An $88 million project spanning the highways between Montesano and Olympia is on track for its scheduled completion next year.

The Washington State Department of Transportation project to replace existing culverts with structures to better allow fish passage in five locations on U.S. Highway 12 and state Route 8 is part of a larger effort to correct barriers for fish passage, according to the project website.

The fish passage work will be finished in the summer, while crews will work for several months after that to restore the highway and surroundings to its previous state, said WSDOT communications consultant Angela Cochran in an email.

“The work associated with the restoration of fish passage is scheduled to be complete in late summer 2025, including switching the US 12 and SR 8 travel lanes back into the original configuration,” Cochran said. “However, we will still have some items to complete to remove the work zones and restore the right-of-way, such as landscaping. This is why travelers will continue to see lane reductions into the fall/early winter.”

Cochran encouraged drivers to be alert as they traveled through work zones, lest a crash constrict travel further than it currently is from the work underway, specifically naming distracted driving, following too closely and speeding as major factors in crashes.

Similar projects are underway statewide, The Daily World previously reported, as the state works to meet a 2030 deadline for fish barrier projects.

Contact Senior Reporter Michael S. Lockett at 757-621-1197 or mlockett@thedailyworld.com.

Courtesy photo / WSDOT Workers set large concrete girders onto a new structure that will carry eastbound US 12 over the creek.

Courtesy photo / WSDOT Crews working for WSDOT use heavy equipment to place concrete girders. Workers later will rebuild and restore the creek to benefit fish.