Major route to I-90 will be shut down for culvert work
Jun 13, 2017, 10:48 AM
E Lake Sammamish Parkway between the I-90 on- and off-ramps and 229th Ave SE will be closed from Tuesday night to Monday. (WSDOT)
(WSDOT)
There are big changes coming this week for drivers in Sammamish and Issaquah.
A major route to I-90 is going to be closed for a week as the state puts in a new fish culvert.
Drivers will not be able to get to the I-90 Front Street ramps from East Lake Sammamish Parkway through next Monday morning. That road is being closed between 229th Street SE and I-90. The closure begins Tuesday night.
Marqise Allen with the Washington State Department of Transportation said contractors are replacing the small culverts that currently direct the North Fork of Issaquah Creek.
“They cross the on- and off- ramps at Front Street but Front Street as well,” he said. “To make life easier for the fish, what we’re going to do is realign the creek and run it through East Lake Sammamish Parkway.”
The state is under a court order to replace blocked culverts to improve fish habitat. The state is required to replace 475 culverts across Western Washington by 2030. It has already fixed or replaced more than 300 culverts under the 2013 injunction.
Twenty-one Washington tribes sued the state in 1974 to improve fish habitat. The suits continued in court until 2016.
Allen said they prioritize which culverts are replaced based on how much habitat they can reclaim.
“You don’t want to spend millions of dollars to open up a couple feet,” he said. “This project will open up about a mile of fish habitat.”
What does this mean for drivers for the next six days? They are losing one of their options to access I-90. Drivers will have to consider using 17th Avenue NW, Highlands Drive, or West Lake Sammamish Parkway. The Front Street ramps to and from I-90 will remain open, but they will only be accessible from the downtown Issaquah-side of I-90.
