City keeps dream alive

Second lake crossing still in the eye of city leaders, 30 years later

MOSES LAKE — A second lake crossing has been the promised land for city leaders for decades. It is the project that is always so close, and yet, so far.

"It's always been a hot subject," councilman Lee Blackwell said. "Now that we are starting to shape the town, it would do well for us to revisit the second lake crossing."

And that is exactly what they are doing. Since last year's city council retreat, councilmen have been toying with the idea of turning the city's impossible dream into a reality.

This time around, the city may not have the money, but it has options as to where to build the crossing.

One of the more expensive options is to build the crossing coming off of Crestview Drive. The elevation on that side of the lake and the span needed for the bridge make it more pricey.

Gary Harer, the city's municipal services director, said there is little chance of building a crossing off of Crestview Drive given the elevation and length.

The other, more likely crossing would be located more toward Pelican Horn, parallel to the railroad crossing, coming across the lake and on to Division Street. Unlike the Crestview Drive crossing, this one would be at lake level.

The difference in price is big, Harer said. The Crestview Drive crossing might run the city up about $35 million, while the Pelican Horn crossing might cost about $2 million.

"It all comes down to money," said councilman Brent Reese, one of the historical proponents of the projects. "The money is not there at the state level."

The money may available at the federal level, but to get it, the city needs to justify its need for a second crossing.

Reasons abound, Deane said.

First, he said, with time, presumed solutions to the traffic flow have become part of the problem. State Route 17 was thought to free up some of the downtown traffic and it has become just as congested.

"You can hardly drive on that anymore," Deane said. "It's a bottleneck."

The state's department of transportation had been toying with the idea of turning Highway 17 into a four-lane highway, but statewide money constraints have delayed that project.

Reese said that waiting to act until traffic gets even worse is not an option. As people and industries continue to move into Moses Lake, traffic will inevitably increase.

Easing up traffic is not the only concern. The prospect of a rush-hour accident on Neppel Crossing or Highway 17 is scary, with all the traffic blocking the way of emergency service workers.

Of the two proposed crossings, the Crestview Drive one, has been in the city's dreams for more than three decades. The cost is so high, it may remain as such for years to come.

The other crossing is cheaper, and it would allow motorists to travel between Division Street and West Broadway Avenue without traveling through downtown.

Driving people away from downtown would not affect the area's beautification projects, Blackwell said.

"We don't want to people to drive through downtown as a way to get someplace else," he said. "We want them to come to it."

Downtown or not, it's clear to Blackwell the city needs the crossing as much as it needs a way to pay for it.

State grants are a possibility, albeit not an easy one.

"Grants are drying up," Harer said.

Reese has proposed that the city start putting some money away. Since the city's pockets have been hurting, saving up is no easy task. Still, he insists Moses Lake needs to look to the future. Otherwise, consequences may be dire for the city's quality of life.

"There is going to come a point when we will say 'why didn't we do this 10 years ago?'" he predicted. "We can't give up on it."

Since saving money for a future lake crossing has not been an easy task, there are other things the city could do to get ready for when the money or the grants are available, Reese said.

One of these ideas is putting a plan together. That way, when the time comes those holding the purse strings can see the city is ready.

"I don't think we are quite there yet," he said.

Despite the roadblocks, city leaders remain optimistic.

"I will see a second crossing in my lifetime," Deane said. "Something is going to change someday."