The City of Woodland is advancing its long-planned upgrade of Gun Club Road, following a vote by the city council on Monday, July 7, to approve a construction management and inspection contract with Harper Houf Peterson Righellis, Inc.
The contract is part of a $1.7 million infrastructure overhaul along Gun Club Road, covering a 0.6-mile stretch between state Route 503 (Lewis River Road) and F Street. The project will install a complete sidewalk on the east side of the road, where gaps currently exist, creating a continuous pedestrian route that mirrors the west side. It also includes ADA-compliant ramps, paved bike lanes on both sides of the street, stormwater improvements and a full road overlay.
Walkers and cyclists frequently use Gun Club Road due to its proximity to neighborhoods and North Fork Elementary School. Improving pedestrian access and safety has been a key goal of the project.
The construction management and inspection (CM&I) portion approved this week is budgeted at $266,000. It’s funded primarily by federal grants, with a $36,000 city match allocated in the 2025 budget.
Public Works Director Riley Bunnell said the city received two proposals for the CM&I work, from Apex and HHPR. After scoring the applications and conducting interviews, staff selected HHPR.
The contract is pending final approval by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT). Once signed, the city will prepare construction obligation documents and open the project to bids. The bidding window is expected to begin later this month, with a notice of award projected for early August.
“Preliminary … thoughts is that the project should have a 200-day construction window,” Bunnell said.
Planning for the Gun Club Road project began more than three years ago. Initial grant funding was awarded in 2021, with further funding and scope adjustments added over time to include stormwater fixes and ADA upgrades.
“This was part of the initial grant that was awarded for the project,” Bunnell said. “There’s a lot of different aspects to funding on that road [including] ADA, sidewalks, bike lane and stormwater. There were a lot of additions to that funding over time,” Bunnell said.
In total, Woodland has secured $1,448,400 in federal grants to support the project, with the city contributing a $298,000 match according to Bunnell. That includes a $616,392 Surface Transportation Block Grant awarded by WSDOT in February last year to complete the east-side sidewalk and install bike lanes.
