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# Linger Longer Bridge Project Nears Completion
- URL: https://www.jeffcobeacon.com/linger-longer-bridge-project-nears-completion/
- Published: 2026-10-07T01:19:31.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-07T01:19:31.000Z
- Description: A 25-year vision comes to life with collaboration.
- Author: Meriden Vitale
- Tags: Local News, Quilcene, Quilcene Bay, Linger Longer Bridge, Twana Bridge, Big Quilcene River, Salmon Conservation, Meriden Vitale

JEFFERSON COUNTY, WA — If you’ve driven through Quilcene recently, on the way to Quilcene Bay, it’s hard to miss the newest piece of infrastructure in town. Spanning 1,140 feet, the revamped Linger Longer Bridge, or the Twana Bridge, as project manager Randy Johnson calls it, rises over the Big Quilcene River floodplain. After decades of studies and planning, and almost a year after construction began, the new bridge and corresponding river restoration work are nearing completion. Together, they aim to reduce flood hazards, improve fish habitat and finally allow the lower one mile of the river the freedom to return to its natural state.

Johnson, Habitat Program Manager for the Jamestown S’klallam, first drove across the Linger Longer Bridge on a steelhead fishing trip with a buddy in 1975\. “We were really appalled at this strange rock-lined ditch that was conveying the river down,” he said. “And this short little bridge; it just seemed insane. The river was in a straitjacket.” At that time, the river was a mere 50 feet wide below an 81-foot bridge. Water velocity was high and damaged fish habitat, preventing the formation of slow, deep pockets where salmon lay their eggs and scouring the river down to its bedrock in places. It also frequently jumped its banks and deposited tons of sediment in the delicate estuary of Quilcene Bay.

The problems began sometime in the 1930s, when the Big Quilcene River was diked to create more room for agriculture and development. The new river channel was meant to constrain the river and make space for the growing town of Quilcene, which was built in its surrounding floodplains. “This new configuration of the river didn’t end up working particularly well, and the town continued to flood—resulting in the town center moving away from the river and up to the higher ground where it is today,” said Gus Johnson (no relation to Randy Johnson), Habitat Program Director for the Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group (HCSEG). Surrounding neighborhoods still flooded in the meantime, causing damage to life and property. Between 1982 and 2015, there were nine federally declared flood disasters in Quilcene, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

In 1992, Jefferson County dredged the river to try to address years of sediment buildup, but it failed to go through any permitting, violating multiple state and federal laws in the process. This ultimately triggered a moment of reflection. Representatives from multiple entities came together, all in agreement about one thing: The current system wasn’t working and something needed to change. 

Under direction from the state, Jefferson County started working toward a long-term vision for river restoration and began a property buy-back program. They paid market value for willing landowners to move in order to create a patchwork of publicly owned land in the surrounding floodplain, and to get people out of harm’s way. Johnson said the county remained faithful to that vision over the next 25 years and was able to create the footprint for the right-of-way that the bridge currently traverses. 

**"Not many communities can say they have a river that is free.” — Randy Johnson, Habitat Program Manager for the Jamestown S’klallam*

By the early 2000s, stakeholders like the county, local tribes, HCSEG, the US Army Corps of Engineers and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife had all participated in commissioned studies to see what kind of improvements could be made to the lower one mile of the Big Quilcene River. After successfully removing over one thousand feet of the north dike, working upstream from the salt marsh, HCSEG set its sights on a large-scale project that would reconnect the river back to its historic floodplain.

“Since both the issue of community flooding and impacted salmon habitat originated from the same root cause, we wanted to design a multi-benefit project that would address both of these issues,” said Gus Johnson. “It took over a decade of acquiring properties and planning with local stakeholders to arrive at the final restoration design.”

![Aerial diagram of the former bridge and the new bridge and river channel system.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c6/a2/c6a241c6-69f5-450c-9fd7-6b170730e448/content/images/2026/10/IMG_2704-1.jpg)

**Aerial diagram of the former bridge and the new bridge and river channel system, from the Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group website*

HCSEG partnered with the Jamestown S’klallam to find funding for the project. Jamestown was awarded a $25 million RAISE (Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity) grant from the Department of Transportation for bridge construction, which was managed by the tribe and built by Cascade Bridge. NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) awarded the tribe and HCSEG $9.7 million toward river restoration that will both improve salmon habitat and reduce flood hazards for the local community. Bruch & Bruch Construction excavated the new river channel network, and HCSEG removed 1,455 feet of levees and 2,250 feet of county roads from the river’s historic floodplain. Engineers built 115 log jams to create fish habitat. They’ve also tripled the amount of river habitat, increasing the river channel from its previous length of 0.8 miles to 2.5 miles long. With help from Washington Conservation Corps crews, HCSEG’s stewardship team removed invasive species and replanted the site, work which will continue for the next 3-5 years.

![Looking from the center line across the Twana bridge, the pavement transitions from black top to tan cement. ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c6/a2/c6a241c6-69f5-450c-9fd7-6b170730e448/content/images/2026/10/IMG_2702.png)

**Pigment was added to the concrete to achieve the light tan color. Photo by Meriden Vitale*

Curving gently through the air, the new bridge is a tan color, in contrast to the black asphalt of the road as it approaches. “We don’t want it to be ugly if we can help it,” Johnson said, describing how they wanted to avoid an “I-5 industrial gray” situation. Pigment was added to the concrete to achieve the light tan color. When they couldn’t get the pigment in the prestressed girders, they painted them, leading to a two-tone effect between the road color and the structural beams. The Jamestown S’klallam also paid for the installation of eleven art panels inset into the bridge, designed by artist and tribal member Bud Turner. 

![An art panel from the side of the bridge by Bud Turner. It is a silver color and a salmon and eagle design. ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c6/a2/c6a241c6-69f5-450c-9fd7-6b170730e448/content/images/2026/10/IMG_2701.png)

**One of the eleven art panels designed by artist Bud Turner. Photo by Meriden Vitale*

Some Quilcene families have felt the change more acutely than others. Homeowners with previous riverfront access no longer have a single river channel visibly flowing through their property. The construction work also changed traffic patterns, leading to heavy use on previously quiet streets like Muncie Avenue. 

“I was surprised that people had mixed to negative reviews of the bridge,” said Quilcene local Bex Berryhill, who spoke to residents for a short fictional film about the bridge for the upcoming Fireweed Film Festival. “I personally think it's beautiful. I think it’s wonderful to see the river go back to its natural waterway. I do wish it had a sidewalk.” 

Current construction will fix the pedestrian connection between the road and the bridge on the north end. While there are no plans for a sidewalk, Johnson pointed out the seven-foot-wide pedestrian lane, which they will extend and pave west to the intersection of Linger Longer and Old Railroad. Additional work near the old Rodgers Street Bridge includes grading and paving the parking lot for a county park, constructing an acoustic berm along the east side of the parking lot and constructing and paving a turnaround at the south end of Rodgers Street near Claybanks Road. That work is expected to be completed in October.

In the meantime, the river restoration is already showing signs of success. Summer chum began spawning in the new channel network in late August, in the slow, shady nooks of the log jams where their eggs will be much safer. Gus Johnson is particularly excited about the benefits for Hood Canal Summer Chum and Puget Sound Steelhead, both currently listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. “Restoring functional habitat for these species will help increase their populations over time and hopefully lead to them recovering to the point they can be delisted,” he said. Many Quilcene residents share in the excitement about the river restoration, even as opinions about the bridge itself differ. “I’m a big fan,” said Susan Freeman, who resides in Quilcene. 

Randy Johnson knows that the construction and overall change to the landscape can look messy at first. “It’s like a massive remodel of your house,” he said. “A remodel looks really ugly at certain stages.” But he’s confident with the high waters, and as native plants sprout and green up over time, it will look and feel more like a nature preserve. “Being part of a project that opened it up and created a worthy bridge, it’s a fantastically good feeling,” he said. “And the road is not gonna get flooded out. The river can spread out through its new channel system that is rich with salmon habitat. Not many communities can say they have a river that is free.”