This Thurston County road will be closed for over a year to remove a fish passage barrier

A stretch of roadway in northwest Thurston County will be closed for over a year to make way for a multimillion-dollar fish passage improvement project.

The closure will occur at Country Club Road between Country Club Loop and 40th Lane near Olympia Country and Golf Club between June 1, 2024, and October 31, 2025, according to county documents.

During that timeframe, work crews will remove a 50-foot-tall road embankment and build a new 150-foot-long post-tensioned bridge over Green Cove Creek. The bridge will replace a 5-foot-wide culvert that partially collapsed. Inspectors discovered the culvert failure in fall 2021 and quickly made emergency repairs, but a permanent fix was still needed.

Without a solution, the decades-old culvert would likely fully collapse and push the creek’s water level over the roadway. This outcome could have caused the embankment to collapse as well and left dozens of homes without utilities, The Olympian previously reported .

The Board of County Commissioners unanimously approved closing the roadway during a Tuesday meeting. The board also approved agreements with the state to use federal funds for the project as well as a call for sealed bids for a contract to construct the bridge.

Public Works Senior Civil Engineer Marcus Storvick presented information about the years-long effort which is officially called the Green Cove Creek Fish Barrier Removal Project . The moment caused Commissioner and Board Chair Tye Menser to reminisce about when board first heard of this issue.

“We sat in the old building, kind of looking at each other, with not knowing where we we’re going to get the money to make this happen,” Menser said. “And here we are with six different funding sources and some federal funding and a 150-foot-bridge. ... It’s very exciting.”

Where the money is coming from

For the first phase of the project, Storvick said the county has been awarded $2.5 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration Culvert Aquatic Organism Passage Grant Program. However, county documents indicate the project will cost a total of about $9.6 million.

To cover the remaining costs, Storvick said the county plans to use a $3.7 million Public Works Board Loan, up to $500,000 from the Thurston County Public Utility District, nearly $2.6 million in Real Estate Excise Tax 2 funding, $200,000 from the County Road Fund, and $150,000 in stormwater utility fees.

For phase 2 of the project, Storvick said the county has been awarded $500,000 from the same federal grant program to complete an alternative analysis study for the next two upstream barriers on Green Cove Creek.

Storvick said the first barrier is at 36th Avenue Southwest, where there are “two 5-foot diameter, fish barrier culverts.” He said the second barrier can be found at Kaiser Road Northwest where there are “two 4.25-foot squashed, fish barrier culverts.”

“These three locations are the key barriers, including Country Club Road, to restore 1.3 miles of fish habitat in the watershed,” Storvick said.

The Washington State Department of Transportation Local Programs will administer the federal grants and will authorize the awarded funding in phases that require separate agreements. In both phases, documents show there must a 20% match of local funds.

Phase 2 of the project is expected to cost about $625,000, according to the documents. The county will cover $125,000 with Real Estate Excise Tax 2 funds.

“I’m so excited that we’re finally at this point with this project,” Commissioner Carolina Mejia said. “Great work to our public works team in acquiring these grants. It’s just very exciting.”

Another fish barrier removal under way

Another fish barrier removal project is in the works for Thompson Creek Road Southeast near the Skookumchuck Reservoir.

Once complete, this project will remove the last barrier on the creek and open more than 10 miles of upstream fish habitat, according to county documents.

For this project, the county intends to spend about $2.2 million to replace a 10-foot corrugated squash culvert with a 70-foot prefabricated bridge, according to county documents.

On Tuesday, the board approved a call for sealed bids for a contract to construct the improvement at Thompson Creek.

The county estimates construction costs will be about $750,000, with $500,000 coming from the Brian Abbot Fish Barrier Removal Board , a state grant program, and $80,000 from a state Salmon Recovery Funding Board grant.

The remaining amount will be covered by Real Estate Excise Tax 2 funds, according to county documents.

The county’s Public Works website indicates construction on this project may start as soon as July and end by October.