Drivers who travel Drayton Harbor Road near Blaine have a closure to plan around starting next week. Whatcom County Public Works announced that Drayton Harbor Road just west of Shintaffer Road will be fully closed on weekdays from Monday, June 8 through Friday, June 19, between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. each day. The road will reopen during evenings and on weekends throughout the closure period.
The immediate cause of the closure is utility relocation work by Puget Sound Energy, which needs to move underground utilities out of the way before the county can proceed with a larger project: a landslide repair on the same stretch of road. Drayton Harbor Road was previously reduced from two lanes to one near Shintaffer Road after a landslide washed out roughly 300 feet of the westbound lane, forcing alternating two-way traffic at what is already a congested point on the road. The June 8-19 closure represents the first phase of restoration work in earnest.
A signed detour will be in place during closure hours. The detour is approximately 3.5 miles long and adds about one mile of travel distance. Drivers should expect to add several minutes to their commute on weekday mornings and afternoons during this window. The detour route has not been published in full detail yet, but Whatcom County will mark it clearly with signage before the closure begins.
Drayton Harbor Road runs along the southern shore of Drayton Harbor between Blaine and the Semiahmoo area. It is a primary route for residents of the Birch Bay, Semiahmoo, and Blaine communities heading east toward I-5. The landslide that triggered the lane reduction happened earlier this year and has been causing commute friction for the area ever since. The upcoming closure, while more disruptive in the short term, is the necessary step to get to a full two-lane restoration.
The utility relocation by PSE is a prerequisite for the county's larger repair contract. When underground utilities run through an active construction zone, they must be relocated before heavy equipment can be brought in for excavation and road reconstruction. The two-week window for the PSE work suggests the utility relocation is relatively contained, though the actual landslide repair project is expected to involve a much longer disruption once it begins later this summer.
Whatcom County has previously indicated that residents and travelers should expect at least four months of full road closure on this stretch once the primary repair contract gets underway. FEMA funding for that work was still being confirmed as of earlier this spring, so the June 8-19 closure is essentially preparatory work that moves ahead independently of the federal funding timeline. The county's project page at whatcomcounty.us has additional background on the landslide repair scope and timeline.
For residents who commute regularly through this corridor, the evening and weekend reopening during June 8-19 should help manage the disruption. The 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekday window means early morning or late evening trips can still use the road directly. Those with mid-day or school-run schedules should plan for the detour and add buffer time. Elsewhere in the county, work near the Lummi Island ferry terminal is also underway simultaneously through June 11.
The full repair project, once funded and contracted, will bring the road back to two full lanes. Until then, the Shintaffer Road area remains one of the more challenging commute spots in north Whatcom County. Updates on project timelines will be posted to the county's Public Works page as they become available.
