Print edition: 
Boaters may not have an easy way to paddle around the new Lincoln Street Dam after all.
Wichita City Council members Tuesday gave informal support to a $12 million plan to tear down the existing Lincoln Street bridge and dam on the Arkansas River and build a new dam and a new bridge downstream.
Whether the council will also approve a plan to spend $1.5 million in local and federal money for a boat passage and $500,000 on a fish passage to get around the dam is unclear.
Council member Paul Gray said there may be only a couple of hundred boaters who would use the transition, which would use a series of channels on one side of the dam to bring boaters through the roughly 10-foot drop in water elevation.
It could end up costing $200 per boat, Gray suggested. "It's not necessarily the most effective use of money," he said.
But council member Janet Miller said many people are advocating more use of the river and that boating is prominent in the long-term parks plan.
"I think when this comes to the City Council (for an official vote), we'll see lots of boaters come out to support it," she said.
That will likely be April 13.
The existing Lincoln Street bridge was built in 1970 with an inflatable dam beneath it. The inflatable dam continually failed and was replaced in 1976 with the concrete dam there today.
Assistant Director of Public Works Jim Armour said the bridge needs repairs and showed a series of photos showing crumbling concrete and exposed rebar.
The city could probably repair the bridge and dam for about $9 million and it would last an estimated 30 years. But the new bridge and the dam that would be built about 150 feet downstream would last 20 years longer and cost less to maintain, Armour said.
A new dam could also have more control on water levels. That could mean that the bike paths along the Arkansas River in downtown would flood less frequently, reducing maintenance costs, Armour said.
The estimated cost — $12 million — could grow, Armour warned.
