DowntownTuesday, November 10
Deschutes Parkway would close for about three years under updated estuary plans
The Daily Olympia team
If you walk, bike or drive around Capitol Lake, here's the big change: the updated Deschutes Estuary plans would close Deschutes Parkway SW between Lakeridge Drive and 5th Avenue for about three years. Ecology planner Lynn Turner called it probably the biggest change in the draft Supplemental EIS. She said it's needed "for worker and public safety during construction of the new roundabout and the new bridge approach."
The estuary project would take years and hundreds of millions of dollars
- $416 million
- estimated cost by the time construction starts
- About 3 years
- of Deschutes Parkway closure, at the start of construction
- 6 to 7 years
- of staged construction, if funding comes through
- 260 acres
- of Capitol Lake to be restored as an estuary
Sources: The Olympian, The Jolt News
Construction could start in 2028 at the earliest. The Jolt News reports funding for construction hasn't been secured, and the design process should wrap up by mid-2027.
The Parkway closure would come at the start of construction
- Oct. 28Ecology holds a public hearing on the draft SEIS at the Olympia Center
- Nov. 9Public comment period on the draft SEIS ends at 11:59 p.m.
- Mid-2027The design process is expected to be completed
- 2028Construction could start at the earliest, with the Parkway closed first
Sources: The Olympian, The Jolt News
- Comments closed: 11:59 p.m. Mon., Nov. 9
- Final SEIS: expected next year, with responses to comments
- Also coming: more truck traffic and a new truck haul route
Residents have questioned the length. Bill Elliott wants to know why three years is unavoidable, Tom Reynolds, 78, who regularly walks the Heritage Park trail, fears the closure could impede his access to the trails for the rest of his life, and Lauren O'Malley hopes alternate routes are considered.
Sources: The Olympian, The Jolt News