Popular Whatcom County lakeside park slated to close will stay open for the summer
Samish Park, with its popular swimming beach and boat rentals, will stay open through the summer because a construction project that was slated to use the parking lot has been delayed by a steep cost increase.
Park closure was slated for mid-April, and closure of the aging bridge across Lake Samish was due later this month or in early June, Whatcom County Public Works officials told the Bellingham Herald.
But the entire project has been delayed a year because only one contractor bid on the project, at a price that was $800,000 above the approved funding, the county said at its website.
“Due to this bid exceeding the available budget, the project was not awarded to the bidder. The project will be re-advertised for competitive bids in the fall of 2023, with construction anticipated to begin in late May 2024,” the website said.
As a result, the bridge and the park will stay open, the county said.
Cost to replace the bridge, which was built in 1963, was estimated at $11.2 million, paid mostly through a $9 million federal grant and the rest through local road funds, according to previous Bellingham Herald reporting
Construction was expected to take about 14 months.
Replacement of the bridge has been sought for several years.
Since 2016, there have been weight restrictions across the 250-foot span that allow only one car to pass at a time.
This story was originally published May 18, 2023 at 11:20 AM.
