Instead, Chittenden proposed a double concrete lock with steel gates, allowing small craft to pass with less waste. A single set of locks on the western end of Salmon Bay would be used in place of the small wooden lock near Fremont Avenue, which would lower Lake Washington to the same level as Lake Union. Having a single lock between Puget Sound and the freshwater lakes would reduce the risk of flooding and reduce overall cost of the project. Before he could move forward, Chittenden had to sway local leaders away from supporting Moore's project. After enthusiasm for his canal eroded and funding dried up, Moore transferred his rights to a public-private entity, the Lake Washington Canal Association, in 1907. Though Chittenden hoped to cap his career with the construction of the Locks, ill health forced him to retire in 1909, though he continued lobbying Congress for the project, and served as a consulting engineer and as a Seattle port commissioner until his death in October 1917.