Project Overview
The Padden Creek at 30th Street Fish Passage Improvement Project is part of a well-coordinated, strategic approach to fish barrier removal. This project will remove a City-owned fish passage barrier located where 30th Street crosses Padden Creek. Removing this barrier will make the crossing 100% passable for fish. This barrier is ranked as high priority for improvement in the City’s Fish Barrier Prioritization.
Project Status – 2026
This project is currently in the design stage. The timeline for final design and project construction is pending landowner approval.
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The 30th Street crossing will be constructed over two summers. There will likely be traffic delays on 30th Street, although one lane of travel will remain open during construction.
Improving fish passage helps address two of the most significant limiting factors to the survival of salmon and trout within the Padden Creek Watershed – water temperature and habitat availability – by allowing fish to access upstream habitat that provides colder water (i.e. thermal refuge) and quality habitat for laying eggs (spawning) and rearing.
Correcting this fish passage barrier is a high priority based on the City’s Fish Barrier Prioritization and will benefit anadromous Chinook, coho, and chum salmon, and steelhead and sea-run cutthroat trout, and resident fish species. The project also provides improved fish access to habitat restored by the City as part of the Padden Creek 24th to 30th Streets and the Padden Creek Daylighting restoration projects. Downstream of this project, we are also improving fish passage where the interurban trail crosses Padden Creek at 12th and 14th Streets.
This project is one of many voluntary fish passage projects within the City of Bellingham. The project honors a Memorandum of Agreement that the City entered in 2022 with the Nooksack Indian Tribe, Lummi Nation, and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife as part of a shared commitment to improving fish passage.
Existing Culvert
This project is funded through a Brian Abbott Fish Barrier Removal Board grant, awarded in 2023.
The City of Bellingham’s Stormwater Fund 430 is providing funding for early design and grant match.
Contact
Project questions: AskPW@cob.org
Media inquiries: Email pwmedia@cob.org
