Why is the City doing this Project?

1st Street is a vital east-west connection for vehicles, bicycles, and pedestrians. This corridor aligns with the existing bicycle/pedestrian bridge over the BNSF railroad and serves as the logical connection between the Apple Capital Loop Trail, downtown Wenatchee, and the residential areas west of downtown Wenatchee. Despite these notable attributes, there are currently no ADA compliant curb ramps along this segment of 1st Street. Additionally, this segment of 1st Street is in poor condition with a Pavement Condition Index (PCI) rating of 56 with varying amounts of curb reveal, and varying cross slopes with aggressive quarter crowns. The condition of street negatively affects pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists. 

What will the Project include?

This project would replace all existing non-compliant curb ramps with new ADA compliant curb ramps and would also install ramps where currently there are none for a total of twenty-four (24) new ADA compliant combination curb ramps. The corridor has been overlaid numerous times throughout the years resulting in a varying amount of curb reveal throughout the entire segment (i.e. anywhere from 0-6"). Due to this condition, new curb ramps would need to be built at the elevation of the original roadway beneath all of the overlaid material. In order to accomplish this the City is proposing removal of the asphalt at each intersection and re-installation at the proper elevation with a butt grind at each approach to tie back into the existing asphalt. Completion of this project would improve safety and accessibility for pedestrians of all ages and ability through the addition of the new curb ramps. Additionally, the removal and replacement of the existing asphalt at each intersection will improve the negotiability of the existing traffic calming circles for motorists and bicyclists and the negotiability of the existing crosswalks for pedestrians improving overall safety.

More Project details:

The City of Wenatchee is the recipient of an annual grant of federal dollars from the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Entitlement Program through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). These grant dollars can be expended for a number of different activities that achieve certain national objectives. One of these objectives is for the money to provide a benefit to low- and moderate-income (LMI) persons. The City can accomplish this through infrastructure projects located in or adjacent to census tracts that have 51% or more of the residents as LMI persons. The segment of 1st Street between Miller St and Chelan Ave is located along a census tract line where both adjacent tracts have >70% of the residents as LMI persons. Additionally, as noted above, there are considerable barriers to accessibility along this segment of 1st Street. Removal of these kinds of barriers is an activity eligible for the use of these funds.

Timeline

Last Updated: July 2024