Worries over the upcoming closures of the Hood Canal Bridge this summer are still simmering throughout Jefferson County.

County commissioners continued to question the wisdom of shutting down the main link to Jefferson County during the busy tourism season.

At Monday’s meeting of the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners, commissioners said state officials seem unwilling to bend the schedule for repairs to the Hood Canal Bridge in a way that would avoid devastating impacts to the local economy.

The Washington State Department of Transportation earlier announced four complete shutdowns of the span across Hood Canal, planned for four consecutive weekends in late July and early August.

Dean said she had spoken last week with organizers of THING, a three-day music festival planned for Aug. 25 through Aug. 27.

Although state transportation officials have said the four weekends picked for repairs of the bridge will be the weekends of July 28, Aug. 4, Aug. 11, and Aug. 18, officials have also warned the work may be extended or start later due to the weather.

Dean said STG, organizers of THING, were “very concerned about the bridge closures and really feel it could be an existential threat.”

“They’re already spending hundreds of thousands of dollars securing that event,” Dean told her fellow commissioners Monday. “We have no reason to think it won’t be pushed to the weekend of that festival.”

The reluctance of state transportation officials to rethink the planned closure dates has some thinking of appealing to a higher power.

That includes STG, Dean said Monday.

“They’re going to be elevating their concerns, as well,” she added.

The bridge has roughly
18,000 vehicle crossings a day, and the shutdown has been harshly criticized by businesses and local officials and residents. Many have warned of the harmful economic impacts the closures will cause at the height of the summer tourism season for the Olympic Peninsula.

Commissioner Greg Brotherton noted last week’s meeting held to discuss emergency services during the closure of the bridge between Jefferson and Kitsap counties.

While the planned installation of roundabouts on Highway 104 on the west side of the bridge that were planned to start later this year have been pushed off, other state transportation projects this summer will also prompt traffic troubles.

“The closures on [US Highway] 101 really are gonna shut down traffic both ways for nearly a month. The detour routes seem very unplanned,” Brotherton told his fellow commissioners.

Brotherton said state officials seem unwilling to modify their plans.

He agreed with Dean that the county has not been adequately pulled into the planning process, and the state seems to be in listen-only mode.

“There is one-way information coming, and they are happy to hear our comments and concerns, but they are not interested in changing basically anything based on the concerns we raised,” Brotherton said.

Brotherton questioned whether county officials should take their concerns to a higher authority. 

“I wonder if it’s time to reach out directly to ... the Secretary of Transportation or the governor himself,” he said.

Even with work on the proposed Highway 104 roundabouts pushed back, the county still faces the double whammy of the Hood Canal Bridge being totally shut down for four weekends and US 101 being closed.

The shutdowns needed on US 101 should also be set back, Brotherton said.

“Doing it at the same time as you do the roundabouts seems to make a lot of sense. We’ve long said the middle of the summer is really disadvantageous with the other work going on,” he said.

“Special haul trucks will not have a detour route. They will not be able to come to the Peninsula,” Brotherton added. 

“I guess the detour route will be, you know, get to Port Angeles through Aberdeen. But there will not be a 101 on the side of the Peninsula for the vehicles that can’t go over the Little Quilcene Bridge or the Big Quilcene Bridge.

“So I don’t know if we want to take more serious action just to say, you know, the middle of the summer is incredibly destructive to our economy,” he said.

The Hood Canal Bridge repair project includes rehabilitating the center lock system that keeps both halves of the bridge connected. 

State officials have previously said the repair work is highly specialized, and Washington will largely have to abide by the schedule dictated by its out-of-state contractors.

County commissioners and others have asked the state to do the work earlier in the summer.

The plan for closing the span is still set for 11 p.m. Fridays to 4 a.m. Mondays for four consecutive weekends starting Friday, July 28.