Beginning in Feb. 15, ramp and re-decking work will close the Olympic Discovery Trail across the Dungeness River in Sequim for up to five weeks, depending on weather and other factors.

Detour signs are being posted.

Thanks to a $100,000 donation from the First Federal Community Foundation, officials with the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe are able to redo the decking on the historical Dungeness Railroad Bridge and adjoining ramp in Railroad Bridge Park.

The often slippery and weakening wooden deck will be replaced with concrete — mirroring the newly built 750-foot steel trestle that connects to the bridge.

The length of closure is weather dependent.

If everything goes smoothly, project managers say, it could be reopened in as little as three weeks, but construction or weather problems could delay reopening by another week or two.

The same detour route used during trestle reconstruction will be posted. The detour route (east to west) leaves the trail in Sequim at Fifth Avenue, goes north on Fifth to Old Olympic Highway, turns west across the river on the Old Olympic Highway bridge, then south on Heath Road to rejoin the trail.

In preparation to adequately support the anticipated concrete surface, volunteers with the Peninsula Trails Coalition spent about 100 volunteer hours reinforcing the structural integrity of the ramp.