First of three weekend closures of westbound SR 96 is July 21-23
MILL CREEK – Westbound State Route 96 near Mill Creek will close for three weekends this summer as part of a project to install a new fish passage along North Creek. Eastbound SR 96 also will be reduced to a single lane those weekends.
In preparation for those closures, work on the fish passage project begins Monday, July 10, with nighttime eastbound and westbound single-lane closures. The project also will require lane shifts and weekend-long single lane closures.
Contractor crews working for the Washington State Department of Transportation will replace an 18-inch pipe culvert preventing fish in North Creek from passing beneath SR 96 just west of McCollum Park Athletic Field. They will replace it with a new 25-foot-wide, concrete box fish passage, opening almost 2.5 miles of additional habitat to Chinook, coho, steelhead, searun cutthroat and resident trout in North Creek. The $7.5 million project is expected to wrap up this fall.
SR 96 lane closure information
During the project, people traveling on SR 96 near North Creek can expect to see:
- Nightly right lane closures of westbound SR 96 from 8:30 p.m. to 4:30 a.m. Sundays through Thursdays.
- Nightly right lane closures of eastbound SR 96 from 9:30 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. Sundays through Thursdays.
- A nightly closure of either eastbound or westbound SR 96 lanes with traffic shifting to the center lane Sundays through Thursdays. Westbound lanes may be shifted from 8:30 p.m. to 4:30 a.m. Sundays through Thursdays. Eastbound lanes may be shifted from 9:30 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. Sundays through Thursdays.
- An around-the-clock weekend closure of the right lane of westbound SR 96 from 8:30 p.m. Thursday to 4:30 a.m. Monday.
- An around-the-clock weekend closure of the right lane of eastbound SR 96 from 9:30 p.m. Thursday to 5:30 a.m. Monday.
SR 96 weekend closures
The first weekend closure of westbound SR 96 will begin at 10 p.m. Friday, July 21, and run through 10 p.m. Sunday, July 23. Westbound SR 96 traffic will follow a 6.5-mile detour using southbound SR 527 to westbound 164th Street Southeast and northbound Interstate 5. People should plan for extra travel time.
Eastbound SR 96 also will be reduced to a single open lane through the work zone during the westbound weekend closures. People should expect delays or consider alternate routes.
Another Friday to Sunday weekend closure and an extended weekend closure (7 p.m. Thursday to 4:30 a.m. Wednesday) also will be needed.
Fish passage program
This work is part of WSDOT’s ongoing effort to improve fish passage and reconnect waterways.
State highways cross streams and rivers in thousands of places in Washington state, which can block fish migration. WSDOT has worked for nearly three decades to improve fish passage and reconnect streams to help keep waterways healthy. A 2013 federal injunction also directed WSDOT to significantly speed up efforts to replace fish barriers. The culvert on North Creek is subject to the federal injunction.