The alternative analysis process for what to do with the North Aberdeen Bridge is nearing its end as the 10 bridge alternatives have been whittled down to three.

Those three options are from options 2 — there were four sub-options for No. 2 that dealt with building a new bridge and keeping part or all of the existing bridge — and option 3 — there were three sub-options for No. 3 that dealt with building a new bridge and demolishing the existing bridge. Option 1 was to rehabilitate the bridge and not build a new bridge. Option 4 was to “do nothing.”

The three chosen alternatives — announced Wednesday night — were were 2A, 2B and 3C.

2A:

• Build new bridge next to the existing Young Street Bridge — for vehicles, pedestrians and bicycle access

• Rehabilitate the southern portion of existing bridge and leave in place — city will evaluate if this section can be used as a viewing platform

• Remove northern portion of existing bridge (southern end has graffitied messages to Kurt Cobain and Nirvana)

2B:

• Build a new bridge next to existing Young Street Bridge for vehicles

• Rehabilitate the existing bridge for pedestrians and bicyclist use only

3C:

• Build a new bridge in same location as existing bridge — for vehicles, pedestrians, bicycle access

• Remove the existing bridge and repurpose parts of it within Kurt Cobain Memorial Park

• Temporary bridge is not required. Build a new bridge in two stages. In the first stage, build shared use path section — pedestrian and bicycle access — and use for temporary bridge — avoids separate temporary bridge

For people who want to see the options, Debra Seeman, project manager for David Evans & Associates, Inc., encouraged residents to use the project’s web address: https://naberdeenbridge.participate.online/index

“That will be live for the life of the project and we will continue to add updates on our progress to that website,” Seeman said.

Paring down the list wasn’t as simple as, “Hey, these three work.” It was much more than that. Residents, many for keeping the bridge, have lauded the city for how thorough it has been in its search for the right alternative. During the first Stakeholder Outreach Group meeting — there have now been three — people said they felt heard.

Seeman reminded the city council, city staff and many residents the “several criteria and objectives” for the project:

First, we need structurally sufficient access across the Wishkah River to the North Aberdeen community

We need to work within that $23.1 million grant. We want to obligate construction dollars by September 2026. That will avoid the city finding a 13% local match, which is about $3 million we would have to come up with out of our own pocket if we can’t meet that September 2026 design deadline

We want to minimize impacts to the surrounding community and resources. That includes understanding how we can preserve and respect the Kurt Cobain significance of the area around the bridge, the bridge itself and the Kurt Cobain Memorial Park

And we want to minimize impacts during construction to the surrounding community. And so that looks at how we design the ultimate solution and stage the work so that we keep access open to the North Aberdeen community during construction

As a reminder for the bridge’s use, more than 2,000 vehicles travel across the bridge each day, according to the city’s statistics.

Seeman’s message was clear. Her team and the city’s team have been thorough in trying to find an amicable solution for people who want to keep the bridge, the engineers who are trying to keep people who walk, ride and drive over the bridge safe, access for residents who need a working bridge for the long-term future, and emergency medical services personnel — police, fire, ambulance — who need to be able to get to that section of North Aberdeen quickly.

As Seeman pointed out, the level one screening that went into cutting the list from 10 to three, advances to what she called level two screening. Nick Bird, Aberdeen’s city engineer, explained what goes into that more advanced screening.

“In the level two screening, we will be digging into any potential fatal flaws and fleshing out these alternatives increasing the detail and our understanding of the construction cost, utility impacts, right-of-way impacts, environmental impacts, funding risk and other decision criteria,” Bird said Thursday afternoon.

Next phase

Seeman went over the project’s next steps, which include a public comment period at the Aberdeen City Council meeting on May 8 at 6:30 p.m., so community members can provide feedback on the project.

May 14 will be the next stakeholder outreach group meeting.

“(We’ll) provide the results of that more detailed analysis so that we can take those three options and filter (them) down to a preferred alternative,” Seeman said. “The goal is to have a preferred alternative in June.”

After that, the consultants and the city will host another open house — online and in-person — in mid-June.

“The goal is to have a preferred alternative in June, and then bring that information to a second open house — online and in-person — to show the information that we used to take the top-three down to the preferred (alternative). And then we’ll come back here in late-June, early-July to present the whittling down of the three alternatives down to the preferred alternative. It’s my understanding at that time, staff will make a recommendation for a preferred alternative to the (city) council.”

Contact Reporter Matthew N. Wells at matthew.wells@thedailyworld.com.