2020 state road projects focus on culverts, one will temporarily close Chuckanut Drive
State road projects this year are focusing on culverts at several locations around Whatcom County in an effort to create easier access for migrating salmon and other fish.
It’s partly in response to a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that favored Northwest tribes that said the state was obligated by treaty to restore stream flows that have been restricted by culverts built under state roads and highways, said Andrea Petrich, spokeswoman for WSDOT, the state Department of Transportation.
“It’s part of our effort to open up salmon streams,” Petrich said in an interview. “We’re definitely on a faster track now because of the court injunction. But we’ve been working on this since the 1990s.”
Petrich said most of the culvert repairs will cause few traffic problems — with the exception of the planned closing of Chuckanut Drive near Old Samish Road.
“It will cause delays — we’re probably looking at a two-week closure,” Petrich said. “It’s not ideal, but at least we’re in an area where there’s a detour,” she said.
At that location, crews will replace a round, concrete pipe that carries Hoag’s Creek under Chuckanut Drive, according to the $3.4 million project’s online description.
Fish in the stream include cutthroat trout and coho salmon, Petrich said.
A date hasn’t been set for the construction closure, but that it would be from late June to August when stream flows are at their lowest, a time that construction engineers call the “fish window” for building in streams.
Traffic will be toured around the site via Old Samish Road and 30th Avenue, Petrich said.
Other WSDOT projects in Whatcom County include:
▪ Fish culverts on Interstate 5 north of Ferndale and along Grandview Lane and Zell Road. The two-year, $11.8 million project won’t cause full closures on I-5, Petrich said. Closures are likely on Grandview and Zell roads. Timing will be summer 2020 to fall 2021.
▪ A virtual weigh-in-motion station on Highway 9 near Van Zandt in the South Fork Valley. Petrich said the Washington State Patrol asked for a way to track truck traffic on the highway, which is a transportation corridor to British Columbia. Installation will only take a few days and major delays aren’t expected.
Two Whatcom County projects were postponed this year because of Initiative 976, which reduced the price of car registration tabs to $30 annually.
▪ A planned northbound on-ramp to I-5 on the east side of the freeway. This second on-ramp was for drivers headed north from Costco and Fred Meyer.
▪ Wetland restoration near 10 Mile Road and Guide Meridian, which was to offset construction on I-5 at Bakerview and at Slater Road.
