chico Creek near Bremerton. The restoration of Chico Creek has been decades in the making, led by Suquamish Tribe and Kitsap County. This work was preceded by multiple public projects in Chico Creek’s lower reaches that replaced old bridges with more fish-friendly designs, restored sections of stream bank and protected natural areas along Chico Creek, including Kitsap County’s 30-acre Erlands Point Park.

In 2021, we began a project to build a new bridge on State Route 3. We also began building a new 50-foot-long bridge on Chico Way Northwest. Fast forward to 2024, the project has now opened up nearly 22 miles of potential habitat for fish.

The new bridges now accommodate a rerouted Chico Creek, which flows away from two culverts and beneath the SR 3 bridge. The bridge on Chico Way removes a barrier to a nearby unnamed tributary, which feeds into Chico Creek. In other words, fish have more room and easier access.

Just as in-stream work wrapped up, the rains started to refill those creeks. Like clockwork, the fish have returned.

Salmon run at Chico Creek in October 2024

Our point is, it’s not just WSDOT projects that help restore salmon runs by correcting culverts that are barriers to fish. This particular watershed had, at one point, several barriers further upstream and a barrier downstream. It takes all of us working together to restore watersheds and fish runs.

Culverts under our highway may only be one part of the equation, but it is our duty and responsibility to play our part in restoring these habitats to a more natural state for local salmon. (It is also part of a federal court injunction for WSDOT barriers. Work like this project gets us another step closer to meeting those requirements).

24 for 24

It’s not just Chico Creek where progress is being made removing barriers to fish movement. In 2024, we opened 24 barriers to fish in seven western Washington counties: Pierce, Thurston, Kitsap, Clallam, Jefferson, Grays Harbor and Mason.

We restored access to 76 miles of potential fish habitat. It’s a lot of work for crews. And it meant travelers had to endure detours, slowdowns and delays for this work. Here’s a snapshot of the work completed this year:

SR 16 and SR 302 Spur at Purdy Creek

In Pierce County, we are wrapping up a long-term project at Purdy Creek near Gig Harbor. We started working on SR 16 in fall of 2022 to remove a barrier under the highway. We built two 206-foot-long bridges to replace an outdated culvert. The project removed a second fish barrier under the SR 302 Spur, known locally as Purdy Drive, in 2023. We built a smaller bridge there to replace an outdated culvert. This portion of the project also included a shared-use path for people who walk and roll that was added at the request of the community.

Chum salmon in Purdy Creek at SR 16 in November 2024

SR 108 and US 101 in Mason and Thurston counties

This summer, crews removed barriers to fish at three locations under SR 108 near Kamilche, and under US 101 near the Mason/Thurston County line. The work on SR 108 included separate total closures of the highway in the Kamilche area most of July and August. It required a lengthy detour through US 101 at Mud Bay. On US 101, we kept people moving by reducing US 101 to one lane in each direction. We know detours can be frustrating, but this closure and detour allowed us to complete the overall work much faster, shortening the overall disruptions.

US 101 near Forks

In the Forks area, we started a project in the spring to remove fish barriers under US 101 at five locations. Four of them wrapped up mid-November. We will return in 2025 to complete work at the Wisen Creek site between Forks and Port Angeles. We replaced outdated culverts under the highway with a variety of structures. The most notable is an arch culvert located just south of the Clallam County line in Jefferson County. Our crews used approximately 9,000 bolts to put together the large metal structure.

In summer 2024, we built a large metal arch culvert to replace an outdated culvert under US 101 near Ruby Beach

SR 109 between Seabrook and Hoquiam

People traveling to Pacific Coast beaches this summer encountered multiple detours while crews removed five old culverts that hampered fish movement. Crews had to dig up the entire highway to install the new large concrete structures. These new structures now allow fish to swim under the highway more easily.

US 12 and SR 8 in Grays Harbor County

If you live along US 12/SR 8 in Grays Harbor County or took that route to the coast in the last year, you traveled through five fish passage sites between Olympia and Montesano. We started a project to remove barriers to fish there in fall 2023. While we still have some bridges to finish building, our contractor was able to get all stream work done this past summer. Originally, we expected the stream work to take two summers to complete. This means we will likely wrap up the project well before the end of 2025 as first expected.

Coho salmon swim through the new culvert under SR 8 east of McCleary

Making the highways more resilient

All of these projects built new bridges or installed larger culverts to replace the old culverts that blocked fish habitat. If you’re thinking to yourself, that’s a lot of new structures, we agree. But all of the culverts we are replacing were reaching the end of their useful life.

The new structures allow fish to swim freely under state highways and make our highways more resilient during floods and earthquakes. The new structures are built to current seismic standards. They also reduce flooding by allowing more water to flow under the highway. In turn, this reduces the need for emergency road closures and costly repairs from flood damage.

There is more work ahead in the coming years as we work towards meeting the 2013 federal court injunction.  

We know people had to alter their plans to accommodate the roadwork, and we’re very grateful for the cooperation in that. When you see fish returning to the streams, and you see the end result, we hope you share in the feeling that it’s worth the effort.