Public Works

The schedule is available here. However, please note these are estimated dates. With any construction, dates are subject to changes, based on weather conditions, materials and labor. This version of the schedule was updated in March 2021.

A portion of Goodwin Road – from the bridge to just south of Ruby Street – will be improved with the new project. That work will happen in 2021. In addition, the contractor at times may be staging equipment and materials on the south side of the bridge.

The portion of Goodwin Road from Ruby Street to Sunset Highway, and then from its intersection with Sunset Highway to Hagman Road, will be improved after the bridge replacement project is over. This future project also includes improvements to the Evergreen Drive/Sunset Highway intersection. A start date on that separate project has not been set, but we hope to start it in 2022.

If you live on Goodwin Road, or have a business on Goodwin Road, you will have access to your home or business. The road will be closed to the public but it will be open to local access. Local access includes:

•                People who live on Goodwin Road and their visitors.
•                Businesses on Goodwin Road and their customers and vendors.
•                Postal and delivery services who are delivering to Goodwin Road.
•                Utility providers and garbage services with customers on Goodwin Road.

There may at times be some delay in getting to your home if construction trucks are moving materials, for example. Please plan for minor delays at times.

This information also applies to those residents and businesses on the northern portion of the project, at Hay Canyon Road, Sunburst Lane and Vale Road.

We will contact the Cashmere Post Office and Waste Management to alert them to the start of the project. The roadway will not be closed to mail or delivery services or to garbage collection or other utility services. Any changes in services will be as directed by the post office or Waste Management.

Emergency responders who are responding to a call in the project area have precedence. The construction crew will let them through and guide them through the project if necessary. We also will contact the Cashmere Fire Department, Chelan County Sheriff’s Office, RiverCom and the ambulance services to alert them to the two-year project and the closure of the bridge.

The Chelan PUD, the local electric utility provider, is currently upgrading electrical poles and wires in the area of the West Cashmere Bridge. Other utilities that rely on the PUD’s poles and trenches, such as telephone, cable and fiber optic, also are working with the PUD’s contractor for additional relocation work.

The PUD’s contractor, Titan Electric, will be working through August 2020, replacing transmission poles and moving distribution wire underground in some areas. Wood transmission poles will be replaced with steel poles to increase their resiliency against fire.

For details, including traffic control, working hours, contact information, and a map of the planned utility project, visit the PUD’s website.

No. We cannot close the river. We will ask river recreationists, such as people tubing down the river, to stay away from the project if they can.

For whitewater rafting companies and kayakers, directional signage at the construction site, which will include temporary pilings spaced at least 30 feet apart in the river to support a work platform, will guide recreationists to the safest passage.

We are also working with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to post information, cautioning recreationists of the construction, at popular put-in areas between Leavenworth and Cashmere. And we are reaching out directly to rafting and kayaking businesses that frequent the river.

There are several reasons why a roundabout at Hay Canyon Road was the best option for this project. The two biggest concern the increased traffic that will result from the new bridge and the poor geometry of the current Sunburst Lane and Vale Road intersection.

Increased Traffic at the US 2/97 Intersection:  The bridge has been closed to truck traffic for several years now. With its replacement, it will be a primary route for trucks, with the goal of removing truck traffic from downtown Cashmere and around the area schools.  The future bridge will see new commuters and more busses, reducing the congestion at both the Aplets Way and Cotlets Way intersections with US 2/97 as well. Roundabouts inherently allow a higher vehicular capacity and nearly eliminate serious and fatal accidents.

Intersection Geometry:  The existing Sunburst Lane and Vale Road intersection with Hay Canyon is too close to the higher density US 2/97 / Hay Canyon / Goodwin Road intersection. With increased traffic, the frontage road intersection also will become more difficult to access.

Removing Sunburst Road from this intersection and permitting a “right turn only” out of Vale Road, creates a more efficient and safer access.  With the construction of a roundabout, we will be able to sweep Sunburst Lane up to the new intersection on Hay Canyon Road, where the bridge ramps down and create a five-legged intersection that allows continuous movement (instead of having a stopped condition on a hill) and eliminates a new left turn movement onto the new bridge.  

Jill FitzSimmons, the public information officer for Chelan County Public Works, is the liaison between the county and the public. Call or email Jill if you have a question. If she doesn’t have the answer, she will either talk to the appropriate person, or pass along your concerns to the correct person. You can contact Jill directly at 667-6341 or jill.fitzsimmons@co.chelan.wa.us.

For construction news, visit our website often. And for updates to the project, including any traffic delays, join the project listserv by sending your email address to Jill and indicating you are interested in receiving updates about the West Cashmere Bridge Replacement Project.