Slow traffic on I-5 freeway near Ferndale? It might help save salmon and orcas
Traffic on Interstate 5 north of Ferndale will be reduced to one lane both northbound and southbound next month as part of a project to replace culverts that block migrating salmon, including Chinook that’s the favored food of the Salish Sea’s resident orcas.
In addition, the intersection of Grandview Road and Portal Way — a major commuter route for refinery workers and others in the Cherry Point industrial area — will close for a week in August as a culvert is replaced under Portal Way.
Some work could start as early as next week, said Tom Pearce, a WSDOT spokesman.
Exact dates of the work weren’t set, but the southbound I-5 lane closures are expected to run for six days in early to mid-June and the northbound lane closures are slated for six days in late June.
It’s part of an $11.5 million effort to open California Creek and its tributaries for salmon that spawn in the rivers and streams where they hatched before swimming to the Pacific Ocean, Pearce told The Bellingham Herald.
Pearce said the goal is to create easier passage for several species of salmon and other fish that inhabit the creek, which flows from the Custer area to Drayton Harbor south of Blaine.
“The existing culverts in this part of California Creek are narrow and water flows too quickly for migratory and resident fish to pass,” Pearce wrote in an online description of the project. “The new, larger culverts will slow water flow, creating easier conditions for fish passage and more natural stream beds. “
Those new culverts will open an additional 6.5 miles of habitat and salmon spawning grounds, Pearce wrote.
WSDOT is replacing such culverts under a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court decision that favored Native American tribes which had sued to force the state to repair hundreds of culverts that kept fish from migrating because it was an infringement on fishing rights guaranteed in a 1974 case addressing historical treaties.
California Creek drains almost 23 square miles of land and is home to Chinook, chum, coho, steelhead trout, sea-running cutthroat and resident trout, according to the Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association website.
Threatened Chinook salmon are a primary food source of southern resident killer whales, the orcas that inhabit Salish Sea waters.
Peace said that a detour will be in place in August when the Grandview-Portal intersection is closed.
On I-5, speeds will be reduced where traffic is funneled into one lane. Only one direction of the freeway will be affected at a time, Pearce said.
He said he didn’t have current traffic figures for I-5 through Ferndale, but he said WSDOT is seeing an overall 50% to 70% traffic reduction on state highways and freeways because of business closures and other steps to contain the new coronavirus.
