Road to the coast is clear: All lanes reopen along US 12 and SR 8 in Grays Harbor County

Multi-site fish passage project wraps up between Olympia and Aberdeen

ELMA - There's good news to share for people who use US 12 and State Route 8 in Grays Harbor County. All lanes are now open following the completion of a fish passage project that covered five work zones near McCleary, Elma and Montesano.

On Wednesday, Dec. 17, contractor crews working for the Washington State Department of Transportation reopened lanes at two work zones near Elma. The highway was reduced to one lane in each direction for fish passage work that started in summer 2023. Three other locations in McCleary and Montesano reopened earlier this year.

WSDOT thanks travelers for their continued patience while crews finish landscaping and final touches. People will see occasional daytime lane closures during this work.

What was done

To keep people moving during the estimated $109 million project, crews built a temporary lane across the median at each location. This allowed crews to close one side of the highway at a time for construction while the other side was reconfigured to handle both directions of traffic.

During the lane closures, crews replaced outdated culverts with nine bridges and one larger culvert under US 12 and SR 8. The new bridges and culvert not only now allow fish to swim freely under the highway, they are built to modern earthquake standards and help prevent flooding on the roadway. This makes the highway more resilient.

About fish passage projects

State highways cross over rivers and streams in thousands of locations throughout Washington. Some crossings can impede fish migration. Since 1991, WSDOT has worked to improve fish passage and foster healthy waterways by removing barriers under the highway. In addition to WSDOT's ongoing work to correct statewide barriers, a 2013 federal court injunction requires the state to correct barrier culverts to salmon and steelhead within the injunction area in western Washington.