A 100-mile detour is what motorists will face this summer if their plans take them across the Hood Canal Bridge.

The Hood Canal Bridge will be closed for 4 full weekends this summer, sometime between July and September. That leaves a ferry or a 100+ mile detour down State Route 3 and up United States Route 101.

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The Washington State Department of Transportation's (WSDOT) Mark Krulish said they need to change a key bridge part.

" We are repairing the center lock mechanism on the bridge," Krulish stated. "It is the mechanism that holds the bridge together."

This work was expected to take place in 2021, but was held off due to the fact that of the pandemic. It was rescheduled for last year, however supply chain issues pushed it to 2023.

Krulish mentioned this work can not be done in bad weather condition.

" We're going to be in the water, and we're going to be suspended from a bridge, so the water definitely needs to be calm in order to do this," he said. "The time to do that is in the summer."

The state is attempting to finalize over which weekends it will perform the work, totally recognizing that this will develop substantial issues getting around.

" We understand every weekend on the Olympic Peninsula, there is a huge occasion that draws tons of people, but what we're looking at a lot of is when's the weather condition the very best," Krulish stated.

The professional is wanting to see if it can find windows during the weekend closures to provide some bridge access. We need to get a much better concept of the scheduling in early April.

But this is something you require to start taking a look at right now if you have summer weekend plans on the peninsula.

There are likewise smaller building tasks prepared along the detour route that can not be delayed or held off either. There are no plans for extra ferry service to help get around this either. The only run that would help is Coupeville/Port Townsend, and it can't deal with a lot more than it normally does.

More than 18,000 people use the bridge every day. On summertime weekends, it can be way more than that. These weekend closures are going to have a significant impact.

Start preparing now.

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