Work on removing fish barriers on U.S. 101 in Washington’s North Olympic Peninsula is under way, part of a $136 million project to replace outdated culverts at Lees, Ennis, Tumwater and Chimacum creeks. The state aims to restore access to 90 percent of blocked salmon habitat by 2030, with $3.95 billion of $9 billion already spent. New bridges and natural elements will aid fish passage and stream restoration.
Washington State Department of Transportation photo
This culvert at Tumwater Creek beneath U.S. 101 will be replaced with a new bridge.
Work on the removal of three of four fish passage barriers on Washington's North Olympic Peninsula got under way in March: The project removes and replaces outdated culverts under U.S. 101 and State Route 116 at Lees, Ennis, Tumwater and Chimacum creeks.
The $136 million project to remove the four barriers is part of an estimated $9 billion effort ongoing for nearly three decades. Many of the culverts were installed decades ago before the impact on fish was fully understood.
Kiewit is the contractor on all four projects.
The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) initially began removing the barriers in the 1990s after it developed a fish passage program. A federal court injunction in 2013 required the state to significantly increase its efforts to remove state-owned culverts that block habitat for salmon and steelhead trout by 2030.
"We have 2,000 fish barriers statewide, and about 1,000 are subjected to the injunction," said Kim Rydholm, fish passage delivery manager. "Our initial requirement is to restore access to 90 percent of blocked habitat. The amount of habitat — not the number of barriers — requires that we have about 350 barriers to correct. As of June 2024, we have corrected 146 barriers.
"When the injunction was issued, we lined up all 1,000 barriers and added the total amount of blocked habitat to the habitat upstream of the barrier. We have to restore access to 90 percent of the blocked habitat. As we work our way down the list to less and less habitat, there are a lot of barriers in that remaining 10 percent."
The state legislature allocated $3.95 billion for the removal project, which has already been spent. Another $5 billion is necessary to complete the plan. The injunction is specifically related to salmon and steelhead trout and requires the state to provide for passage of fish in all life cycles.
There are several reasons a culvert becomes a barrier, Rydholm said.
"One is that the stream is too small, so the velocity of the stream increases significantly, and water is moving too fast through the culvert. It could be because the depth of the flow of the water is too shallow, or it can be that its perched, creating like a waterfall at the outlet and the fish have to jump up into the culvert."
The work can only take place during a certain time of year, typically summer, to lessen the impact on migrating fish. Crews started with the Tumwater project in early March. The two-lane Highway 101 is closed and a detour in place. Crews will tear out the existing culvert and replace it with an 81-ft.-long bridge. That work is expected to be finished in the fall.
Work began at Ennis and Lees Creeks just outside Port Angeles on March 9.
"The challenge for this project is the fact that U.S. 101 is really the only state road in and out of Port Angeles," said Mark Krulish, WSDOT spokesman. "This is a really important roadway for the area. It's a big tourist area, so keeping people moving while we're doing this work is a real challenge."
The four-lane stretch of highway will remain open with traffic shifted around the work area. The project calls for tearing out the culverts and replacing it with a 53-ft.-long span at Ennis Creek and a 39-ft.-long span at Lees Creek.
The fourth project at Chimacum Creek south of Port Townsend is set to begin this summer and calls for the closure of State Route 116 with a detour on State Route 19. There, a 74-ft.-long bridge will replace the culvert.
The state is monitoring the projects to verify that the new structures are "fish passable and function as designed," according to the WSDOT website on the projects.
"Replacing these outdated culverts and fish ladders with new structures will open up a combined 18 miles of upstream habitat for salmon spawning and rearing. Also, this work will remove significant velocity barriers for migrating fish species, according to the website.
"In lieu of the concrete fish ladders, the in-stream work at all sites will incorporate natural components like logs and boulders to help stabilize the new channel, provide habitat features, and restore natural stream processes that have been disrupted since the culverts were installed when the highway was first constructed. The new culvert and the natural elements will make it easier for fish to pass through the creeks. They will slow the water and create a more natural creek environment." CEG
Lori Tobias
Lori Tobias is a journalist of more years than she cares to count, most recently as a staff writer for The Oregonian and previously as a columnist and features writer for the Rocky Mountain News. She is the author of the memoir, Storm Beat - A Journalist Reports from the Oregon Coast, and the novel Wander, winner of the Nancy Pearl Literary Award in 2017. She has freelanced for numerous publications, including The New York Times, The Denver Post, Alaska Airlines in-flight, Natural Home, Spotlight Germany, Vegetarian Times and the Miami Herald. She is an avid reader, enjoys kayaking, traveling and exploring the Oregon Coast where she lives with her husband Chan and rescue pups, Gus and Lily.
Read more from Lori Tobias here.
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