A long-awaited project to replace a small bridge on Stringtown Road near Gales Creek Road that was built when John F. Kennedy was president has been delayed again.
The current bridge over Prickett Creek, 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, then to 2023, and then delayed again to begin construction in early July of 2024, according to a webpage dedicated to the project by Washington County Land Use and Transportation (LUT).
“Unfortunately, we were delayed in hiring our contractor,” said Washington County LUT spokesperson Heather Sturgill in an email to the Gales Creek Journal. “We will have our construction schedule by July 19,” she added.
Once the project is underway, a popular rural route will be closed for construction, possibly for several months this summer if the the quadruply-delayed project finally happens.
Until then, the exact dates for the road closure will remain unknown, as they have for the last five years.
The current timbered bridge 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, which required 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 an earlier email from Sturgill when we last wrote about the project in February.
A detour will be in place via Ritchey Road and Gales Creek Road. The latest schedule still calls for completion by October.
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.
