POULSBO — Monday brought a familiar sight to motorists traversing State Route 305 through the city as construction crews were again out in force.

However, instead of installing a city sewer line, the $14.9 million highway widening project had officially begun as crews from Stan Palmer Construction of Port Orchard started preparations for a busy three-month construction period.

Between Aug. 1 and Oct. 15, crews will realign Dogfish Creek behind Schuck’s Auto Supply, install culverts at Liberty Road and Forest Rock Lane, install salmon-friendly culverts at the Lincoln Road/SR 305 intersection and begin work on a 1,400-foot retaining wall on the east side of the highway from Schuck’s to just south of Bond Road.

Crews must be beyond the high water mark of the creek before the fish window closes. When it does, additional work will be not be allowed in that area until next year, said City Engineer Andrzej Kasiniak.

The fish window is the period of time when salmon migrate into area streams to spawn and return to the waters of the Puget Sound. It runs from Oct. 15 to June 30.

“It’s quite important on our contractor’s schedule because these are critical items of work for the progress of construction,” said Washington State Department of Transportation assistant project engineer David Garlington.

If the stream relocation and culvert installations aren’t completed before the fish window closes, it would have a serious impact on the contractor’s ability to complete the entire project on time, Garlington said.

Currently crews are working on some utility relocations, which is standard for a project of this nature. The state is working with the city to coordinate that work, Garlington said.

Kasiniak said crews are shifting traffic to the west side of the highway to allow them to work without any road closures.

“I don’t anticipate any closures other than the ones already scheduled,” he said.

Both lanes of SR 305 will be closed between Forest Rock Lane and Liberty Road beginning at 9 p.m. Aug. 25 and will reopen at 5:30 a.m. Aug. 28.

Traffic will be detoured up Forest Rock Lane to 10th Avenue and back on to Liberty Road and the highway during the closure.

Lincoln Road will be closed from Sept. 11 to Oct. 11 between 8th and 10th avenues for culvert installation, but both lanes of the highway will remain open.

Kasiniak said it is critical that the culverts arrive in time to allow their installation before the fish window shuts.

“I hope they arrive, so they can do it in this window,” Kasiniak said.

Poulsbo Police Chief Jeff Doran said his department is aware of the closures and is prepared for them.

However, there is little that can be done to improve the traffic flow through the construction zone, Doran added.