Project update SR 104 / Ballinger Way Lyon Creek fish passage

Ballinger Way fish culvert construction. Noon October 15, 2025
Photo by David Carlos

The SR 104 Lyon Creek fish passage project marked a major milestone Friday afternoon, October 10, 2025 with the reintroduction of Lyon Creek through the new culvert structure.

Lyon Creek has been diverted around the work zone since late August to allow for excavation and placement of concrete culvert pieces across SR 104. 

With the culvert structure now largely in place, contractor crews supported by our environmental and biology teams began shifting the creek into its new channel Friday morning. The stream began flowing through the culvert structure during the afternoon on Friday and it continues to flow through the structure.

Stream reintroduction is a nice sign of progress on this project, which replaces a narrow box culvert beneath SR 104 with a 24-foot-wide structure that will restore natural stream conditions within this section of Lyon Creek. 

We still have more work to do before we can reopen the road, including extensive earthwork, sewer work adjacent to SR 104, sidewalk installation landscaping and preliminary paving.

As of now, we remain on track to reopen all lanes on SR 104/Ballinger Way NE to vehicles and pedestrians/cyclists by the end of the day on October 31.

We also expect nightly sewer work on 35th Avenue Northeast and Northeast 185th Street to continue through November. Final paving and lane striping around this work zone is planned for spring 2026 when the warm, dry weather returns.

Casey Conley

Construction communications

WSDOT Northwest Region