Quick work: Crews are nearly done with the Port of Hood River’s latest waterfront improvement project. Funded by the Port, Columbia Gorge Windsurfing Association and HRV Parks and Rec Dist., the $130,000 project creates much-needed improved river access at the west end of the Hook.
Quick work: Crews are nearly done with the Port of Hood River’s latest waterfront improvement project. Funded by the Port, Columbia Gorge Windsurfing Association and HRV Parks and Rec Dist., the $130,000 project creates much-needed improved river access at the west end of the Hook.
A welcomed addition to the Hood River Waterfront is quickly taking shape, and with a finish date of the end of February, the new river access at the west end of the Hook will be ready for windsurfers, kayakers and stand-up-paddlers who come out of the woodwork in droves as winter winds down and the river-recreation season rapidly approaches.
Crestline Construction was contracted for the $130,000 improvement project, which was funded by the Port of Hood River ($60,000), the Columbia Gorge Windsurfing Association ($50,000) and the Hood River Valley Parks and Recreation District ($20,000).
The project creates a gently sloping ramp from the top of the Hook down to the Columbia River, providing easy access to a well-used section of water that has excellent wind exposure but is safely out of the main channel of the river. The small path weaving between large boulders has been replaced with a concrete ramp wide enough for people to carry kayaks, SUP boards and rigged-sails down with ease.
Although a multi-use access, kiteboard launching and landing will not be allowed from the site.
A second phase of the project will include a manicured seating and rigging area at the top of the ramp, with two patches of turf for people to set-up and break-down gear. This phase (contingent on funding) will be completed following the City of Hood River’s sewage outfall relocation project, which was originally planned for 2014-15 but has been delayed at least a year. That project will route the new sewage outflow pipe under the Hook road and into the river facing Wells Island. Once the road is repaired, the Port’s plan is to extend the waterfront trail to the end of the Hook and the new launch site.
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