State Route 123 through Mount Rainier National Park will be closed temporarily beginning Monday.
The closure, which is set to begin at 7 a.m., will extend from Cayuse Pass at state Route 410 to just north of the Shriner Peak trailhead, about 7 miles south of Cayuse Pass.
Depending on the weather, the closure is expected to last until 5 p.m. Tuesday, park superintendent Randy King said.
Tacoma-based Tucci and Sons will replace a 36-inch-wide culvert that runs under the road. In 2009, crews discovered that concrete culvert sections had separated well beneath the road.
The state Department of Transportation plugged the culvert, filled in the intake basin and installed two smaller-diameter shallow temporary culverts in 2010.
During the road closure, park visitors can reach state Route 123 from the park’s southeast entrance via U.S. Highway 12 to the Shiner Peak trailhead. Because of the limited turnaround area at Shiner Peak trailhead, drivers of oversized vehicles are encouraged to turn around at the east entrance to Stevens Canyon Road.
Visitors wanting to reach the Box Canyon overlook and picnic areas can do so from the east via Stevens Canyon Road. Because of another road project, visitors cannot drive on the west end of Stevens Canyon Road, meaning visitors cannot reach Paradise from the east via Stevens Canyon Road.
State Route 123 runs along the east edge of the park for about 20 miles, from U.S. 12 to the south to the intersection with state Route 410 on the north at Cayuse Pass.
State Route 410 also serves the east side of the park, extending from state Route 167 near Sumner, east 107 miles over the Cascade Range at Chinook Pass to U.S. 12, 4 miles west of Naches.
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