OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK — A draft document drops the idea of closing a 12.3-mile section of U.S. Highway 101 around Lake Crescent during rehabilitation of the roadway beginning next year, instead proposing two alternative plans of traffic delays over three years.
The draft environmental assessment (EA) dismissed closing the highway entirely for any length of time after the National Park Service received public comment on preliminary alternatives broached last year.
Among the possible alternatives was closing the lake stretch of the highway entirely for 1.7 construction seasons — which are from March to November — or closing it for shorter periods of time. Traffic would have been rerouted to state highways 112 and 113.
Instead, construction will be over a longer period of time — three years — but less disruptive to travelers, if one of the draft document’s alternatives is approved.
“Closing the road (even during the shoulder season) would have more impacts” than the two alternatives now under consideration, said the draft EA about the highway used by some 2,500 vehicles per day, including 500 trucks that are primarily log trucks.
Public comment
Public comment will be taken through April 30.
Public meetings are scheduled in Port Angeles and Forks this month. They are:
■ Monday, April 18 — 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the dining room at the Port Angeles Senior Center, 328 E. Seventh St. Presentations will be made at 5 p.m. and 6 p.m.
■ Tuesday, April 19 — 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Rainforest Arts Center, 35 N. Forks Ave., in Forks. Presentations will be at 4 p.m. and 5 p.m.
No timeline was provided for the release of a final EA or for a final decision on the project.
Rehabilitation work is slated to begin in 2017, but the schedule is still subject to change, according to Olympic National Park spokeswoman Barb Maynes.
The proposed rehabilitation of the section of highway that wends through the park would include replacing sections of road bed, removing rock-fall hazards, resurfacing, replacing more than 44,000 linear feet of guardrail and replacing drainage structures and retaining walls.
It also would include work on East Beach Road. Drainage structures would be replaced and safety and pavement conditions improved, the park service said.
Although three alternatives are listed in the draft EA, the first is the obligatory possibility of simply doing nothing but maintenance.
Both the other two alternatives propose construction from March through November for three years.
Alternative 2 poses 30-minute delays throughout construction with additional delays of up to four hours during the shoulder season from September through June for rock-fall mitigation and culvert replacement.
Alternative 3 would include the delays of Alternative 2 but would also add nighttime work with delays of up to six hours between Labor Day and March 31 when it would be less likely to affect nesting marbled murrelets, the draft EA said.
In both alternatives, Barnes Point, where Lake Crescent Lodge stands, would be accessible from either the east or west, depending upon which portion of the highway was undergoing work at the time.
Also, Clallam Transit stop shelters would be built near Barnes Point on both sides of the highway.
Closure unacceptable
More than half — 26 — of the 42 commenters on the preliminary plans said that closure of the highway during normal working hours and/or commuting hours was not acceptable, the draft EA said.
Highway 101 is the primary road between Port Angeles and the West End, including Forks.
In May, the Forks City Council approved a resolution against any option that includes closing the heavily traveled route for more than a few days and urged the National Park Service to find a way to mitigate economic and social impacts associated with the project.
How to comment
For more information, access to the draft EA and to comment online, see http://tinyurl.com/PDN-highwaydraftea.
Hard copies of the EA are available for public review at the reference desks of the Port Angeles, Forks, Sequim and Clallam Bay public libraries, the park service said.
Comment also can be sent to olym_information@nps.gov, faxed to 360-565-3015 or mailed to Olympic National Park, 600 E. Park Ave., Port Angeles, WA, 98362-9798.
For more information, phone 360-565-3130.
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Executive Editor Leah Leach can be reached at 360-417-3530 or at lleach@peninsuladailynews.com.
