Construction to begin Monday on section of Highway 112

Road has been closed since November due to mudslides

CLALLAM BAY — Work on state Highway 112 at milepost 15.8, where mudslides severely damaged the road, will begin on Monday.

The state Department of Transportation (DOT) has obtained a $1.3 million state-funded emergency contract to begin work on the road, a key connecting route to U.S. Highway 101 for Clallam Bay and Neah Bay.

The contract was awarded to Scarsella Brothers Inc. of Kent. Preparations at the site began Friday.

Highway 112 will remain closed during construction. Travelers will continue to use the bypass route on Eagle Pass Way, which was established after the November storms caused the slides.

Crews will work to remove about 40,000 cubic yards of debris in order to rebuild a portion of the highway, stabilize an adjacent slope and conduct drainage and guardrail repairs in addition to hillside seeding and erosion control.

“We know how important this route is to the Neah Bay and Clallam Bay communities, including the Clallam Bay Correctional Facility,” DOT Project Engineer Dan McKernan said.

“We are eager to get to work to reopen (Highway) 112 at Clallam Bay in approximately eight weeks.”

In early November, powerful storms shut down many of the roadways on the Peninsula. Many crews were able to clear them, but the landslides on Highway 112 at milepost 15.8 and milepost 32 posed challenges that require working with the state.

The damage at milepost 32 poses a unique challenge in terms of its repair; DOT hopes it will begin sometime at the end of February.

“There are some settlement issues, said Tina Werner, a spokesperson for DOT. “It’s not a big landslide like at milepost 15.8, where we have nearly 400 feet of debris on the road. The issue with Jim Creek is that it is significantly more complex in terms of design.

“We have been working with our engineering geologists and we are awaiting their final design recommendations on what those long-term repairs for (Highway) 112 at Jim Creek will be.”

Those repairs also would be paid for through emergency funding, with the exact amount to be determined once contacts go out for bid, hopefully in the second week of February, Werner said.

“We don’t have those totals just yet, but once we have a contractor on board, we will,” she said. “I don’t think it’s going to be as expensive as the work at milepost 15.8.”

Werner also said both areas were declared disaster sites through the Gov. Jay Inslee’s emergency declaration, which opened the project up to funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

“We were able to track that these disasters were from back-to-back storms and how serious the winter weather has been and the flooding that happened and the back-to-back snowmelt, really like just the perfect conditions for these situations to occur on (Highway) 112,” Werner said.

More in News

A street sweeper on I Street in Port Angeles cleans up the street along the curbs of all the debris that blew down during Tuesday evening’s storm. Thousands were without power at the peak of the storm. (Dave Logan/for Peninsula Daily News)
Storm causes power outages, road closures

Smaller weather system may hit Friday

Port Angeles funds lodging tax requests

Sixteen applications to undergo review

Port Townsend’s Water Street sewer project gets funds

City council authorizes contracts; construction to start in January

Port of Port Angeles commissioners approve 2025 budget

Board OKs project that would treat seawater to make it less acidic

Two injured after truck collides with tree

Two people were injured when the truck in which… Continue reading

Power out for thousands in Clallam County

More than 11,000 electric meters were without power in… Continue reading

Shay-Lyn Szczepanik and her daughter Raelynn, 5, of Port Angeles are wind blown as they try to watch the wild waves at the base of Ediz Hook on Tuesday as the storm approaches. Many other weather watchers went to the spit to see and feel the winds. (Dave Logan/for Peninsula Daily News)
Storm surge

Shay-Lyn Szczepanik and her daughter Raelynn, 5, of Port Angeles are wind… Continue reading

Fire Marshal and floodplain administrator Phil Cecere answers questions with deputy floodplain administrator Greg Ballard on Monday night in Brinnon. (Elijah Sussman/Peninsula Daily News)
Jefferson commissioners update flood code

More than 70 people attend hearing in Brinnon

PASD board accepts Brewer’s resignation

School officials highlight performance of Native American students

Port Angeles lifts Stage III water restrictions

The city of Port Angeles has lifted all of… Continue reading

Chipotle Mexican Grill opens today at 2021, Suite B, U.S. Highway 101 in Port Angeles. The fast food restaurant features freshly prepared burritos, burrito bowls, salads and tacos. (Dave Logan/for Peninsula Daily News)
Chipotle opens in Port Angeles

Chipotle Mexican Grill opens today at 2021, Suite B, U.S. Highway 101… Continue reading

Agnes Kioko and Regina Mbaluku of Kenya and Bonita Piper, board president of Path From Poverty, right, meet with Sequim volunteers who cut and sell wood as a fundraiser. (Michael Dashiell/Olympic Peninsula News Group)
Connection helps Kenyan women with opportunities, relationships

This effort, gifts from thousands of miles away, aren’t just… Continue reading