Crews complete demolition of Edgewater Bridge

EVERETT — Crews have completed the demolition of the old Edgewater Bridge, Everett Public Works shared in a release Wednesday.

Now, crews are underway building a new temporary bridge that they will use to build the final structure. That method helps construction crews avoid major costs and prevents the need to buy more private property, city staff wrote.

Demolition of the bridge — referred to as a meticulous process by city engineers because of the steep slopes and proximity to a creek — began at the start of May.

The Edgewater Bridge was a critical connection between Everett and Mukilteo as 6,000 vehicles crossed it daily. As it was built in 1946, however, it was not up to modern seismic standards and was vulnerable to failure in the event of an earthquake, according to city reports. City memos also referred to the bridge as “functionally obsolete” because of its narrow traffic lanes and sidewalks.

The new bridge will have 12-foot lanes in each direction, with 6.5-foot sidewalks on each side and 5-foot bike lanes. Everett set aside $34.9 million for the project.

Much of that funding came from federal grants. The city chipped in about $6 million in local funds.

Initially looked at as a 2022 project, the city delayed construction of the bridge multiple times due to the COVID-19 pandemic and environmental review processes. It was delayed until summer 2023, then to mid-2024. Crews first closed the bridge for construction in late October 2024 and anticipated the closure would last about a year.

In May, the city announced that the opening of the bridge would be delayed by a few months due to unexpected obstructions — old timber and concrete left over from a previous bridge underneath the soil — slowing the initial construction work. Everett expects to open the bridge in early 2026, and work has remained on pace to do so, project manager Dan Enrico wrote in an email Wednesday.

Will Geschke: 425-339-3443; william.geschke@heraldnet.com; X: @willgeschke.