West Fork Hylebos Creek project to improve fish access in Federal Way
Published 6:17 pm Tuesday, July 7, 2015
Chinook, coho and chum salmon will soon find their travels through Federal Way much easier. A project this summer will replace a 90-year-old box culvert and realign and re-grade the West Fork Hylebos Creek under State Route 99, making it easier for fish and other wildlife to use the waterway.
Contractor crews working for the Washington State Department of Transportation will began work in June, with the major work expected to start in July, including a full weekend closure of SR-99.
The existing 6-by-6 foot culvert was installed in 1925 and is too small to accommodate fish traveling through the creek. Replacing it with a 10-by-20 foot culvert will provide more room for fish and other wildlife.
Fast-moving water rushing over large drops in many areas washed away the creek bed and created significant drops, making the creek impassable for fish.
“We’re going to rebuild and realign the creek to create a meandering stream with a gentler slope,” said Mike Askarian, a project engineer for the Washington State Department of Transportation. “We’ll also add woody debris in areas to give fish places to rest. This will provide better habitat for migrating and spawning fish.”
When the project is completed, an additional 1.7 miles of upstream spawning habitat will be accessible in the Hylebos watershed.
Non-native trees and shrubs like cherry laurel, Himalayan blackberry, knotweed and reed canary grass have moved into the area but they’ll be replaced with native species like Oregon ash, Sitka spruce, western red cedar, black twinberry, Indian plum, red osier dogwood and salmonberry.
Replacing the culvert will require a full weekend closure of SR-99 from Southwest 356th Street to South 373rd Street as about 100 feet of roadway has to be removed as part of the project. The closure is tentatively scheduled for early August.
Drivers will take about a six-mile detour to Interstate 5 during the closure and should add about 10 minutes to their travel time. The contractor will provide a shuttle equipped with a bike rack to help pedestrians and cyclists get around the closure.
