A project to replace a bridge on Stringtown Road over Prickett Creek is finally going to happen, and an online open house is available until March 10 to review the details and provide feedback.
Find the open house at stringtown.washcoopenhouses.org.
Washington County Land Use and Transportation (LUT) said the project could result in a closure of up to two months sometime between July and October during the project construction window, but did not yet have an exact date.
“We anticipate closing Stringtown Road for the bridge replacement in August-September, but we will not have dates until our contractor is on board,” said LUT spokesperson Heather Sturgill in an email to the Gales Creek Journal.
The current bridge, located south of the Gales Creek Road intersection near the community historically known as Watts, was built in 1961. A replacement project was first scheduled to begin in 2019. It was delayed, and rescheduled for 2022, and then delayed again. This time, it’s really going to happen.
The online open house, has a series of technical details showing how the bridge will be replaced.
The current timbered bridge—built the year John F. Kennedy became president—has decaying wood cross-braces, according to LUT, which must be replaced. Once the project is complete, a concrete culvert will be in place, which will aid in fish passage. Prickett Creek is one of 17 tributaries to Gales Creek, joining the larger creek about 1/2 mile below the bridge replacement area.
The Gales Creek watershed holds numerous fish species, including salmon, steelhead, trout, Pacific lamprey and more, according to a 1998 Gales Creek Watershed Assessment Project survey commissioned by the Tualatin River Watershed Council.
The county will use a prebuilt culvert, allowing for a quicker project than building a bridge in place, the county said. Additionally, the road will be widened, requiring a right-of-way purchase from adjacent property owners. New guardrails, fresh pavement, restriping, and the installation of a water quality swale are all part of the project.
In 2019, the project was estimated to cost the county about $500,000. Now, it will cost an estimated $1.53 million in MSTIP funds, according to Sturgill.
A detour will be in place via Ritchey Road and Gales Creek Road.
Chas Hundley is the editor of the Gales Creek Journal and sister news publications the Banks Post and the Salmonberry Magazine. He grew up in Gales Creek and has a cat.
