Schrier: Inflation driving up Confluence Parkway costs

WENATCHEE — Standing atop a concrete overpass that has yet to carry its first car, U.S. Rep. Kim Schrier said on July 29 that the Confluence Parkway's biggest challenge is no longer building it, but keeping pace with the rising cost of finishing it.

"The problem is the budget," Schrier told Ward Media during a tour of the construction site. "And the budget, just like with every other infrastructure project and everything that is happening in our own homes and lives, inflation's killing us."

Schrier's visit came as the Confluence Parkway enters one of its most visible phases of construction, with the new overpass taking shape above North Miller Street. While city officials described the work as remaining on schedule, Schrier said the project's greatest challenge has shifted from construction itself to the rising cost of completing infrastructure planned and funded before the recent surge in inflation.

"What we thought was enough money to complete the project suddenly is not," she said.

The congresswoman visited Wenatchee following a stop in Cle Elum, where she met with local officials to discuss a new Emergency Operations Center designed to coordinate aircraft operations, rescue teams and emergency responders during disasters such as wildfires and floods. In Wenatchee, she toured the federally funded Confluence Parkway project with city officials before speaking with Ward Media about the project's progress and the broader challenges facing public investment.

Schrier said the same inflationary pressures affecting households have also complicated major public works projects across the country.

"I will tell you that we will be doing oversight in Congress next year on what's really going on with prices," she said. "Because I have a strong feeling that the excuse of inflation is giving people an excuse to raise prices more and cause more inflation. And I just think we need to get to the bottom of what's really going on, in addition to tariffs."

While transportation funding was the focus of her Wenatchee visit, Schrier said many of the issues she hears about across Central Washington are interconnected.

Earlier in the day, she toured the planned Emergency Operations Center in Cle Elum, which will bring together emergency management agencies and aviation resources under one roof.

"At Cle Elum, we talked about the Emergency Operations Center," she said. "Bringing together plane operations, because it's right by the airport, with helicopters, with rescue teams, emergency response, just having everybody in one place, whether it's for floods or fires or you name it."

Schrier said federal decisions on health care funding also have tangible effects in communities like Wenatchee.

"It's not just what happens to people who lose Medicaid," she said. "It's what happens to the emergency room here at Confluence Health. It's what happens to CVCH and mental health services if people aren't insured."

She said those local impacts are exactly why she continues making regular trips throughout the district to meet with local officials and residents.

As the conversation wrapped up, Schrier smiled when told Wenatchee would be glad to see her more often.

"Oh, I'm here all the time," she said with a laugh. "Sometimes the snow stops me."

For Schrier, the unfinished overpass served as both a progress report and a reminder that the biggest challenge facing many federally funded projects is no longer breaking ground, but keeping pace with the cost of finishing the work.

Andrew Simpson: 509-433-7626 or andrew@ward.media