The days get longer, the scotch broom starts blooming on the side of the highway and road crews emerge from hiding, orange vests stunningly bright under the blue skies of summer.

It’s construction season. Below are some projects to be aware of in the coming weeks:

South Discovery Road Pavement

Construction is scheduled to begin on May 28 on South Discovery Road, from the Cape George Road intersection to the Milo Curry Road intersection.

Motorists and bicyclists should expect traffic delays on this segment of South Discovery Road, but a minimum of one-lane one-way traffic will be maintained at all times, according to a press release from the Jefferson County Department of Public Works.

The construction is part of the county’s South Discovery Road Pavement Preservation project and is expected to continue through July 9. Contractor Lakeside Industries, Inc. will be working with the Public Works Department, repaving between milepost 3.180 and milepost 4.576 on South Discovery Road, beginning approximately 2,450 feet northerly of the South Discovery Road/Cape George Road intersection and ending approximately 95 feet easterly of the South Discovery Road/Milo Curry Road intersection. The total project is 1.39 miles long.

This project will preserve and rehabilitate the asphalt roadway surface, maintain the existing traveled way at 22 to 24 feet wide, and improve the ride quality and safety. The scope of work includes minor shoulder widening in two areas, asphalt paving of the roadway and shoulders, gravel shoulder edge finishing, concrete traffic barriers, pavement striping and other work.

Every effort will be made to minimize the delays to traffic, pedestrians and impacts to properties adjoining the project, according to the Public Works Department.

Questions or concerns regarding this project should be directed to John Wayand, Project Manager, at the Jefferson County Public Works office, 623 Sheridan St., Port Townsend, WA 98368, 360-385-9377, jwayand@co.jefferson.wa.us.

Port Discovery, too.

An eight-mile stretch of US 101 near Port Discovery from Old Gardiner Road to north of West Uncas Road in Jefferson County will be repaved by contractor crews working for Washington State Department of Transportation.

In addition to repaving the highway, crews will make repairs to the US 101 Salmon Creek Bridge and US 101 Snow Creek Bridge. The work includes repairing the driving surface of the bridge decks and replacing bridge expansion joints.

Look for overnight single lane closures with a pilot car beginning at 10 p.m. each Monday through Friday night to 9 a.m. the following day. No work will occur Saturday or Sunday nights.

WSDOT encourages late night ferry riders or those traveling across the SR 104 Hood Canal Bridge to plan extra time to reach their destinations during construction.

Lake Crescent Highway Rehab Project

The National Park Service and Federal Highway Administration will rehabilitate 12 miles of Highway 101 around Lake Crescent and 4 miles of East Beach Road.

Work is scheduled to begin May 20 and continue on through June 13. Crews will be working on erosion control, milling, paving and placing a new guardrail along this area.

Travellers can expect half-hour delays during weekday work hours, with short delays after-hours to accommodate one-way alternating traffic. There will be 4-hour closures from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. each Monday through Thursday.

From July through late September, there will be half-hour delays during weekday work hours, with short delays after-hours to accommodate one-way alternative traffic.

To learn more, visit the Olympic National Park’s project webpage (nps.gov/olym) for up-to-date announcements.

Chip Seal Season

Jefferson County Public Works’ road maintenance is set to begin their yearly chip seal project after Memorial Day.

Road maintenance supervisor Matt Stweart said the crews will begin chip seal projects on major county roads as soon as the weather improves.

Chip seal is a road resurfacing that uses layers of small rock with asphalt emulsion and oil.

This year, the county will chip seal sections of 39 county roads.

Drivers should be prepared for 25 mile per hour speed zones while crews are chip sealing, Stewart said, as well as periods of one-lane-only traffic.

“We always have flaggers controlling traffic,” he said. “I do want to remind everyone about the Slow Down or Move Over law.”

The Slow Down or Move Over law requires drivers approaching and traveling in the same direction as a stationary authorized emergency vehicle, including a tow truck, displaying flashing lights, to change to a non-adjacent lane if safe to do so, or to slow to no more than 15 mph on a non-divided highway or 25 mph on a divided highway.

“Our crews need to be able to work safely,” Stewart said. “It might not seem like a big deal on 25 mph roads, but on roads like Center Road, it can be a scary place for people to work.”

To see a full list of the upcoming chip seal projects, visit the Jefferson County website at co.jefferson.wa.us.