Expect shifted lanes and a reduced speed limit of 45 mph on eastbound SR 16 between the SR 302 Spur/Purdy Drive and 144th Street Northwest in Purdy through the end of 2024.
Project overview
This project improves habitat and passage for fish in Purdy Creek under State Route 16 and the SR 302 Spur.
Purdy Creek attempts to flow under SR 16 inside a 40-year-old culvert. Many fish species cannot swim through the old culvert. This project will replace the culvert with two 206-foot-long bridge structures. Purdy Creek is home to juvenile Chinook, coho and chum salmon. Adult and juvenile steelhead, coastal cutthroat trout and sculpin are also found in the creek.
Purdy Creek also ran under the SR 302 Spur through an old culvert before it entered the tidal flats of the Burley Lagoon. The culvert was challenging for fish to navigate. During 2023, crews filled in the old culvert and built a 77-foot-long bridge structure to replace it.
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife estimates the work at both sites combined will open a total of 6.5 miles of habitat. This work will also help preserve the integrity of the highways and reduce maintenance costs by reducing or eliminating the possibility of culvert blockages.
What to expect
Travelers will see overnight single-lane closures in the SR 16 work zone. Eastbound SR 16 lane closures are allowed weeknights from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. Lane closures on westbound SR 16 are allowed weeknights from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.
The new westbound SR 16 bridge opened to travelers in mid-August 2023. At the end of September, crews shifted the eastbound lanes into the median. The speed limit is reduced from 60 mph to 45 mph on eastbound SR 16 between mileposts 18 and 17.15.
The morning of Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023, crews reopened a section of the SR 302 Spur that had been closed for about eight months. The long-term detour for SR 302 Spur/Purdy Drive using Purdy Lane Northwest from 144th Street Northwest to the SR 302 Spur began on April 2, 2023. The detour allowed crews to build a bridge to replace an old culvert under the roadway that blocked fish migration.
This map shows the locations of where old culverts will be removed and replaced with a larger structure that will improve habitat for fish in Purdy Creek.
