Project overview
This project removes and replaces several outdated culverts under US 101 and State Route 116 at Lees, Ennis, Tumwater and Chimacum Creeks. Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife has identified these sites as barriers to salmon migration and other resident fish species.
WSDOT will replace outdated culverts with new structures for improved fish migration in the streams below as part of a statewide fish barrier correction program.
What to expect
The locations for culvert replacement are:
- US 101 at Lees Creek (milepost 250.5)
- US 101 at Ennis Creek (milepost 250.2)
- US 101 at Tumwater Creek (milepost 246.4)
- SR 116 at Chimacum Creek (milepost 0.22)
Construction at Lees and Ennis Creeks resumes Monday, March 16. There will be no daytime lane reductions at Lees and Ennis Creeks. Nighttime lane closures take place between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. The speed limit remains reduced from 40 mph to 25 mph.
In spring 2026, the Ennis Creek work zone will move into its next phase. This will involve shifting traffic from one side of the highway to the other. The shift will allow crews to complete the remainder of the new bridge over the creek. The approach keeps people moving while completing the project.
While finishing the new bridges at Lees and Ennis Creeks, crews will also complete the work in the creek below. This will happen during the 2026 summer fish window when construction has the least effect on fish migration.
Once the bridges are complete, traffic will be set in its final configuration.
Work on Chimacum Creek will begin in 2026. Travelers can expect a long-term closure of SR 116 at the creek between Shotwell Place and Chimacum Creek Drive in the summer of 2026. Travelers will use SR 19, Irondale Road and Chimacum Road to detour around the closure.
WSDOT and the design-builder will coordinate with local agencies and emergency services to minimize delays and keep people moving through work zones.
Crews will correct barriers to salmon migration under SR 116 at Chimacum Creek beginning in Summer 2024. Work on US 101 at Lees, Ennis and Tumwater Creeks will begin in 2025.
Replacing these outdated culverts and fish ladders with new structures will open up a combined 18 miles of upstream habitat for salmon spawning and rearing. Also, this work will remove significant velocity barriers for migrating fish species. In lieu of the concrete fish ladders, the in-stream work at all sites will incorporate natural components like logs and boulders to help stabilize the new channel, provide habitat features, and restore natural stream processes that have been disrupted since the culverts were installed when the highway was first constructed.
The new culvert and the natural elements will make it easier for fish to pass through the creeks. They will slow the water and create a more natural creek environment.
Correcting fish passage barriers is an important part of the state's efforts to protect and restore fish runs negatively affected by outdated culverts under state highways.
In 2013, a federal court injunction required the state to significantly increase the state’s efforts in removing state-owned culverts that block habitat for salmon, bull trout and steelhead.
