PORT ANGELES — Work to clear a large landslide bisecting the Spruce Railroad Trail at Lake Crescent will begin March 15.
Most of the trail will be closed for public safety until the work is complete, which expected to be in late April, said Penny Wagner, Olympic National Park spokesperson.
The Spruce Railroad Trail has been closed between the tunnels to through traffic since early January — about a month after the renovated trail was opened to the public — when a 280-foot-wide landslide covered the trail with an estimated 3,000 cubic yards of material and debris.
Bruch & Bruch Construction of Port Angeles, which paved the trail and reinforced the McFee and Daley Rankin tunnels, will repair the slide caused by heavy rainfall.
The contract is funded by the National Park Service Transportation Program with Federal Highway Administration funding.
East Beach Road will be closed to the public at the intersection with Joyce-Piedmont Road.
Camp David Jr. Road and the westbound portion of the Olympic Discovery Trail and Pyramid Peak Trail will remain accessible from the North Shore Picnic Area on Camp David Jr. Road.
The public can access 1 mile of the Spruce Railroad Trail from the west end trailhead on Camp David Jr. Road up to the Daley Rankin Tunnel.
The remainder of the trail from the Daley Rankin Tunnel east to the Lyre River Trailhead will be closed to accommodate the operation of heavy equipment and truck traffic, Wagner said.
East Beach Road at Lake Crescent is currently closed at U.S. Highway 101 for public safety due to debris hazards from a wildland fire last summer.
Conditions will be assessed in late April to determine if reopening the road is possible this spring.
All day use recreation sites along East Beach Road are closed at this time.
For current trail, road and travel information, visitors should consult the park website at www.nps.gov/olym or call the recorded Road and Weather Hotline at 360-565-3131.
