Pussyfoot Creek and SR 164 get new bridge. Fish get 9 miles of new habitat
State Route 164 between Auburn and Enumclaw reopened Thursday after a three-month closure just east of the White River Amphitheater to allow for construction of a new bridge over Pussyfoot Creek that’s designed to give fish populations a boost.
Contractors working for the state Department of Transportation removed an 11-foot-diameter culvert, an older unused culvert and a creek bed’s worth of debris under the road. They replaced the structures with the 172-foot-long bridge on the Muckleshoot Reservation.
That new bridge will allow Pussyfoot Creek to flow freely under the highway. In turn, that makes it easier for fish to travel up and down stream.
The $11.8 million bridge has opened up 9.3 miles of stream habitat for coho salmon, steelhead and coastal cutthroat trout, according to WSDOT. Other fish and animals that live in or use the waters can also move easier in the natural habitat.
The Pussyfoot Creek bridge is the latest in a series of culvert replacements throughout Puget Sound designed to open up long-blocked fish habitat.
WSDOT said its fish passage program has completed 365 projects statewide and opened more than 1,200 miles of habitat. Fish use the reclaimed waterways to spawn and replenish their species.
Pussyfoot Creek flows in to the White River.
Finishing work on the bridge could mean occasional travel delays, WSDOT said.
