07/05/2023
Travel alert - Hood Canal Bridge!
**5-5-23 - WEATHER AND HOOD CANAL BRIDGE CLOSURES**
Wow. Kind of a wet Friday ain’t it?
I have this weather site that pops up on my desktop here at work and, after watching it rain pretty good all day, it says heavy rain starting soon. Not sure what to expect.
But I can tell you this: I think the wet will continue throughout our Cinco de Mayo, and begin to back off over night tonight. Showers are going to hang around tomorrow morning, but as the Saturday wears along, we should see a bit of improvement. Sunday will show some continued overcast, and maybe a stray shower, but will be for the most part pretty ok. And then next week, well we are really banking on it turning just real nice. Not hot by any means, but nice. And I am hoping next weekend will give a full weekend of no rain. That’d be nice.
There has been much talk recently about the repairs necessary on the Hood Canal Bridge. The bridge is a lifeline for us all here on the peninsula. While driving around the canal through Brinnon and Mt. Walker is pretty, most of us have seen it many times and rely on the bridge to cut hours of driving time when we need to leave the area. So, when the bridge goes down for whatever reason, we grumble.
Well, those repairs are starting. While WSDOT originally had plans for schedules that were somewhat confining for many, they worked with us and came up with something that works for them, the contractor doing the work and us as well. That first round of closures fast approaches so I thought I would share those dates and times with you so you can schedule your trips around it if you can. Here you go:
First round of scheduled May closures:
• 10 p.m. Saturday, May 13 to 10 a.m. Sunday, May 14
• 11 p.m. Monday, May 15 to 4 a.m. Tuesday, May 16
• 11 p.m. Tuesday, May 16 to 4 a.m. Wednesday, May 17
• 11 p.m. Wednesday, May 17 to 4 a.m. Thursday, May 18
A second round of overnight closures in May begins Saturday, May 20.
Second round of scheduled May closures:
• 10 p.m. Saturday, May 20 to 10 a.m. Sunday, May 21
• 11 p.m. Monday, May 22 to 4 a.m. Tuesday, May 23
• 11 p.m. Tuesday, May 23 to 4 a.m. Wednesday, May 24
• 11 p.m. Wednesday, May 24 to 4 a.m. Thursday, May 25
We all understand there are never great times for these closures to happen. But these repairs are necessary and glad that WSDOT worked through it to make the closures much easier for us to work with. It not only benefits our travel but helps with maintaining our supply chain. If you notice, we don’t have warehouses around here to speak of with large amounts of supplies, nor do we have tank farms anymore like we used to for fuel storage. So, truck after truck comes to Clallam County every day at all hours over the bridge to bring us food, medicines, gas and just about any other form of material you can think of.
There’s a ton of details on the bridge and other construction projects this summer at WSDOT.wa.gov. You can even sign up for certain alerts if you like to let you know when the bridge will open. Please check that out.
OK, just thought you’d like to know! In the meantime, I have a leak in the roof of my garage and need to run and deal with that. Good grief…..oh well.
Stay safe
Ron Cameron
Undersheriff