Traffic in a rural area northwest of Enumclaw will be disrupted, beginning June 20, to allow additional work at a habitat restoration site.

The major work has already been completed at King County’s Big Spring Creek restoration project, but crews will return to widen road shoulders and improve safety through the area.

Traffic will be reduced to one lane on Southeast 424th Street and 244th Avenue Southeast near the intersection of the two streets.

During the two weeks of construction, automated traffic signals will direct traffic in alternating directions 24 hours a day.

Located just north of Enumclaw, Big Spring Creek is a major cold-water source for Newaukum Creek – home to federally protected chinook salmon, coho salmon and other fish and wildlife – and which flows into the Green River near Flaming Geyser State Park.

Early in the 20th century, Big Spring Creek was channelized into a roadside ditch to increase the amount of farmland on the Plateau – an action that was common at the time, but impacted the stream’s fish and wildlife habitat.

The Big Spring Creek project restored approximately 4,000 feet of stream habitat and nearly 20 acres of wetland habitat, relocating the stream out of the ditch and into a more natural, complex channel.

The project was completed in partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers through the Green-Duwamish Ecosystem Restoration Project.