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Engineers flag serious delamination beneath Staunton Wharf; council restricts Byers Street and part of lot
Summary
A structural evaluation of tunnels beneath the Staunton Wharf identified severe concrete delamination and exposed rebar, prompting temporary closures of Byers Street and portions of the Wharf parking area and spurring an immediate plan to design repairs and minimize disruption.
A structural survey in March and April found substantial concrete delamination and corroded reinforcing steel in sections of the tunnels under the Staunton Wharf, city staff told council on April 10. The engineer recommended temporary closures of Byers Street and parts of the wharf parking lot ' actions the city implemented for public safety while design work continues.
"This does not look good," a city presenter said while showing images of spalled concrete beneath Johnson Street and in the middle of the Wharf. The city's engineering consultant, Wiley Wilson, identified immediate areas of concern under Johnson and Byers streets and in the central wharf drive, and staff said those areas require a top-down repair approach because utilities and limited access complicate any effort to work from below.
City engineers said the repair approach will remove and replace tunnel walls and ceilings where needed and that design and permitting work must account for live stream conditions and existing utilities. "We want to make sure we're adequately planning for traffic," the city engineer said, noting the area's importance to vehicles and pedestrian activity, including the farmers market.
Staff said cost estimates and a repair timeline are still in development; council members asked staff to pursue the most durable, cost-effective approach. The city will also examine longer-term options, including feasibility study language in the FY26 CIP for daylighting portions of piped channels where practical, though staff said daylighting would be a long-term, potentially costly undertaking requiring extensive community engagement.
Because the Wharf remains an important downtown asset, staff said they will assemble a Wharf business and resident network to coordinate outreach and mitigation during any repairs. City staff also asked for updated parking analyses and noted that shifts in court parking patterns (when neighboring county court functions move) could influence long-term parking planning.
Council asked for continued updates, engineering cost estimates and options that weigh immediate safety, disruption to downtown and long-term hydraulic performance.
