Chelan reframes downtown traffic as a corridor-wide challenge

CHELAN — Chelan city officials are beginning to rethink downtown traffic congestion as a broader corridor-wide issue rather than a series of isolated intersections, signaling a possible shift in how future transportation improvements are planned and prioritized.

During a May 26 administrative report on the city’s proposed six-year Transportation Improvement Program, Public Works Director Jake Youngren outlined several changes to the city’s long-range planning approach, including consolidating multiple traffic-related projects into a broader “Highway 97A/SR-150 Corridor Improvement Program.”

The proposal comes after recent traffic analysis work by transportation consultants examining congestion patterns around downtown Chelan, including the Woodin Avenue Bridge and nearby intersections.

Youngren said the various traffic concerns affecting downtown are increasingly interconnected.

“If you do ‘this’ here, it changes ‘this’ here,” Youngren told council while discussing how modifications to one corridor or intersection can ripple throughout the downtown system.

The updated framework would move away from treating concepts like changes to the Woodin Avenue Bridge configuration as standalone projects and instead evaluate them as part of a larger network of highway corridors, intersections and circulation routes feeding into downtown.

The city previously explored concepts including reversing traffic direction on the Woodin Avenue Bridge or converting the bridge to two-way traffic. During the discussion, council members indicated the directional reversal concept appears unlikely to move forward, though broader conversations about downtown circulation remain ongoing.

Youngren said the revised transportation framework would allow the city to evaluate congestion reduction strategies more holistically while preserving flexibility for future planning and grant applications.

Council members also discussed the need to think beyond the downtown core itself, including whether wider circulation routes or alternate arterial connections could eventually help alleviate pressure on Woodin Avenue and nearby intersections.

Council Member Terry Sanders suggested future planning discussions may need to examine underused corridors or broader circulation options outside the immediate downtown bottleneck.

“As long as it’s not in our neighborhood, we’re not going to use that all the time,” Sanders said. “Maybe those are some solutions that I think we need to think outside the box.”

Council Member Tim Hollingsworth later raised the possibility of whether Chelan could someday explore a larger regional or state-supported transportation designation similar to “business loop” highway systems used in some communities to route traffic through commercial districts while preserving bypass routes.

“I don’t even know if that’s something the DOT would consider,” Hollingsworth said.

Youngren responded that the city could raise the question with transportation officials as planning work continues. The likeliest location for such a bypass would be along Gibson, however, which could meet significant backlash from the homeowners along that highly-residential area.

The discussion also highlighted how closely tied several downtown intersections have become as traffic volumes continue increasing.

Hollingsworth also cautioned that some of the city’s busiest intersections may need to be planned together rather than as separate projects.

Referring to the close relationship between the Woodin Avenue/Sanders Street and Johnson Avenue/Sanders Street intersections, Hollingsworth said improvements at one location could affect traffic conditions at the other.

“You can’t look at those intersections separately,” Hollingsworth said.

Youngren also proposed adding a new long-range project focused on the Apple Blossom Drive and Golden Avenue intersection near Walmart, where recent traffic studies showed worsening levels of service as development pressures increase.

The city’s updated Transportation Improvement Program also includes broader corridor improvements along Woodin Avenue, additional guardrail repair planning and continued work on pedestrian infrastructure projects.

Council is expected to continue refining the proposed six-year transportation plan during upcoming workshops before formally adopting the updated program in June.

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