Link Transit To Provide Shuttle During Peshastin Bridge Closure

Link Transit is boosting service to Peshastin when the bridge from U.S. Hwy. 2 into the town closes for about a month.

The bridge is getting a major overhaul and there will be no direct access to Peshastin from June 17 to July 13.

In response, Link will operate a shuttle on North Road between the turnaround in Peshastin to the Wilkommen Park-and-Ride, behind the Safeway store on U.S. 2.

Link spokesperson Eric West says the transit will be flexible to any dates that the bridge is actually closed.

"I'm assuming they'll start that Monday and then maybe wrap up a little sooner, who knows," said West. "As long as the bridge is closed, we'll be operating the shuttle. If they run longer, then we'll still operate that shuttle for whatever time is necessary."

The shuttle will operate seven days a week with connections from the Park-and-Ride into Leavenworth and down to Wenatchee.

West says connection times won't be seamless, but will be reasonable.

"Timing, depending on what time they arrive at the Park-and-Ride off the shuttle, there may be a little bit of a gap in terms of a direct connection." West said. "But it should work for the most part.

Connections into Wenatchee or into Leavenworth can be made at Wilkommen Park-and-Ride, on either the Route 22, Route 122 or the Leavenworth DART (Dial-a-Ride) serving the greater Leavenworth area only.

The $2 million Peshastin bridge project includes an overlay of the bridge deck and replacement of the bridge deck joints (10 joints on the bridge and 2 end joints).

County staff say a complete rebuild of the bridge was not feasible at a price tag of $40-50 million.

It’s believed that overlaying the bridge deck will be a patch that'll keep the bridge functional over the long-term.

The Peshastin Bridge was built in 1932, making it 92 years old, although it appears to have had updates over the years.

Funding for the Peshastin bridge project comes through a grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation.