$14 million Woodin Avenue Bridge conversion falls outside Chelan’s draft spending plan

CHELAN – A proposal to restore two-way traffic on the Woodin Avenue Bridge remains on Chelan’s transportation project list, but the estimated $14 million conversion is among seven projects left out of the city’s draft six-year street spending plan.

Public Works Director Jake Youngren told the Chelan City Council on Nov. 3 that even if the city put every dollar from its Transportation Benefit District toward the bridge, it would cover only about half the cost. The district is projected to bring in about $750,000 a year, or $7.5 million over the full 10-year term of the tax.

Chelan voters approved the district’s sales tax increase in November 2024, adding 30 cents to every $100 in taxable purchases. The tax is the city’s main source of money for street construction and improvements outside of grants. Youngren said its 10-year term also makes it difficult to rely on the revenue for a 20-year loan to pay for the bridge.

The council’s adopted transportation program still lists the conversion, which would allow vehicles to cross the bridge in both directions. The draft spending plan presented at the workshop shows which projects staff could fit using projected sales tax revenue and anticipated grants. A project can stay on the city’s transportation list while staff look for ways to pay for it.

The draft includes annual pavement preservation, guardrail work and a study of traffic and safety along the state highway corridor through town. It also calls for work in 2027 to identify where missing or incomplete sidewalks make it harder to walk between downtown and nearby neighborhoods. Youngren described a possible approach of starting downtown and working outward, building continuous routes that connecting streets could feed into.

Other projects outside the draft include improvements along Woodin Avenue approaching the bridge, an access and parking study at Lakeside Park and two phases of the Northshore Trail extension. Even with those projects left out, the draft projects a shortfall in the street capital fund in 2030. Youngren said the city would have several years to adjust the plan as costs, schedules and grant awards become clearer.

Residents can learn more about the transportation portion of Chelan’s comprehensive plan and its Safe Streets for All action plan at a drop-in open house from 3 to 6 p.m. Nov. 18 in the City Council chambers at City Hall, 135 E. Johnson Ave.

Andrew Simpson: 509-433-7626 or andrew@ward.media