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Politics & Government

"Hail Mary" Plan to Daylight Donkey Creek Scores

The city council voted unanimously to move forward on a Wade Perrow-inspired plan that will not only fully daylight Donkey Creek but do so within the city's budget.

Following a summer of wrangling over multiple design proposals and their shortcomings, the Gig Harbor City Council was finally presented with a Donkey Creek day-lighting plan that it could rally behind. The council voted unanimously to move forward on a that will not only fully daylight Donkey Creek but do so within the city’s budget.

The plan, as presented by Parametrix Senior Consultant Jim Dugan Monday night, calls for the construction of an 80-foot traffic bridge on North Harborview Drive, opening up the creek that currently runs through a culvert underneath. A footpath under the bridge will run from a newly exposed Austin Estuary to . In addition, Austin Street and North Harborview along the park will each become one-way.

These elements and other refinements should cost the city an estimated $2.18 million, only slightly more than the $2.05 million in state and federal funds currently available to pay for the project. Dugan said most of that overage could go away as costs are firmed up and a final design completed.

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“As I was listening to your presentation, I started sniffing and thought what is that. It was fresh air,” said Councilman Tim Payne in response to Dugan’s presentation. “It’s refreshing to have you nail down some of the issues.”

Attendees at the council meeting immediately responded to the council vote with a congratulatory round of applause. The moment was a welcome relief after earlier design proposals presented over the summer failed to create a consensus among council members.

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The city’s long-term vision for Donkey Creek has been to restore the fish habitat by fully day-lighting the creek and estuary running under North Harborview, create connectivity between the park and the property and improve traffic circulation in the area. Its budget for the project: $2.9 million, including nearly $2.6 million in federal and state grants plus $300,000 from city storm water funds.

Up until now, the numerous design options presented to the council failed to please on several fronts. Those that achieved all aspects of the project’s vision carried price tags that were much higher than what the city had earmarked to spend. More budget-friendly options fell well short of those goals and raised new issues, including the possibility that park trees would need to be cut down.

Fully restoring Donkey Creek as a fish habitat appeared financially undoable; the council resigned itself to only partially day-lighting the creek up to the museum side of North Harborview.

Against this backdrop, council members faced an unpalatable vote at its July 25 meeting. But in what Councilman Derek Young described as the “Hail Mary pass that came out of nowhere,” the mood notably lifted when Perrow, of Wade Perrow Construction, proposed a potentially affordable bridge and footpath alternative that would create a fully day-lighted Donkey Creek and an element of the connectivity that the city sought.

Throughout August, Wade met weekly and traded emails with city administration and Parametrix staffers to flesh out details and costs for the plan. The results of that effort are what the council approved on Monday night.

“We were stuck and frustrated. We really appreciate Parametrix coming in and kind of unsticking us,” said Young, just before the vote. “It’s also more proof that public comment and input sometimes really makes a huge difference and this is an example of one of those times.”

Other interested parties were equally supportive of the approved plan. “This is a no brainer,” said President Frank Ruffo. “We strongly believe that the bridge option is the option. It daylights Donkey Creek. It makes connectivity between the park, the museum, even Austin Estuary. It does a lot for the city of Gig Harbor and it’s been a long time coming.”

In addition to its major elements, the plan includes some built-in flexibility to make further enhancements as needed in the future. Dugan said the rebuild of Austin Street will accommodate converting it to two-way traffic and include roadway alignments to facilitate the eventual construction of a roundabout on Harborview Drive.

Other facets of the plan include:

  • The construction of a park-side sidewalk and hillside bike lane on Austin as well as a shared pedestrian and bike path on the museum side of North Harborview.
  • A net increase of 10 parking spaces between Austin and North Harborview.
  • Improved intersection flow at both ends of North Harborview along the park.
  • Illumination along both Austin and North Harborview.
  • No trees get cut down.

The $300,000 in city storm water funds in the Donkey Creek budget is being separately allocated for the restoration of the Austin Estuary, said City Administrator Rob Karlinsey.

Most of the remaining $500,000 has already been spent, with $118,000 to date going to Parametrix and $336,000 going to consultants, notably Murray, Smith & Associates, for their engineering and design work on proposals that were ultimately rejected by the council.

The engineering firm will be working to finalize the design as well as coordinating with the history museum on site improvements through the rest of this year. The hope is to have the project ready to put out to bid by January of 2012.

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