Thurston Co. to close road for months to fix ‘structurally insufficient’ bridge
Thurston County plans to close a portion of Littlerock Road Southwest for up to 16 weeks starting this summer.
The closure will affect Littlerock Road at the crossing of Blooms Ditch between June 15 and Oct. 3, County Engineer Matt Unzelman said during a Tuesday board meeting. The crossing is near the intersection with 113th Avenue Southwest.
Work crews plan to completely replace the Littlerock Road Bridge over Blooms Ditch, which was built in 1923, Unzelman said. The bridge, officially named L-5, has been deemed “functionally obsolete” and “structurally insufficient,” county documents state. So far, the county has spent $269,419 on the project which is budgeted at about $3 million, according to the county’s 2026-2027 budget book.
“The Board of County Commissioners originally approved this closure to occur last summer, but due to material lead times and a limited fish window to complete the bridge construction work, construction will not begin until this spring,” Unzelman said.
The board approved the closure in a unanimous vote during the Tuesday meeting.
Intersection improvements are also planned for the site, according to the county’s website. The improvements reportedly include adding a left-hand turn pocket, improved sight lines, better signage and markings and more street lighting.
The county hopes these improvements will help the flow of traffic and limit the possibility of collisions, per the website.
A 7.5 mile detour will be set up for travelers, per county documents.
Northbound travelers on Littlerock Road will have to turn right onto 113th Avenue. From there, travelers can turn left onto Case Road and then make another left onto 93rd Avenue to eventually reach Littlerock Road again.
Southbound travelers will have to turn left onto 93rd Avenue, then right onto Case Road, right again onto 113th Avenue and finally turn left onto Littlerock Road.
The detour is expected to add about 12-15 minutes of vehicle travel time.
“This will be the same detour route that we utilized during the closure of the L-4 Bridge, which is just north of this location over Salmon Creek,” Unzelman said.
The county intends to notify local residents, emergency responders and school districts in the lead up to the closure.
