As the Carlsborg Sewer Project tentatively wraps up in the next week, a $2.728 million culvert replacement project for Matriotti Creek is expected to begin the end of July nearby.
Shari King, spokesman for Washington State Department of Transportation, said crews with Interwest Construction Inc. will begin replacing the culvert Monday, July 31, on U.S. Highway 101, west of Carlsborg Road.
The creek’s 5-foot wide steel culvert will be replaced with a 10-foot by 19-foot box culvert to open upwards of 5 miles of fish habitat, WSDOT officials report.
King said they anticipate finishing the project by the end of September.
All traffic will be diverted to the eastbound lane with one lane for each direction and once the northbound culvert is replaced traffic will alternate to the westbound lane, she said.
Traffic speeds will reduce to 45 mph in the area.
Matriotti Creek’s culvert is one of 996 culverts under roadways that the Department of Transportation must replace due to a federal injunction that the U.S. District Court ordered the state to follow 21 Washington tribes’ request to follow a treaty to preserve fish runs by repairing or replacing culverts that negatively affect salmon migration.
State park bridge opens
Sequim Bay Bridge, a $1.25 million project designated as part of the federal injunction, recently opened in Sequim Bay State Park.
The 210-foot bridge crosses an unnamed creek that formerly housed a buried 3-foot culvert deemed harmful for fish passage, state park officials said. It was one of 15 fish barriers removed in state parks last year.
Crews with Nordland Construction moved the 177,000-pound bridge into place on Jan. 19 and it was connected with the Olympic Discovery Trail in May.
A road, building and a sewage lift station along with the culvert were removed for the project.
State parks officials said woody debris and native vegetation were placed along the water banks to improve fish habitat.
Some of the parks with culverts removed have seen salmon come back, but park officials said no salmon have been seen in Sequim Bay State Park.
Sequim’s project was funded by a special appropriation from the state Legislature to improve salmon migration and spawning conditions.
For more information on the Matriotti Creek culvert, visit www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/US101/MatriottiCrkRmvFishBarrier.
Sequim Bay Bridge continues the Olympic Discovery Trail through Sequim Bay State Park and rests over an unnamed creek that park officials planted native vegetation next to in order to create a better fish habitat. The bridge was constructed as part of a court order to replace restricting culverts for fish passage. Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash
In January, crews work to place the Sequim Bay Bridge in Sequim Bay State Park. The bridge was completed in May and opened to connect the Olympic Discovery Trail. Sequim Gazette file photo by Matthew Nash
