27-05-2025
Popular Bellingham trail will be closed into the fall for fish ladder project
Part of a popular Bellingham hiking and biking path will close for several months starting in June as part of a project to replace an aging fish ladder and culverts that limit access for spawning salmon and other native fish on Padden Creek.
A detour is planned around the closure on the Interurban Trail, which connects the Fairhaven business district with Fairhaven Park, the Hundred Acre Wood and also with Larrabee State Park and beyond. A section of the Interurban Trail will close between 12th and 14th streets south of Old Fairhaven Parkway.
City officials are planning an open house to discuss the $4.3 million project from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. June 9 at Happy Valley Elementary School, 1041 24th St.
A grant from the state Department of Fish and Wildlife is paying for nearly all the cost of design and construction, according to a memo from the Public Works Department.
City Council members unanimously approved a construction contract May 19.
Analiese Burns, the habitat and restoration manager in the Natural Resources Division of Public Works, said the trail closure is required while in-stream work is being done from late June through fall.
'We know that's also a busy time for trail users. We've been coordinating with the Parks Department to make sure that (the public is) aware. Luckily, there are quite a few sidewalks that people can use alternative routes,' Burns told a City Council committee on May 19.
Work should be done by February, she said.
To allow salmon and other fish better access upstream to spawn, a culvert will be removed near 14th Street and replaced with an arch, providing daylight for Padden Creek. At 12th Street, a fish ladder will be replace with a natural-looking sloped boulder field.
'This fish ladder was installed many decades ago and we hoped that that would be a fix for fish. We now know that a lot of fish cannot make it up that barrier,' Burns told the committee.
After construction is complete, the city will keep an eye on how fish are using the boulder field, Burns said.
'This is a little bit of a tricky spot in that the stream is fairly steep in this region. We've all decided, including the tribes and Department of Fish and Wildlife, this is the best path forward. This project will have more than a normal feel from the fish perspective,' Burns said.
Padden Creek, which runs from Lake Padden to a lagoon on the Fairhaven waterfront, is home to several species of salmon and other natives fish, Public Works Department spokeswoman Stefanie Cilinceon told The Herald.
'This project will benefit all fish species present in Padden Creek, including chum, coho, Chinook, steelhead and sea-run cutthroat trout. Padden Creek is primarily a chum salmon stream and the existing barriers have impacted chum more than other fish because of their relatively weak swimming and jumping abilities. Therefore, chum salmon are likely to benefit the most,' Cilinceon said in an email.
'A roughened channel design composed of slightly larger stream bed material will help maintain stability throughout the re-constructed channel and boulders will be used to create pools, small resting areas, and force multiple flow paths throughout this steep stream reach. Larger pools will also be constructed — providing additional resting opportunities for fish — and large logs will be incorporated to provide additional stability and stream channel complexity, as well as to help maintain scour pools over the shallow bedrock. Collectively, all of these habitat features will serve to improve fish passage,' she said.
