Moses Lake figures lake crossing to cost more

Could cost up to $50 million

MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake City Council discussed a second lake crossing and incorporated it into the city's six-year transportation plan last July 10.

Friday the Columbia Basin Herald incorrectly reported the cost of the bridge as being $18 million by the city's estimate.

"We know it would be much more than that," Mayor Ron Covey said. "We estimate it somewhere between $45 million and $50 million."

The original $18 million figure stems from a 1980 estimate.

"City staff suspects that this figure underestimates the cost, perhaps significantly, due to anticipated changes in the project which may have occurred since the original estimating back in 1980," city Administrator Joe Gavinski wrote in a city document.

The city placed the second lake crossing as the third project on the city six-year transportation program. The program indicates upcoming road projects.

The city is estimating a need of $35,000 for studying the project and for seeking funding grants, according to Gavinski.

The council rejected an option to spend $14,000 to study the project, Gavinski. The study would have reviewed a single piece of the route, from state Route 17 to West Broadway, using Paxson Drive and including a lake crossing over Parker Horn. The original study from the 1970s had the crossing as several pieces.