DARRINGTON — About 16 miles outside of town, up a narrow gravel road, a deteriorating bridge crosses the South Fork Sauk River and connects to a small, private community behind a chainlink fence with “No Trespassing” signs.
Reece’s Hideout is a remote neighborhood off the Mountain Loop Highway in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.
It’s a scenic setting with six year-round residents and about 25 summer homes or vacation cabins.
Snohomish County owns the one-lane bridge, the only vehicle access to the Hideout. No matter how remote, the bridge is the county’s responsibility to maintain, officials say. This year, that means a $470,000 bill to repair the crossing.
That’s a fraction of the $5.25 million project proposed in 2010 to fully replace South Fork Sauk River Bridge No. 540, also known as Reece’s Hideout Bridge. Planners decided to repair rather than replace.
The only formal objection has come from vocal environmental advocate and private engineer Bill Lider.
Reece’s Hideout homeowners say the bridge repair is a necessity, while Lider, of Lynnwood, calls it a poor use of public dollars and environmentally risky.
Work started March 30 and is scheduled to end mid-June. A county crew is replacing rotten timber with steel and untreated cedar. They’re raising the gravel road as it approaches the bridge and redecking the span. The bulk of the work involves gutting one end of the bridge and replacing unstable supports.
“It’s hard to say what’s really holding the bridge up,” county engineer Vladimir Malinsky said. “It’s all rotten.”
Homes were built in Reece’s Hideout starting in the 1950s, along with the original bridge.
The bridge was rebuilt in 1986, not long after a flood washed it out. In 2009, the county placed a 3-ton weight limit on the span due to deterioration.
Officials considered several options. They offered to buy out property owners then block off the bridge, but people weren’t interested in selling.
They also proposed a road improvement district that would have split the replacement cost between the county, the landowners and a federal grant.
Then they decided to repair the bridge instead.
“It is a little bit unique because it is in the middle of nowhere,” Malinsky said. “The traffic on that bridge usually is not much.”
Retired forest service employee Walt Dortch has lived in Reece’s Hideout for about 20 years. The weight limit on the bridge made it hard for people to bring in heavy supplies, such as propane for their appliances.
The bridge survived record floods in 2003, but locals knew it was time for a major repair. Property owners worked with county planners and participated in public meetings, Dortch said.
“The community has been here a long time,” he said. “There have not been issues with people having an adverse effect on the environment. People here are stewards. They love this place.”
Homeowners in Reece’s Hideout are the only ones who benefit from the repairs, Lider said. Most people don’t know about the bridge, though it’s one of the only places where people can drive up to the South Fork Sauk. It’s a wild, flood-prone area, he said.
The county worked with the forest service to make sure the project met environmental standards, engineer Bruce DuVall said. It wasn’t subject to the same scrutiny as a new bridge.
The bridge is closed to cars until June 15, though it’s open to pedestrians most days. Drivers can expect some heavy equipment on the gravel portion of the Mountain Loop until the work is done.
Kari Bray: 425-339-3439; kbray@heraldnet.com.
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