Several of the worst culverts and a bridge on Parks Highway between Miles 99 and 163 are headed for construction beginning this summer or fall.
The Department of Transportation, or DOT, prioritizes nine culverts and the bridge over Railroad Creek at mile 128.5 for replacement. These sites all are in the worst condition.
Nick Oliveira, Project Manager with HDL Engineering, says that in 2014 and 2017, the team evaluated about 270 culverts, many near failure. Of those, the team chose the worst culverts within funding limitations.
Aaron Hunting, DOT Project Manager, explains some of the funding limitations.
“There’s some funding holdups right now and we’re not able to request the federal funds yet. That gets tied into the state-wide transportation improvement plan, which the DOT is working on.”
Hunting says the DOT will also receive federal funds through the Aquatic Organism Passage grant. That grant will partially fund the culvert replacements that support anadramous fish.
“Roughly half of them are anadramous streams and we work with the Department of Fish and Game to design those and make sure that we are accommodating fish passage and improvement actually on a lot of those culverts.”
Though the DOT is working through one final agreement to move utilities, the designs and environmental permits are complete.
Most of the culverts will need to be dug up and some will be upsized. The Parks Highway will remain open during the construction and potentially diverted onto gravel areas. Speed limits may be reduced, but Hunting says they do not anticipate road closures.
There will be an open house on April 11 at the Trapper Creek Community Center. Project information and a signup button for updates are available on the DOT website.
