City Council Holds Special Meeting Tonight at 6 pm

Bridge Restoration and Woodin Avenue Landing Projects

by Dennis Rahm

It appears that the City of Chelan will be moving forward this summer with the long awaited Woodin Avenue Bridge Restoration project (the old bridge). A special meeting has been scheduled for 6pm tonight (June 13) at which time the Council is expected to award the $3,159,528 contract to Selland Construction of Wenatchee. The lone bid was about $900,000 above the budgeted amount.

Bridge restoration, waterline installation, a one-way design for traffic flow and the Woodin Avenue Landing Park are all included in the project which will likely have a construction start sometime in July. Chelan Interim Public Works Director Jake Youngren says if the project is approved as bid, the contractor will have 105 working days to complete work which will likely be sometime in Novemeber.

The old bridge restoration will have a significant impact on busy summer traffic as the contractor will be allowed up to six different five-day closure periods and 12 single day closures of eight hours each. With the change to a one-way access into town, the bridge will feature an eight foot sidewalk on the lakeside, a 10 foot one-way traffic lane for vehicles and bicycles, a five foot bike lane leaving town and a five foot sidewalk on the river side. Pedestrian safety is a paramount piece of the project.

For those wondering about the look of the historic bridge, Youngren noted that even the iconic light fixtures will be replaced with exact replicas. Meanwhile, the Woodin Avenue Landing potion of the project has been a collaborative effort with the Historic Downtown Chelan Association which has raised $190,000 for the work. The Landing is located between the bridge and Campbell’s Resort and leads down to a public dock.

Tonight’s special meeting of the Chelan City Council starts at 6 p.m. in Council Chambers.