At the end of July, we toured road sites across Chelan and Douglas Counties highlighting the needs, challenges and successes of county roads in Washington, with a focus on the challenges of county urban growth, large-scale projects, funding gaps, and the impact of the county's efforts in the community.
The three hour tour allowed board members to engage with local engineers from Chelan County to learn more about the project sites and the role of county road administration. The tour kicked off from our board meeting location in Wenatchee where we loaded the vans and headed toward our first stop.
Easy-School Street Roundabout
The first stop on the tour was to a rapidly growing urban Sunnyslope area adjacent to the northern city limits of Wenatchee with an intersection experiencing congestion during peak hours and a high frequency of accidents. The primary users of the Easy-School Street route include residential, school bus, and truck traffic. To solve these challenges, the county is constructing a 115 foot inscribed diameter roundabout, which will improve the functionality of the intersection, provide safe walking and biking options, and increase safety. The total cost of the project estimated to be $2.57 million and the county is pursuing multiple funding sources.
West Cashmere Bridge
Our second stop of the morning was to the new, award-winning West Cashmere Bridge that replaced a 91-year-old, structurally deficient bridge. The complex project spans a BNSF rail line, the Wenatchee River, and US 2 and is now a resilient, multimodal structure that strengthens regional mobility and supports the area's long-term economic viability. Paula Cox, PE and Josh Patrick, PE were named co-recipients of the 2023 Project Manager of the Year Award for their significant work on the West Cashmere Bridge replacement in Chelan County.
Almost the entire cost of the $26.7 million bridge was paid for with federal and state grants, requiring Chelan County to contribute only $214,000. $2.5 million of the funding came from CRAB’s Rural Arterial Program.
Goodwin Road
Our group proceeded to a project site on Goodwin Road, a connection point between projects near the West Cashmere Bridge. The City of Cashmere and Chelan County partnered on the project, with the county leading engineering and construction efforts and the city reimbursing the county for work completed in the city limits. The project provides a safer road for pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists and forms a uniform corridor for a better freight mobility access and pedestrian route connectivity. Our Rural Arterial Program provided $1.5 million of the $3.56 million in funding for the project.
Wenatchi Landing Interchange
The group crossed into Douglas County to visit the future site of the Wenatchi Landing Interchange, which is currently in the design phase and scheduled to begin the first phase of construction in 2029. It is a critical part of a larger, multi-phase project estimated to cost $59.9 million.
Grant Road and Nile Ave Intersection
The final stop of the tour was to the intersection of a minor arterial and Grant Road, which serves as principle arterial route, freight route and National Highway System (NHS) route. Rapid development in the area has reduced the levels of service below threshold requirements and resulted in an increasing number of crashes at the intersection, which will now be addressed with a roundabout.
A huge thank you to everyone who was able to attend the tour, and an even bigger thank you to Chelan and Douglas Counties who made this day possible.
Pictured: CRAB Chair Lindsey Pollock, Vice Chair Art Swannack, Second Vice Chair Doug McCormick, PE; Board Members Peter Browning, Eric Pierson, PE; Executive Director Jane Wall; Deputy Director Drew Woods, PE; Executive Assistant Jason Bergquist; Communications Director Jacque Netzer; IT Security Engineer Scott Campbell; Road System Inventory Manager Mike Clark; Grant and Special Projects Manager Todd O'Brien, PE; and Douglas County Engineer Aaron Simmons, PE.