Olympic National Park spokesman Penny Wagner was the guest speaker at the June 14 Forks Chamber of Commerce meeting at Blakeslee’s. Wagner updated the group on the forthcoming road work around Lake Crescent and the roadwork that currently has Rialto Beach closed.

Wagner said the park and other entities will work hard to get information out to area residents and travelers as the work gets underway in mid-July. The project will include 12 miles of Highway 101 around Lake Crescent as well as about 4 miles of East Beach Road.

The project will begin in mid-July and last three construction seasons. It will include resurfacing, rock hazards, guard rails, a new transit stop and the 3.5 miles of East Beach Road. She said that hazard trees will be monitored throughout the project that will be completed in 2019 at the cost of $27.5 million.

There will be no weekend or holiday work and for next year, 2018, the work will begin in mid-March. Wagner said there will have to be some 4-hour closures that will be well advertised two weeks before they happen and emergency vehicles always will have access during those closures. There is a monetary incentive for the contractor to use fewer of the 4-hour closures. Mid-November to mid-March there will be no construction.

For those waiting, there will be portable toilets and some extra turnarounds if travelers just can’t wait.

Road to Rialto Beach

Wagoner said it is hoped that the road to Rialto Beach will be open for the 4th of July holiday. She stated that permits caused the project to be delayed. She also stated that maintenance on that road is crucial because if they were to lose the road to Rialto Beach it would NOT be replaced. Chamber president Don Grafstrom asked her to repeat what she said and she again said that it would not be in the management plan to replace that road if it should wash out. “It must be stabilized now — if it washed out, that would be the end of the road.”