Local News

<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com   Published: Sunday, January 4, 2009 No money to fix crumbling Everett bridge The downtown span is not on the state's list, but Mayor Ray Stephanson expects testing will show the deteriorating bridge needs replacing. By David Chircop Herald Writer EVERETT -- A crumbling steel-and-concrete span in downtown Everett is not on a list of bridges that will receive state funding for replacement this year, the state announced Friday. The nearly century old bridge was not included in a list of 21 bridges across the state that will receive a total of $30 million under the Federal Highways Bridge Program. In June, the city applied for $4.6 million to replace the heavily traveled bridge on Broadway between Hewitt Avenue and California Street. The application with the state Department of Transportation -- which administers the federal bridge replacement program in Washington -- says the bridge is extremely deteriorated and in need of replacement. More than 30,000 vehicles cross the bridge every day. Still, other aging and structurally deficient bridges had lower sufficiency ratings than the bridge in Everett, said Sam Schuyler, assistant local programs engineer with the Department of Transportation said. Recent inspections following Federal Highway Administration guidelines show the bridge has a sufficiency rating of 24.19. New bridges normally have a sufficiency rating of 100. Bridges with a rating less than 50 are eligible for state rehabilitation money; those rated less than 30 are eligible for replacement funding from the state. "It looks like they were pretty much by the numbers," said Ryan Sass, Everett's city engineer. "In that regard, we just barely missed the cut." While Everett lost out on this round of bridge replacement funding, Snohomish County was granted more than $2.4 million to replace a bridge over Swamp Creek on Carter Road near Bothell. Kinyan Lui, bridge group supervisor for the county, said a middle pier on the bridge was damaged during past floods. "Basically that compromised the load-carrying capacity of the bridge," Lui said. The bridge close to Lockwood Elementary School has a sufficiency ratings in the teens, she said. The county has also placed a 5-ton load restriction on the bridge. For the Everett bridge, Sass said the city may benefit if Congress includes bridge restoration and replacement funding as part of an evolving economic stimulus package to be unveiled this month. The Everett City Council in December approved lab tests of the bridge's steel and concrete to determine more accurately the bridge's structural integrity, and along that line, what steps the city should take to protect the public. The city expects to spend as much as $40,000 on the testing. In July, after it failed a critical safety inspection, Sass took steps to keep weight off the bridge. He placed load restrictions for commercial trucks and eliminated several parking spaces on the shoulders of the bridge. Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson said he believes further tests will help demonstrate the need for replacement and improve the city's odds of securing outside funding. "I'm not terribly concerned that we are not on that list," he said. "I think we have some more work to do." Cities and counties last year submitted 42 project applications, with an estimate of $227 million needed for funding. The state transportation department honed down the applications and presented a refined list to the Bridge Replacement Advisory Committee for consideration during a public meeting in Olympia in November. Committee members made recommendations to the state for projects to be funded under the Bridge Replacement and Rehabilitation Program. "While we await news of the potential federal stimulus package, these grants allow us to put people to work and to begin investing right now in critical infrastructure," Washington State Department of Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond said in a press release. "Bridges are vital transportation links to communities, jobs and the transport of goods and products." Reporter David Chircop: 425-339-3429 or dchircop@heraldnet.com. READER COMMENTS Be the first to comment. You must be a registered user and verify your e-mail address to post comments to blogs or articles on HeraldNet. To register, click here. To read other terms and conditions, click here. Log out

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