Date: April 21, 2017
Contact: Penny Wagner, 360-565-3005
The contract for the Lake Crescent Highway Rehab Project was awarded to Strider Construction Company of Bellingham, WA on March 24, 2017. The award amount for the contract is $27,545,672.80. This project is being managed collaboratively by the Federal Highway Administration and the National Park Service.
The contract includes approximately 12 miles of the Lake Crescent section of U.S. Highway 101 and 4 miles of East Beach Road which is maintained by Clallam County. The contract combined a Clallam County Federal Land Access Program (FLAP) grant with Federal Land Transportation Program (FLTP) funds for roads on federal lands. Combining both roads into this project allowed better pricing for Clallam County and the National Park Service with one larger mobilized contract. In addition, delays can be coordinated for both roads.
The contractor will begin site work in mid-July 2017. There will not be any delays prior to mid-July. Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) will complete pothole patching along U.S. Highway 101 at Lake Crescent before the contract work begins.
Four-hour delays will begin after Labor Day on the western half of U.S. Highway 101 (west from Barnes Point). Specific dates for these 4-hour delays will be announced and posted 2 weeks in advance.
The contractor's proposed work for 2017 includes rockfall mitigation, all East Beach Road work, and subsurface work on the western half of U.S. Highway 101 (west from Barnes Point). Subsurface work includes drainage replacement, deep patches, and ditch underdrains on U.S. Highway 101.
Repairs to East Beach Road will take place during the 2017 construction season. East Beach Road closures for repaving are restricted to after Labor Day 2017 and must be completed by mid-November. East Beach Road closures are not allowed concurrent with 4-hour delays on U.S. Highway 101.
East Beach Road will be closed to through traffic for a maximum two‐week period in August to allow for the replacement of the Log Cabin Creek culvert (a 25' deep excavation). The new culvert will allow for fish passage. This closure will include one weekend and will be announced two weeks in advance. This culvert is immediately west of the Log Cabin Resort turnoff. During this closure, Log Cabin Resort will only be accessible from East Beach Road and the Lyre River Trailhead of the Spruce Railroad Trail will only be accessible from the Joyce-Piedmont Road.
The contract includes a number of requirements aimed at minimizing impacts to travelers and area residents. For example, the contractor is required to immediately open the road to emergency vehicles without delay at all times throughout the project.
Work will occur on weekdays only and will not be scheduled on holidays or weekends.
An updated outline of the yearly schedule for U.S. Highway 101 is provided below.
Mid July—Labor Day (summer season)
- Half‐hour delays during weekday work hours, with short delays after-hours to accommodate alternating single lane traffic.
Early September—Mid November
- Half‐hour delays during weekday work hours, with short delays after-hours to accommodate alternating single lane traffic.
- Limited 4‐hour delays (from 9:00am – 1:00pm only) and 6‐hour overnight delays (10:00pm – 4:00am Mondays through Wednesdays only) may be scheduled and must be announced two weeks in advance.
Mid November—February
March (2018 and 2019 only)
- Half‐hour delays during weekday work hours, with short delays after-hours to accommodate alternating single lane traffic.
- Limited 4‐hour delays (from 9:00am – 1:00pm only) and 6‐hour overnight delays (10:00pm – 4:00am Mondays through Wednesdays only) may be scheduled and will be announced two weeks in advance.
The schedule and additional information are available on the Olympic National Park website at
https://www.nps.gov/olym/planyourvisit/lake-crescent-highway-101-rehabilitation-2017-19.htm and the Federal Highway Administration website at
https://flh.fhwa.dot.gov/projects/wa/lake-crescent/.
No more than twenty 4‐hour delays are permitted each spring and each fall. Four‐hour delays may only be implemented between Labor Day and Memorial Day and only between the hours of 9:00am and 1:00pm. Emergency vehicles will have access without delay at all times. The contractor will receive monetary incentives for limiting the number of 4‐hour delays.
Overnight delays lasting up to six hours are permitted between Labor Day and March 31. All six‐hour overnight delays may only occur from 10:00pm—4:00am Mondays through Wednesdays. Emergency vehicles will have access without delay at all times.
All 4‐hour and 6‐hour overnight delays must be scheduled and announced two weeks in advance. Notices will be sent to area media outlets, widely distributed via the WSDOT traffic alert webpage (
https://www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/trafficalerts/ ) and posted on the Olympic
National Park website (
https://www.nps.gov/olym/planyourvisit/conditions.htm).
East Beach Road was built between 1911 and 1925 and provides access to private residences, Log Cabin Resort and several popular day use areas. East Beach Road links Highway 101 and Highway 112 and serves as a bypass route around the lake. In 2015, approximately 67,600 vehicles used East Beach Road.
The road along Lake Crescent’s south shore was built in the early 1920s, replacing ferry passage across the lake. Today the road is part of U.S. Highway 101 and remains a vital transportation link and popular sightseeing route for visitors to the Lake Crescent area and the Olympic Peninsula. In 2015, over 420,000 vehicles traveled this road.
