Could the Woodin Avenue Bridge become a 2-way bridge again?

CHELAN- During the April 25 Chelan City Council meeting, Mayor Bob Goedde and the council discussed the traffic situation on the Woodin Avenue Bridge. Jake Youngren, Public Works Director for the City of Chelan, proposed the RH2 Engineering Inc. Traffic Analysis Task Authorization No. 19-2023. Youngren mentioned three main tasks of the traffic analysis.
“The first task is essentially to estimate the level of service if the Woodin Avenue Bridge were a two-way in operation and then also evaluate what operational benefits and impacts that operation might have on immediate adjacent intersections,” Youngren said.
Youngren talked about the numerous data collection collected through different busy intersections throughout the city. Before any other action would be taken, he wanted to see what two-way traffic would look like on the Woodin Avenue Bridge.
“The next two are tied to develop seasonal peaking factors essentially,” Youngren said of the following tasks. “We see a fluctuation in traffic and we want to better understand that and actually see what those seasonal peaking factors look like so we can plan better for the future.”
The councilmembers expressed concerned with not having enough time to discuss the matter with each other. Youngren emphasized that the first task of the analysis was separated from the next two tasks. Mayor Goedde mentioned listening to KOZI radio a few years ago, and the station’s “question of the day” that particular instance was whether the Woodin Avenue Bridge should be two-way. Goedde recalled that over 400 listeners responded and the majority agreed that traffic on the bridge should go in both directions. “I think we owe it to the community if they are that upset over the situation to at least look at the project. We have to consider the traffic as Manson continues to grow and The Lookout continues to grow. I think we need to know where we’re at and try to figure out what to do after that,” he said. “I would like to see it. I think the community would like to see some studies on this, on all the traffic coming in from North Shore through Chelan.” The motion was moved and seconded.
Another motion consideration was for the Chelan Youth Baseball League Facility Use Agreement. Paul Horne, Park, Recreation and Community Services Director for the City of Chelan, spoke about the importance of the ballfields to the community. Earlier, during the citizen comments section of the meeting, Travis Sweeney, a resident of Chelan for over 50 years, addressed the Council about maintaining a public area for youth and their families to enjoy recreation.  “I’ve been a player, I’ve been a coach, I’ve been a tournament director, and I now  have the glorious task of being a parent,” Sweeney said. “I’m a parent watching the youth of Chelan cut their teeth on these fields for over six years. These fields are important to us. Our youth needs these fields to keep them engaged and let them just be kids.”
The Council thanked Sweeney for using the fields and Horne echoed his sentiments. Both men emphasized the need to maintain the quality of the fields.  “This proposal formalizes the use of those fields by Chelan Youth Baseball. They’ve been using them for many years,” Horne said. “This just ensures that they have their insurance in place, and we have their schedules in line so that we can avoid conflicts with other uses.”  The motioned passed.
John Ajax, City of Chelan Community Development Director, also addressed the Council concerning ordinance No. 2023-1608 Emergency Moratorium on Applications for Boundary Line Adjustments. “Currently boundary line adjustments are administratively approved and there are potential inconsistencies in the code regulations that would allow the circumventing of our subdivision code,” Ajax said. “We want to enact this moratorium to allow staff the time to update that code.” Ajax mention that there was public hearing approaching 60 days from the date  of the meeting. The motion passed.