Project overview
This project removed a fish passage barrier along Lyon Creek where it passed beneath State Route 104 just west of 35th Avenue Northeast in Lake Forest Park. Contractor crews working for WSDOT replaced a 6-by-4-foot box culvert with a 24-foot-wide bridge structure, opening more than 7.5 miles of potential upstream habitat for Chinook, coho, steelhead, sockeye, sea-run cutthroat and resident trout. Construction is expected to finish in late summer 2026.
What to expect
Major construction on the new fish-passable culvert structure along SR 104/Ballinger Way Northeast finished in fall 2025.
Final paving on SR 104/Ballinger Way NE, 35th Avenue NE and NE 185th Street was completed overnight on July 28.
Over the next few weeks, crews will demobilize the construction site and install landscaping. There should be minimal traffic control/lane closures in this area until in mid-August, when crews will place new lane markings on the freshly paved asphalt.
This project will improve fish passage under SR 104 west of 35th Avenue Northeast in Lake Forest Park.
This work is part of our fish passage program. Replacing the existing culverts and rebuilding the stream channels expands healthy fish habitat; an important step in restoring fish runs and increasing populations. This benefits commercial seafood operations and recreational fishers and provides more food for a declining orca population. Additionally, replacing these fish barriers helps us meet our obligation to remove barriers under the 2013 U.S. District Court injunction.
