PORT ANGELES — The state Department of Transportation will give several updates on its efforts to replace the Elwha River bridge on U.S. Highway 101 over the next two days.
The first update will be heard at the Port Angeles City Council meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, 321 E. Fifth St.
There will also be a presentation at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Forks Business and Professional Association at 411 Tillicum Lane, Forks, and another at noon Wednesday at the Forks Chamber of Commerce Meeting at Blakeslee’s Bar & Grill, 1222 South Forks Ave.
Claudia Bingham Baker, WSDOT spokesperson, said in an email the “good news” is that the Elwha River bridge is open to traffic and WSDOT has made progress by completing hydraulic and geotechnical reports and roadway alignment and intersection plans.
Officials discovered in October of 2016 that the now-wild Elwha River had been eating away the riverbed under the bridge, and that the piers were built on gravel instead of bedrock.
The state reached out to the public on how it should move forward in replacing the bridge, which was built in 1926, and decided to build a new bridge on a new alignment.
The public overwhelmingly told WSDOT it should replace the bridge and put it on a new alignment. The cities of Forks and Port Angeles, Clallam County and the Port of Port Angeles also urged WSDOT to build on a new alignment.
Crews installed tilt meters in 2016 and officials said the bridge would close if the bridge moved 1 millimeter per meter. That has since been increased to 4 millimeters per meter.
Bingham Baker said the state is making progress with the National Environmental Policy Act and that the hope is to have the NEPA process finished by December.
“Once we are granted NEPA, which means the federal government agrees that we have sufficiently reviewed, identified and mitigated for any environmental effects, and thus the project can proceed, we will apply for a Highway Easement Deed from Olympic National Park to acquire the right to build the bridge on federal land,” she said.
“This is a linear process — we cannot acquire land rights until we are granted NEPA.”
The current timelines calls for construction happening between summer 2019 and fall 2020.
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Reporter Jesse Major can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at jmajor@peninsuladailynews.com.
