The City of Chehalis is budgeting to begin design work in 2023 for a bridge that will replace the aging Chamber of Commerce Way railroad overpass structure.
The project was among the largest presented during a Monday night public hearing on the city’s updated 2022-2027 six-year Transportation Improvement Program.
During a presentation to the city council, Public Works Director Trent Lougheed highlighted the project to replace the 375-foot long railroad bridge and possible funding routes the city could take to move forward on the project in the coming years.
Replacing the 70-year-old bridge, which currently has multiple load restrictions posted and structural deficiencies, would cost either $23.2 million for a two-lane overpass or $37.2 million for a four-way option that would be similar to the Interstate 5 crossing.
The six-year plan shows the city paying $2 million for the design work in 2023 and potentially upward of $33.6 million for construction in 2025.
“If the load restriction gets much lower, we might even have some problems with emergency vehicles going across it depending on the loading,” Lougheed told The Chronicle.
The bridge is located between State and National avenues and is seen as a major city-owned arterial connector. It crosses multiple tracks owned by Tacoma Rail and BNSF.
The state bridge replacement grant program would only pay about $12 million, potentially, and the city has already posted an application soliciting funds from U.S. Sen. Patty Murray’s office, Lougheed told the council. A majority of funding is expected to come through the state Transportation Improvement Board.
Construction of the new bridge would likely occur next to the current Chamber of Commerce Way crossing, with the city utilizing the existing bridge as a temporary span. When the new crossing is complete, the roadway will be realigned to meet the new structure, and the old bridge would be demolished.
Lougheed said the project has been on the city’s radar for many years now. In a recent U.S. Department of Transportation sufficiency rating, which quantifies the integrity of a bridge on a scale from 1 to 100, the Chamber Way railroad crossing scored an 18.56 out of 100.
Sixteen of the 21 bridge elements that were looked at were rated as “poor,” according to Lougheed, and a recent inspection also showed the bridge was “structurally deficient, high risk.”
“There is damaged bridge railing, scattered deck spalling and delaminations, several spalling and leaking deck joints, large areas of soffit cracking with rust staining, concrete spalling in the caps and columns, rusting girder and floor beam flanges and chalking paint with localized failures,” Lougheed wrote in a followup email, citing a 2020 bridge inspection.
But there aren’t any outlier variables that propelled the bridge into such condition — that’s just the age of the structure, which was built in 1951.
“Things just deteriorate and it’s to the point that we just have to get it replaced. The concrete bridge we’re looking at building would typically last longer than your average modern steel bridge,” Lougheed said, noting the city does annual maintenance which includes sealing cracks and patching any concrete spalling on the bridge.
That maintenance has become more expensive, though. A new bridge would mitigate those high costs.
The current estimates Lougheed provided the council should remain accurate as the city begins its search for funding, but any major setbacks could see the price tag soar as labor and material costs continue their upward swing.
The following is a list of projects that the city has published as part of its six-year Transportation Improvement Program. Details within this list are not finalized, and most are being paid for with grants, the city’s arterial street fund and the 4% fund.
• The city will spend $1.15 million over the next six years on citywide street preservation projects, including chip sealing and patching.
• A total of $3.05 million is budgeted in 2022 and 2024 for renaissance streetscape planning on Market Boulevard, just two blocks between National Avenue and Park Street.
• Reconstruction of Market Boulevard, between Park and 13th Street, is budgeted at $5 million in 2023 and 2024.
• Reconstruction and pedestrian improvements are planned for 2025 and 2026 on Market Boulevard, from 13th Street to city limits, which will cost about $4.8 million.
• Roughly $2.7 million has been listed for the Coal Creek Bridge as well as nearby intersection, pedestrian improvements and reconstruction on National Avenue in 2024 and 2026.
• About $2.5 million for spot repairs and grind inlay improvements is listed for 2024 and 2025.
• Another $2.5 million has been listed for reconstruction of Snively Avenue between 16th and 20th streets in 2026.
• Grind, overlay and utility work, and frontage improvements have been listed for Front, Pacific and Park streets looking out past the six-year plan. Those will cost roughly $2.5 million.
• Another $6.545 million has been listed for multiple projects on Chehalis Avenue, Main Street, Louisiana Avenue, Riverside Drive, Newaukum Avenue, Winchester Hill Drive, 20th Street, National Avenue and 13th Street.
