The Wrangell Cooperative Association wants to move the Chief Shakes Island footbridge to allow better access for buses coming to the popular site and possibly setting aside an area for selling Native crafts.
The plan would be to move the bridge access point to create more room at the harbor parking lot, along with rebuilding the decade-old wooden walkway to the island.
“They envision the new access to not only clean up the former harbor parking lot but create an in/out access for buses and a place to potentially sell Native goods,” Carol Rushmore, the borough’s economic development director, wrote on Feb. 4 to the planning and zoning commission.
The planning and zoning commission will consider the request next month before making a recommendation to the assembly on the request to move the bridge access point about 50 to 60 feet to what is now an overgrown gravel lot.
The port commission reviewed the proposal in December and recommended approval.
Last year, WCA President Richard Oliver wrote to the borough, acknowledging that it had “generously transferred ownership of their half of the bridge to the tribe. As sole owner of the bridge, it is the tribe’s responsibility to maintain it and ensure safe access for the traveling public.”
He further explained, “Over the years, the bridge has deteriorated and is starting to become a safety hazard. In 2013, WCA’s Transportation Department resurfaced the entire bridge and replaced dilapidated pilings. We were given a 10-year lifespan on the resurfaced bridge and the 10-year mark is quickly approaching.”
Oliver told the borough that WCA would like “to acquire the area in the southwest corner of Shakes Island parking lot, in order to develop and relocate the Shakes Island walkway bridge.”
“I think it’s a great idea,” Port Director Steve Miller said last Friday outside the harbormaster’s office, which shares the same parking lot.
Once the tribe gets the OK to proceed, WCA could bring in gravel and clear out the overgrowth. “This parking lot gets completely full in the summer, and we don’t have a huge overflow,” Miller said. He pointed to the end of the parking lot by the water, where one of the dock hoists is located. “Over there, it gets dangerous for a turnaround.”
The new bridge would be wider, compliant with disability-access laws, and about 130 feet to 150 feet shorter than the nearly 400-foot-long bridge.
The bridge relocation request will be reviewed by the planning and zoning commission at a 1 p.m. meeting this Friday at City Hall. The topic was supposed to be heard last Thursday, but the commission lacked a quorum to conduct business.
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