After years of delays, a project to replace a small bridge over Prickett Creek on Stringtown Road is scheduled to begin soon, bringing a monthslong road closure starting Monday, July 29.
The road is expected to remain closed through November 26.
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).
Then, it was delayed for what could be the final time, but just by a few weeks.
“Unfortunately, we were delayed in hiring our contractor,” said Washington County LUT spokesperson Heather Sturgill in an email to the Gales Creek Journal on July 2.
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. Then, it was projected to 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.
Now, the county says it will cost around $1.8 million with MSTIP and Road Fund Bridge Program funding.
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.
