MARROWSTONE ISLAND — Jefferson County officials have teamed up with the North Olympic Salmon Coalition to remove a land bridge connecting Indian and Marrowstone islands east of Port Townsend and replace it with a bridge over water.
The $3,114,230 project includes the removal of a causeway and culverts under state Highway 116 and the building of a new, over-water bridge that would allow fish passage. The removal would reconnect Kilisut Harbor, also known as Scow Bay, to Oak Bay.
The new bridge will allow 10 to 20 acres of tidal channels to be restored, according to the project description.
It also could affect 2,300 acres of marine habitat in Kilisut Bay by restoring water quality and habitats throughout the bay, according to the project overview from the Jefferson County Department of Community Development and a wetlands report by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
A grant for the Kilisut Harbor restoration project was awarded in 2014 from the Salmon Recovery Board to the North Olympic Salmon Coalition.
Currently the county has applied for a joint aquatic resources permit through the state and the project will need to be reviewed to ensure it meets all standards under the state Environmental Policy Act.
It is expected to restore habitat important to Hood Canal summer chum, Puget Sound chinook and steelhead, and to improve the water quality in the area.
The project is part habitat restoration and part transportation, according to Jefferson County Commissioner David Sullivan.
“The Salmon Coalition wants to do it since it’s a route for salmon,” Sullivan said. “It means they won’t have to travel around the islands into deep water, so hopefully improving their survival.”
The bridge currently in place is the only way to access Marrowstone Island by land. That makes the project a transportation issue as well.
“It’s not a bad thing to replace it,” Sullivan said. “From what I know, they wanted to build it higher anyway, but since it is the only way on and off the island it does make the project a little more complicated.”
As proposed, the plan for the new bridge is to build a temporary detour roadway while the current land bridge is destroyed and the new over-water bridge is built.
Despite the potential temporary difficulty the project might cause the residents of Marrowstone, there are residents in favor of the change.
“I think it’s a very good move ecologically,” said Cheryl Brunette, a resident of Marrowstone Island for 36 years. “It will be very healthy for Kilisut Bay.”
According to the project application submitted to the county, the new bridge would run over five properties. Private citizens hold three of those and the state Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Navy hold the other two.
The soil excavated from the channel will be used to provide nourishment for new tree-filled areas along the channel that will provide a habitat for juvenile salmon and a small refuge for other animals from the tidal flows and sun.
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Jefferson County Editor/Reporter Cydney McFarland can be reached at 360-385-2335, ext. 55052, or at cmcfarland@peninsuladailynews.com.
