The Department of Transportation announced Thursday the agency is suspending most construction work for at least two weeks due to COVID-19 concerns.

One of those state projects is the sidewalk and paving work on Highway 101 in Hoquiam. The City of Hoquiam sidewalks construction currently underway will also cease during the Department of Transportation stoppage, said Hoquiam City Administrator Brian Shay.

The Department of Transportation asked contract partners — Rognlin’s Inc. is the contractor for both the city’s and state’s portions of the 101 project — to secure construction sites by the end of the day Thursday, March 26.

The department “has been working closely with our contractor, labor and industry partners to develop COVID-19 response plans that would protect all of the people working on our projects by meeting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines,” stated the department release. “Unfortunately, despite these efforts, it is not possible to meet the guidelines while maintaining construction. There have also been difficulties sustaining sufficient staff levels. In some cases this week, between 25% and 40% of a given crew was not available to work on WSDOT construction projects.”

The statement continued, “We recognize the profound impact this decision has on thousands of individuals. However, we believe it is critical that we take every appropriate step available to protect the lives and health of our loved ones, families, our friends, coworkers and neighbors. These are important projects to Washington, and we remain committed to restarting them when safe to do so to ensure the transportation system continues to support our statewide economy and economic recovery.”

The Department of Transportation “will use the intervening time to work closely with industry partners to ensure appropriate protective equipment, procedures and training are in place when projects restart,” continued the statement. “State officials will be closely monitoring the trajectory of the virus over the next few weeks in close consultation with the Governor’s Office. Once the numbers start trending in a favorable direction and appropriate measures are place, WSDOT will look to begin restarting our projects.”

Work to complete fish passage culvert work will continue in order to make progress on federal court injunction deadlines and to comply with time-sensitive fish windows for in-water work. Work on the design portion of design-build projects will continue although fieldwork to support design will be suspended.