Major construction will reduce speed limit, lanes on U.S. 12 this summer

Fish barrier correction just west of Montesano will cause worst delays

Traffic will be reduced to one lane and the speed limit reduced to 25 mph in each direction of U.S. 12 near Montesano much of the summer and into the fall as the Department of Transportation removes and replaces a small culvert under the roadway.

The project will begin shortly after the July 4 holiday, according to department spokeswoman Tina Werner, and continue into November. The location is just west of the Devonshire Road overpass on the west edge of Montesano.

“This project will require crews to reduce U.S. 12 to one lane in each direction around the clock July through November,” said Werner. “During that same timeframe, the speed limit approaching the work zone will be reduced to 25 mph.”

The first phase of the work will funnel traffic in both directions into the westbound lanes, the second will reverse that, with eastbound and westbound traffic both using the eastbound lanes.

The project is part of the state’s fish barrier correction program, designed to find and remove barriers to migrating fish, similar to the two-year project happening on Wildcat Creek just west of McCleary but on a smaller scale.

Another project begins in May and will last into early July and involves night paving between East Sergeant Boulevard near Aberdeen and the Wynooche River Bridge just west of Montesano. The 7-mile stretch of highway will be reduced to one lane at times, but only during nighttime hours.