This article was updated at 4:30 p.m. Jan. 3 to reflect the postponement of the proposed 2026 culvert replacement project north of Bellingham near Meridian Street.
Drivers in the northwest corner of the state will have to navigate a few big construction projects in 2025 and 2026 as the Washington Department of Transportation continues its fish passage correction program on Interstate 5.
Starting in spring 2025, WSDOT will replace six old culverts that hinder fish passage in Friday Creek, Lake Creek, Chuckanut Creek and unnamed tributaries under I-5 and nearby roads.
The U.S. District Court ruled in 2013 that WSDOT is required to remove barriers in waterways under state roads that impede salmon migration by 2030. The estimated total cost of the decades-long fish passage program has doubled from $4 billion to almost $8 billion — but a Seattle Times investigation in March found that some projects have limited ecological value because they’re not able to address other factors and structures that may also be blocking fish passage.
In a blog post the same month, WSDOT spokesperson Barbara LaBoe wrote: “Our work alone may not fully restore access, but it can help create momentum for overall restoration of the waterway. Previous work makes it easier for smaller agencies, tribes and landowners to obtain grants and funding for their portion of the work because they can point to the benefit of adding to the new state improvements.”
The state’s Fish Passage Diversion and Screening Inventory shows that coho salmon, steelhead, coastal cutthroat and resident trout have been either seen or captured in the named streams included in the project, while the unnamed tributaries show the potential to support salmonids.
The replacement culverts near the Whatcom-Skagit county line are currently in the design phase, but their installation will require nightly lane closures and then temporary bypasses through the summer. In addition to highway impacts, construction of a new crossing under Lake Samish Road near the Alger interchange will necessitate a two-week road closure. The $160 million project is funded by the federal American Rescue Plan Act and state transportation dollars.
The last fish passage project completed on I-5 in Whatcom County was at Padden Creek in 2022. The $31.3 million project replaced two small, shallow culverts under I-5 and 30th Street with span bridges and added a wildlife migration corridor to reduce vehicle-deer collisions.
In spring 2026, the ongoing project south of Bellingham was supposed to coincide with another project north of the city — an $85 million culvert replacement on two creeks that cross under I-5 and State Route 539 (Meridian). However, that project has been postponed for at least a few years due to funding, a WSDOT spokesperson told Cascadia Daily News on Jan. 3.
Another interstate improvement project that likely won’t happen anytime soon is pavement rehabilitation. While WSDOT was prepared to replace aging concrete panels and grind down the road surface on northbound lanes from the North Lake Samish exit to Ferndale, the $22 million project was paused in summer 2024 due to lack of funding.
Julia Tellman writes about civic issues and anything else that happens to cross her desk; contact her at juliatellman@cascadiadaily.com.
