When mariners should – and shouldn’t - request Hood Canal Bridge openings

By Doug Adamson

Update: 5 p.m. April 13, 2026

Pleasure craft operators should plan for changes to maritime opening restrictions at the State Route 104 Hood Canal Bridge for the 2026 season.

Maritime opening restrictions in 2026:

• May 22, through June 5, recreational vessels are prohibited from marine openings between 3 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. each day.
• June 6 through July 15, recreational vessels are restricted to two daytime marine openings. One at 10 a.m. and another at 2 p.m. Nighttime openings are restricted to the hours between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m.
• July 16, through Sept. 30, recreational vessels are prohibited from marine openings between 3 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. each day.

The U.S. Coast Guard approved a variance to the seasonal restrictions in March. The Washington State Department of Transportation requested a variance for June and July in anticipation of high demand for reliable transit and ferry access to and from Seattle during international soccer games. The bridge will return to its standard seasonal operating schedule on July 16.

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People who cross the SR 104 Hood Canal Bridge know the feeling all too well. We're talking delays associated with the bridge closed to vehicle traffic for boats.

It might happen once a day. Sometimes several times a day. That's especially true in summer. And they can leave people stuck for up to an hour each time.

Why? We are required by federal law to close the bridge for marine traffic. Boats get the right of way.

While we're required by federal law to open bridges to marine traffic, unnecessary SR 104 Hood Canal Bridge openings lead to delays for drivers including freight traffic as each one can take up to an hour.

But not all boats are the same and not all need the bridge to open. In those cases, the regulations require mariners to navigate under the truss spans of the bridge whenever possible. Mariners should not request draw span passage if their vertical clearance is enough to use elevated areas of the bridge.

But how do you know if you can fit? Great question. All vessel operators must know their mast height.

A look at the elevation portion of the Hood Canal Bridge on the Jefferson County side during high tide.

Truss heights (smallest vertical clearances at Mean High Water) clearances vary based on tides and wave activity.

• Jefferson County (west) measures 31 feet 
• Kitsap County (east) measures 50 feet

Requesting an unneeded draw span opening is a reportable offense to the United States Coast Guard and needlessly jams up traffic across the bridge.

Why don't we police marine traffic?

Well we do. …kind of. While we are not a law enforcement agency, we can record vessel numbers and report violations to the United States Coast Guard. But we'd rather have mariners follow the regulations so we're using a variety of resources to remind mariners of the federal requirements.

We have a new procedure when mariners call us for a draw span opening through the bridge. They will first hear a message citing the requirement for vessels to use the elevated portions of the bridge if possible.

The elevated portion of the Hood Canal Bridge on the Kitsap County side during high tide.

Why don't you just build a suspension bridge over Hood Canal?

It would not be practical. The current bridge is about 7,000 feet long. A Hood Canal suspension bridge would be much larger than the 2007 Tacoma Narrows Bridge, which collects tolls. A new suspension bridge that wouldn't require a draw span would likely be the longest in the world. The total cost? Think several billion dollars and years of construction.

Speaking of being practical, our crews are balancing lots of work to keep existing roads and bridges in good working order. Reducing unnecessary draw span openings also means less wear on the bridge's moveable parts.

Both ends of the Hood Canal Bridge have elevated sections where boats can travel under.

Going forward

We're dedicated to keeping people moving. Closures to traffic have a tremendous effect on people who are stuck waiting to get to medical appointments, work, making deliveries and any other reason they might be out and about.

While we're encouraging boaters to not request openings when they aren't necessary, the reality is some openings will always be needed. Use our app or HoodCanalBridge.com to check the bridge's status and know before you go.

When mariners should – and shouldn’t - request Hood Canal Bridge openings

By Doug Adamson

Update: 5 p.m. April 13, 2026

Pleasure craft operators should plan for changes to maritime opening restrictions at the State Route 104 Hood Canal Bridge for the 2026 season.

Maritime opening restrictions in 2026:

• May 22, through June 5, recreational vessels are prohibited from marine openings between 3 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. each day.
• June 6 through July 15, recreational vessels are restricted to two daytime marine openings. One at 10 a.m. and another at 2 p.m. Nighttime openings are restricted to the hours between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m.
• July 16, through Sept. 30, recreational vessels are prohibited from marine openings between 3 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. each day.

The U.S. Coast Guard approved a variance to the seasonal restrictions in March. The Washington State Department of Transportation requested a variance for June and July in anticipation of high demand for reliable transit and ferry access to and from Seattle during international soccer games. The bridge will return to its standard seasonal operating schedule on July 16.

---

People who cross the SR 104 Hood Canal Bridge know the feeling all too well. We're talking delays associated with the bridge closed to vehicle traffic for boats.

It might happen once a day. Sometimes several times a day. That's especially true in summer. And they can leave people stuck for up to an hour each time.

Why? We are required by federal law to close the bridge for marine traffic. Boats get the right of way.

While we're required by federal law to open bridges to marine traffic, unnecessary SR 104 Hood Canal Bridge openings lead to delays for drivers including freight traffic as each one can take up to an hour.

But not all boats are the same and not all need the bridge to open. In those cases, the regulations require mariners to navigate under the truss spans of the bridge whenever possible. Mariners should not request draw span passage if their vertical clearance is enough to use elevated areas of the bridge.

But how do you know if you can fit? Great question. All vessel operators must know their mast height.

A look at the elevation portion of the Hood Canal Bridge on the Jefferson County side during high tide.

Truss heights (smallest vertical clearances at Mean High Water) clearances vary based on tides and wave activity.

• Jefferson County (west) measures 31 feet 
• Kitsap County (east) measures 50 feet

Requesting an unneeded draw span opening is a reportable offense to the United States Coast Guard and needlessly jams up traffic across the bridge.

Why don't we police marine traffic?

Well we do. …kind of. While we are not a law enforcement agency, we can record vessel numbers and report violations to the United States Coast Guard. But we'd rather have mariners follow the regulations so we're using a variety of resources to remind mariners of the federal requirements.

We have a new procedure when mariners call us for a draw span opening through the bridge. They will first hear a message citing the requirement for vessels to use the elevated portions of the bridge if possible.

The elevated portion of the Hood Canal Bridge on the Kitsap County side during high tide.

Why don't you just build a suspension bridge over Hood Canal?

It would not be practical. The current bridge is about 7,000 feet long. A Hood Canal suspension bridge would be much larger than the 2007 Tacoma Narrows Bridge, which collects tolls. A new suspension bridge that wouldn't require a draw span would likely be the longest in the world. The total cost? Think several billion dollars and years of construction.

Speaking of being practical, our crews are balancing lots of work to keep existing roads and bridges in good working order. Reducing unnecessary draw span openings also means less wear on the bridge's moveable parts.

Both ends of the Hood Canal Bridge have elevated sections where boats can travel under.

Going forward

We're dedicated to keeping people moving. Closures to traffic have a tremendous effect on people who are stuck waiting to get to medical appointments, work, making deliveries and any other reason they might be out and about.

While we're encouraging boaters to not request openings when they aren't necessary, the reality is some openings will always be needed. Use our app or HoodCanalBridge.com to check the bridge's status and know before you go.

Welcome to our fallout shelter under I-5

By guest blogger Bronlea Mishler

When KOMO news first called and asked if they could do a story on WSDOT's fallout shelter, my first thought was: "We own a fallout shelter?"

A few phone calls and e-mails later, I discovered that WSDOT does, in fact, own a fallout shelter. Technically, it's also categorized as a bridge, since it holds up part of I-5. And as far as WSDOT historians can tell, it's the only bridge/fallout shelter/highway combo in the U.S.

View more photos of the shelter

Tucked under the southbound lanes of I-5 at north end of the Ravenna bridge is an innocuous metal gate with a graffiti-covered sign reading "Washington State Department of Transportation: District 1 Record Center." To the casual observer, it's just another door to just another WSDOT storage facility. But if you happen to know the man with the key (and I do), you'll quickly find out that this storage facility has an intriguing history.

Forty-seven years ago, it was dedicated as an innovative public fallout shelter. Later, it was used as a Department of Licensing office and a WSDOT records storage facility. Today, it sits empty – a snapshot of Cold War history hidden beneath the highway.

Walking up the stark concrete tunnel into the heart of the fallout shelter is a bit like stepping back in time. It's also a lot like walking into a refrigerator. This place literally puts the "cold" in Cold War. Of course, had there been a nuclear blast and had I been one of the 200 people the shelter was designed to serve, I doubt I would have cared much about the interior decorating or the lack of heat.

Very little of the fallout shelter is designed for aesthetic appeal or comfort. From the folding metal chairs to the impossibly small bathrooms, to the institutional green and mauve color scheme, the fallout shelter is government utilitarianism at its best. A giant concrete pillar in the center of the shelter supports the 18-inch-thick concrete roof of the 3,000-square-foot room. From overhead, the muffled sounds of I-5 traffic filter into the shelter.

To the right, a particleboard wall cuts across the room to form a makeshift office, a relic of the shelter's 14 years as a Department of Licensing facility. Ahead, the doors to three small rooms stand open, the spaces vacant save for an old rotary phone and a 1969 day planner. In the event of a nuclear attack, the rooms would have been used for food storage and distribution, medical care, and day-to-day shelter operations.

To the left, down the hallway leading to the escape tunnel, are two doors to his-and-hers bathrooms and decontamination showers. For the suggested 200 shelter-ees: Three toilets, one urinal, two sinks, two showers. All of which are accessible through doorways that – at best – might be 28 inches wide. It's enough to make airline bathrooms seem positively spacious in comparison.

Adjacent to the bathrooms are the low double doors leading into the escape tunnel. We pried its doors open for likely the first time in 40 years and found it to be surprisingly clean, save for a nest of some sort wedged into a crevice and several decades' worth of cobwebs. A row of caged lights lines the right side of the round concrete tunnel. At 48 inches in diameter, the tunnel was surprisingly easy to navigate – at least for someone my size. It didn't take long for me to walk (well, waddle, really) the 85 feet to the gated tunnel exit a few feet up the street from the main shelter entrance.

Down the tunnel from the main room of the fallout shelter, a set of double doors lead into the mechanical heart of the shelter. On one wall, in a glass display case, are the original, meticulously hand-drawn diagrams and typed instructions on how to operate the generator, well, and heating and ventilation system. The authors clearly assumed most shelter evacuees would be unfamiliar with mechanical operating systems, so the instructions read a bit like a 1960s-era "Fallout Shelters for Dummies" book. Important items noted in the step-by-step directions were labeled with paper tags, many of which still remain.

Standing on the sidewalk, with the gate firmly closed and locked again, this place is easy to overlook. It doesn't look much like a fallout shelter, but then again, I guess I don't know what a fallout shelter is supposed to look like. And I hope I never have to.

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