Woodland City Council approves engineering for sidewalk, bike lane on South Pekin Road

Construction slated for 2026 with WSDOT approval

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Bordering the west side of Horseshoe Lake, South Pekin Road in Woodland will soon feature significant safety improvements for pedestrians and cyclists.

The City of Woodland took a step toward ensuring pedestrian and cyclist safety along this key roadway Monday, Dec. 16, when the Woodland City Council unanimously approved hiring Gibbs & Olson to conduct preliminary engineering and design work for a sidewalk and bike lane project.

The improvements will span approximately 0.3 miles along the east side of South Pekin Road, adjacent to Horseshoe Lake. The project will take place on the road just south of Marty Loop, ending at South Pekin Road’s intersection with Whalen Road, at the end of city limits. The sidewalk and bike lane are both estimated to span 6 feet wide, respectively. The preliminary engineering phase will utilize $120,000 of grant funding from the Cowlitz-Wahkiakum Council of Governments, with the city contributing $18,700 in matching funds.

“It’s always been a road of interest for completion,” Woodland Public Works Director Riley Bunnell explained. “We recognize this as a portion where there was very limited walking availability alongside the lake right there. We identified it as a safety issue, and we’re very happy to be able to actually access this grant and move forward with this project,”



Initial fieldwork will include outreach to local business owners and residents for public input. Gibbs & Olson will also provide a detailed construction cost estimate, oversee the bidding process and serve as the construction manager to ensure the selected contractor meets project deliverables. The consultants will also assess the need for a small retaining wall along the new sidewalk given its proximity to the lake. Bunnell said the project is a high priority on the city’s 2025-30 Transportation Improvement Program list.

The project funding was secured earlier this year when the City Council, on July 15, accepted a $436,946 grant from the Cowlitz-Wahkiakum Council of Governments, along with a city match of $68,200, to fund the construction phase. Initially, construction was anticipated to begin in early 2025, but the timeline has shifted, with completion now expected in the first quarter of 2026, pending approval from the Washington State Department of Transportation. According to Bunnell, the delay occurred as the city awaited an additional $120,000 in grant funding to cover the preliminary engineering phase. The total project cost is projected to exceed $570,000, including construction.

For project updates, residents can visit ci.woodland.wa.us/publicworks.