Brunell: Bridges shouldn’t have to sink to be replaced

It was originally completed in 1961. It took years to build, but in less than a day wind gusts estimated at 120 mph sank it on Feb. 13, 1979. The ensuing debate was not over whether it should be replaced, but how long would it take. As a result, reconstruction was completed in 1982.

Bridges are costly to build, maintain and replace. Our beautiful mountains, lakes and major waterways drive up construction costs and require added time to plan, engineer and build. If you have driven I-90 over Snoqualmie Pass in the last decade, you get the picture.

The need for new roads and bridges is growing as our population climbs. Washington and Oregon traffic is increasingly gridlocked along the I-5 corridor. The Oregon Department of Transportation reported just over 125,000 vehicles crossed the I-5 Bridge over the Columbia River in 2006. In 2018, it was 136,000.

The I-5 Bridge’s two spans opened in 1917 and 1958. “The bridge started reaching capacity during weekday peak hours nearly 30 years ago, within a decade of the December 1982 opening of the Interstate 205 Bridge,” Columbian reporter Jeffrey Mize wrote.

Replacement discussions formally started in 2005 by Govs. Christine Gregoire of Washington and Ted Kulongoski of Oregon; however, the Columbia River Crossing stalled in 2013.

It was reinvigorated recently when Govs. Kate Brown of Oregon and Jay Inslee of Washington signed a memorandum to restart the planning. Hopefully, within five years construction will be well underway.

Getting agreement will not be easy. “Lurking beneath the veneer of tranquility are the same issues that polarized the region a decade ago: opposition to tolling, hostility toward light rail, support for a third Columbia River bridge, concerns about climate change, and a sneaking suspicion this $3 billion-plus megaproject will cost too much and deliver too little,” Mize wrote.

Building bridges is never easy and comes with political risk. Gov. Albert Rosellini, Seattle Democrat who served from 1956-64, staked his political career on four major bridges. Opposition to tolls helped sink Rosellini’s bid for a third term as governor.

Rosellini’s bridge plan called for tolls. Without tolls to guarantee bonds, the projects would not happen. “His role in moving the Evergreen floating bridge off a political impasse was critical,” said former Seattle Mayor Wes Uhlman, who served in the Legislature when Rosellini was governor.

In the 1950s and ’60s the preponderance of the highway and bridge funding came from Washington, D.C. However, when the interstate system was deemed complete in 1962, it was turned over to the states to maintain and expand. It is unlikely there will be federal funding to provide the lion’s share of the money. So tolling will be considered.

The bottom line is just as there is an urgency to rebuilding a sunken bridge, there needs to be an urgency to the I-5 replacement bridge.