On the Kitsap Peninsula, Chico Creek is a productive wild salmon system.^[1] This fall, tens of thousands of Pacific salmon, chum and coho among them, started up Kitsap County streams to spawn.^[2] The run peaks in late November.^[3] The fish come back to these waterways every fall.^[4] On Chico Creek, this is the second fall run since the last of three crossings was rebuilt to let fish through.^[5] Put the three projects in a row and the pattern is plain. Each barrier that came out was bigger than the last, and so was each bill. The tribe started with a single culvert in 2014.^[6] The county followed with a $2.5 million bridge.^[7] The state finished with $56.8 million of highway bridges.^[8] The first bridge: Kitty Hawk Drive, 2014The Suquamish Tribe took out the first barrier. Tom Ostrom led the Chico Creek culvert removal project for the tribe.^[9] Ground broke on the Kitty Hawk Drive culvert on June 17, 2014.^[10] Workers replaced the culvert with a bridge that fall.^[6] The tribe's case for the work was simple. Culverts impede fish passage and damage creek beds.^[11] The stakes at the mouth of the creek were high. Five species of Pacific salmon rear in the Chico estuary.^[12] Road construction in the early 1960s destroyed five acres of that estuary habitat.^[13] Even then, the tribe had its eye on the biggest barrier of all. It planned to remove a 400-foot culvert under State Route 3.^[14] That culvert ranked second highest for replacement in the state's Olympia Region.^[15] The second bridge: Golf Club Hill Road, 2019 to 2020Kitsap County went next. A contractor started work to remove a fish barrier culvert on Chico Creek on April 29, 2019.^[16] Kitsap County Public Works built a new bridge at the Golf Club Hill Road crossing.^[17] The county ran the project in partnership with the Suquamish Tribe.^[18] The scale went up. A triple concrete box culvert gave way to a 140-foot concrete girder bridge.^[19] The original culvert had been installed by the federal government in the 1940s.^[20] Interwest Construction held the $2.5 million contract.^[7] Funding came from a state grant and the Kitsap County Road Fund.^[21] Culvert removal was scheduled for summer 2020.^[22] The county expected to finish in October 2020.^[23] Chico Salmon County Park closed for the work starting April 29, 2019.^[24] The county kept the road open while it built the bridge. Construction ran 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday.^[25] One lane stayed open for alternating traffic.^[26] Motorists were warned of brief delays.^[27] Emergency vehicles kept full access at all times.^[28] The third bridge: State Route 3, 2021 to 2024The state took the last and largest barrier. The Washington State Department of Transportation runs a program to remove fish barriers under state highways.^[29] Its Chico Creek project replaced the barriers beneath SR 3 and its southbound ramps.^[30] Construction ran from September 2021 to November 2024.^[31] The project is complete.^[32] Here the numbers jump. The project built new SR 3 bridges over Chico Creek.^[33] It realigned the southbound on- and off-ramps.^[34] It built an elevated bridge on Chico Way NW.^[35] It rerouted Chico Creek beneath the highway.^[36] Funding was $56.8 million.^[8] A local guide marks the finish at November 2024.^[5] The Bainbridge Review puts the barrier removal's completion at the same month.^[37] Three bills, one creekLay the three side by side. In 2014, one tribe replaced one culvert with a bridge.^[6] In 2020, the county replaced a triple box culvert with a 140-foot bridge for $2.5 million.^[19][7] In 2024, the state replaced a 400-foot highway culvert with new bridges for $56.8 million.^[14][33][8] The order matters as much as the size. The tribe's 2014 work came first.^[10] The tribe partnered on the county's bridge.^[18] And the tribe had named the SR 3 culvert as its target before the state built the bridges that removed it.^[14] One stream, three governments, in sequence.^[6][17][33] What the fish are doing nowThe run is under way. Chum and coho peak in Kitsap County in late November.^[38] Early return data for 2026 is mixed across stream systems.^[39] The fish still face poor water quality, barriers elsewhere and changing ocean conditions.^[40] But on Chico Creek, the barriers named in these three projects are gone.^[32][5] Where to standThe creek is built for watching. Kitsap Salmon Tours ran on Saturday, Nov. 7.^[41] The tours always fall on the first Saturday of November.^[42] Washington State University's Kitsap Water Stewardship program hosted them from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.^[43] WSU Extension coordinated eight stream sites.^[44] Biologists taught visitors about the salmon life cycle.^[45] The event was free.^[46] Great Peninsula Conservancy listed its hours as 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.^[47] Several partner organizations hosted the stops.^[48] The conservancy took volunteer sign-ups for the day.^[49] The tours used eight stream sites across the county.^[50] Great Peninsula Conservancy staffed two of the sites.^[51] One was the Chico Estuary.^[52] The other was the Clear Creek Ridgetop Pavilion, Silverdale's tour site.^[53][54] The 2026 Salmon Docent Program trained its volunteers from Oct. 18 to Oct. 22.^[55] The tour day is the start, not the end. All of the tour sites are open to the public year round.^[56] The peak comes in late November.^[38] The best weeks to stand at the Chico Estuary are still ahead.^[52] For the islandBainbridge has its own fish and its own limits. Island streams hold more coho than chum.^[57] Public places to watch salmon on the island are few.^[58] Chico Creek is the stream where the bridges have been built.^[33] In 2014 the tribe broke ground on a single culvert.^[10] This November the creek it opened is running its second season under the state's new bridges.^[5] Go in late November and watch.^[38]