Road repairs scheduled for Graves Creek Road in September

August 21, 2019 1:30 am
COURTESY NATIONAL PARK SERVICE The National Park Service will begin repairs Sept. 3. This photo shows Graves Creek after previous emergency repairs were made to significant washouts created over the past two winters.
COURTESY NATIONAL PARK SERVICE The National Park Service will begin repairs Sept. 3. This photo shows Graves Creek after previous emergency repairs were made to significant washouts created over the past two winters.

The Olympic National Park road crew is scheduled to begin repairs to three washouts on the Quinault Valley’s Graves Creek Road on Tuesday, Sept. 3. The Graves Creek Road sustained damage during the last two years of winter storms. While the Graves Creek Road is closed, there will be no vehicle access to the Graves Creek Trailhead and Graves Creek Campground.

To provide for public safety during the first repair, the road will be completely closed to all entry, including foot, bicycle and stock access, at the intersection of the Quinault North and Shore roads. The first repair is anticipated to last one week. During this time, access to Enchanted Valley will be available from trailheads on the park’s east side.

After the first of three repairs is complete the road will be accessible by foot, bicycle and stock access for the remainder of the work. Parking is limited.

For visitor and employee safety, visitors must ensure they have the attention and permission of the road crew prior to passing through the work zone.

For the final washout repair, the road closure is expected to move from the intersection of the North and South Shore roads to approximately milepost 4. This move of the closure is anticipated for the last week of work. Parking is limited.

The entire repair project and closure to vehicles is anticipated to last four weeks, with the road scheduled to reopen to all access in early October.

Graves Creek Road is a six-mile long gravel road that runs from the intersection of the North and South Shore roads to the Graves Creek Trailhead and these repairs are critical to maintaining vehicle access to the area.

The road repairs involve the placement of large logs along the length of the embankments, with the logs’ rootwads facing into the stream to encourage the development of fish habitat. Rock ballast will be placed to secure the logs and prevent buoyancy, and the gravel road will then be rebuilt overtop the logs. The logs for this project were salvaged from previous projects in the park.

The cost for the road repair project is $140,000 and is funded through the Federal Lands Transportation Program (FLTP) of the Federal Highway Administration. The FLTP funds projects that improve access within Federal lands (national forests, national parks, national wildlife refuges, national recreation areas, and other Federal public lands) on transportation facilities in the national Federal Lands transportation inventory, and owned and maintained by the Federal government.

For information about visiting Olympic National Park, visitors should consult the park website at http://www.nps.gov/olym.

COURTESY NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Graves Creek Road in the Quinault Valley sustained significant damage during the past two winters, and the National Park Service will begin repairs on three washouts Sept. 3. This photo shows the road before emergency repairs.

COURTESY NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Graves Creek Road in the Quinault Valley sustained significant damage during the past two winters, and the National Park Service will begin repairs on three washouts Sept. 3. This photo shows the road before emergency repairs.

COURTESY NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Graves Creek Road in the Quinault Valley sustained significant damage during the past two winters, and the National Park Service will begin repairs on three washouts Sept. 3. This photo shows the road before emergency repairs.

COURTESY NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Graves Creek Road in the Quinault Valley sustained significant damage during the past two winters, and the National Park Service will begin repairs on three washouts Sept. 3. This photo shows the road before emergency repairs.