The bridge, the bridge, the bridge, and the bridge @ West Seattle Transportation Coalition

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Though the West Seattle Transportation Coalition‘s August meeting featured four segments and four sets of guests, it was all about one topic: The five-months-closed West Seattle Bridge.

About 50 people attended Thursday night’s online meeting, including guest speakers and WSTC board members. Coalition chair Michael Taylor-Judd facilitated with assistance from board member Kate Wells. Here’s the group’s recording of the meeting:

REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL: The last guest was the headliner.

Our area’s representative in the U.S. House began with a reminder that she lives in West Seattle now, so she is well aware of the difficulties posed by the bridge closure. Her office has a rep on the Community Task Force. too. Rep. Jayapal said she and her staff have been evaluating grant programs – one that they think the city might qualify for is BRIC (Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities). Her office has identified two other major avenues for federal funding, though she warned it’s competitive, but she feels the city “will have a very good case” – once the need is determined. INFRA (Infrastructure For Rebuilding America) is one program; it usually takes applications in January, with grants announced in July. BUILD (Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development) is the other program, for surface transportation projects. The application period is February-May; the city would have to provide 20 percent of the funding.

As for other funding possibilities, Jayapal – a Democrat – noted that the Republican-majority U.S. Senate hasn’t “passed any infrastructure package at all” so much is at stake in November.

In Q&A, Jayapal was asked why tolling has to be studied for federal money, as SDOT has suggested. She said she doesn’t believe it does, but it might come into play regarding a requirement for details on how the rest of a project’s funding would be sourced. Another question: Are any “innovation grants” available? Maybe if HR2 is approved, there would be “green” funding available. What can the community do to encourage the Senate to take up HR2? “If you have friends/family in Republican states,” have them put in a good word, she said. Would a transit component be required for the bridge to get federal funding? Additional requirements would be few, Jayapal said. Would making it a federal interstate spur help? Short answer – mot really. Does the U.S. House have any pull in the White House? Yes, they negotiate, but it’s highly unlikely a major transportation bill will go anywhere before the election, so for now, the existing grant programs are the best hopes. At that point, SDOT’s Heather Marx interjected that via the City Council’s recent interfund-loan moves, they have $100 million to start with. In response to another question, Jayapal said the federal concern won’t be so much what the project is – bridge? tunnel? – as how well the plan is put together.

“I feel fairly confident that we’ll be able to get money for the West Seattle Bridge,” as long as we have a good plan, Rep. Jayapal concluded.

BRIDGE UPDATE: At the meeting’s start, SDOT’s Marx led this briefing, starting with a recap of what’s happened in the 5 months since the bridge was closed.

We’ve reported much of this incrementally. But SDOT is now offering more details of the ongoing stabilization work – Marx said 3 layers of carbon-fiber wrap have been installed already. Most of the work is happening inside, by the way, Marx said in response to a question about “why don’t we see work when looking (at the bridge deck)?”

And Marx recapped the financial situation so far:

42 different funding possibilities are being explored, Marx said. Meantime, here’s a recap of the current low-bridge access policy and the plan for automated-camera enforcement now aiming for “fall”:

Marx said they might “double up” on police AND cameras until monetary penalties start in January.

She also recapped Reconnect West Seattle, stressing that the projects done as a result of that will NOT be the only mitigation projects you’ll see. (The implementation plan will be finalized at the September 9 Community Task Force meeting.)

For the high bridge’s future, October remains the expected decision point – either repair now/replace later, or replace now. SDOT continues planning for both simultaneously, in the meantime.

WEST SEATTLE BRIDGE NOW: Co-founder Kevin Broveleit explained that the reason for the coalition is out of duty to the community – concern for small businesses’ survival, etc. Phil Tavel said it’s also a way to reach out to the city – they have a weekly chat with Marx, for example. They then introduced Adam Ludwig, an engineer who’s been working with the group (as featured in this WSB report last Sunday). He talked about the contention that the bridge can and should be fixed, and about his analysis of what had gone wrong. SDOT’s Technical Advisory Panel – a “who’s who” from the engineering world, he noted – has already agreed the bridge can be repaired. He says it seems like a “no-brainer” to just get going with that. By not using this low-traffic time to do that, “we’re squandering” the opportunity, Ludwig said. After he spoke, Marx countered that what he’s talking about is indeed under way, and that SDOT is proceeding prudently with their stewardship of public dollars, but she said the Cost-Benefit Analysis is vital to determine the “true cost” of repair vs. replace. October may seem a long way away but “next week is September,” she pointed out.

PORT COMMISSIONER: Third segment of the WSTC meeting featured Seattle Port Commission president Peter Steinbrueck, who declared, “I’m fired up.” He too focused on the bridge – he’s one of the elected officials on the Community Task Force – and he said one question that remains to be satisfactorily answered is, “what (were) the actual causes” of the damage that shut the bridge down. He said it’s too soon to be talking about possible replacements, until “the causes” are known.” Yes, “this is an expedited process and we can’t wait forever,” he said, but that’s no excuse for not getting all that information. He called the bridge closure a “disaster” – especially for the port. “This is at the heart of our international gateway.” The half-billion-dollar investment in Terminal 5 is “at great risk” because of the bridge problem. He said all levels of government “need to work together” to get this solved. In the meantime, “the lower bridge is our critical lifeline.” So “restoring capacity as quickly as possible” is vital, he repeated. “It is critical that we make good decisions and timely decisions.”

Marx responded to him too, saying that finding out the exact cause would require “a lengthy engineering study” for which they don’t have time.

The West Seattle Transportation Coalition meets online, 6:30 pm fourth Thursdays, so the next meeting will be September 24th.

34 Replies to "The bridge, the bridge, the bridge, and the bridge @ West Seattle Transportation Coalition"

  • KJB August 29, 2020 (6:49 am)

    Wondering what they were talking about in regards to changes on West Marginal.

    • WSB August 29, 2020 (9:13 am)

      SDOT has said they are working on WMW and I have been pursuing details.

  • Kadoo August 29, 2020 (8:34 am)

    Doesn’t the WSTC meet on Thursdays not Wednesdays?

    • WSB August 29, 2020 (9:11 am)

      Fixed. The date was right, at least,

  • Guy August 29, 2020 (9:01 am)

    Did anyone ever mention looking for accountability? Someone designed, built, and maintained this bridge and clearly something went wrong somewhere in this process. Is no one asking where the error was?

    • Tsurly August 29, 2020 (9:46 am)

      Try reading the entire article, particularly the last paragraph. 

      • Chris August 29, 2020 (12:31 pm)

        It’s pretty clear that they don’t know and have said they don’t have time to find out. Which is ridiculous because they have nothing but time

        • Tsurly August 29, 2020 (1:31 pm)

          It would be challenging, if not impossible, to perform a forensic analysis on what caused the issues AND concurrently repair it. No having your cake and eating it to. If the lay public wants to SDOT to figure out the cause of the bridge problems, then demand they stop all repair work and focus on that.

          • Kyle August 30, 2020 (3:26 pm)

            How can we expect them to “fix” the bridge if they don’t know the cause? I guess if we are going to replace it they don’t need to know, but it would still beg the question why replace in the first place? Too busy to figure it out seems like a bad answer.

      • Guy August 30, 2020 (11:22 am)

        If they don’t know what caused it, why shouldn’t we expect this to happen again? Are you telling me that if a building collapsed you’d be fine with holding no one accountable? For all we know they’re making the same errors elsewhere.In the early days after the closing of the bridge, I read somewhere – maybe even here – that they were blaming the increasing weight of loaded trucks over the years since the bridge was built (trucks carying heavy loads weigh more now than when the bridge was designed). No idea if there’s truth to that or not and I haven’t seen it mentioned since.

        • tsurly August 31, 2020 (10:26 am)

          No by all means try and hold someone accountable, but don’t be surprised if that slows down the repairs.

  • Stephanie S August 29, 2020 (9:16 am)

    Thank you for this detailed recap!

  • IB August 29, 2020 (9:35 am)

    Are they actually ticketing on the low bridge now? The violations are infuriating. 

  • Colonel Mustard's Wrench August 29, 2020 (9:36 am)

    OK SDOT:  The clock is ticking to get those applications submitted by the January deadline for the Federal INFRA grant and the February-May deadline for the BUILD grant. 
    Congresswoman Jayapal pointed out that there is stiff competition for these grants.  She also mentioned the BRIC grant.  So our applications need to be thorough and on time.
    Mayor Durkan, please apply a blow torch to all necessary butts at SDOT to ensure these applications get properly submitted.

    It was disturbing to hear that there were substitutions of materials during the original construction of the West Seattle Bridge, and that SDOT’s As Built Drawings created during construction are slip shod and missing important details.  What the hell ?
    Port Commission President Peter Steinbrueck  emphasized very passionately what a disaster this bridge closure is for the Port and is jeopardizing the half billion dollar Terminal 5 project and thousands of jobs.
    West Seattle Bridge Now provided structural engineer Adam Ludwig, who has analyzed the bridge and original drawings.  Mr. Ludwig determined the repair is feasible and the best use of our money.  He presented drawings showing his recommended repairs and indicated that the repairs could probably be accomplished in a year.  He emphasized that we squandering precious repair time during the pandemic.
    SDOT’s pit bull, Heather Marx, barked at Adam Ludwig and made sure that everyone knew that Mr. Ludwig is NOT on the project.  She didn’t bother to bring an engineer to this meeting – and instead of answering many of the questions put to SDOT would say, “I don’t know – I’m not an engineer”.   
    Heather Marx comes across as being very rude and insulting.  SDOT would do this project a big favor reassigning her to other duties that don’t involve the public.  Heather Marx is happy to ride her bicycle and does not feel any pressure whatsoever to provide a functional bridge anytime soon for cars.  She gives the impression that waiting ten years for a new bridge fits nicely with the goal of getting people out of cars, onto transit (Covid anybody ?) and riding bikes.  Meanwhile, businesses continue to fail and more houses go up for sale in West Seattle.  We need a respectful, informed, SDOT person that will prioritize moving forward on timely, cost-effective solutions for the bridge.
    Tracy Record – thank you so much for your comprehensive report.  The West Seattle Blog is the best !
    Let’s hope that Mayor Durkan can shepherd SDOT to get the appropriate repairs moving forward quickly and the necessary grant applications competently filled out and submitted by the deadlines.

    • Stevie J August 29, 2020 (2:45 pm)

      Nice misogyny in this post. Is there another synonym for “dog” you would like to call this woman? 

      • wscommuter August 29, 2020 (5:58 pm)

        Perhaps I’m dense.  I read CMW’s post (and I mostly don’t agree with him), but I didn’t see any misogyny.  Can you explain what I’m too dim to perceive?  Just that he criticized Ms. Marx?  

      • flimflam August 29, 2020 (6:37 pm)

        you are really gleaming that from this post? wow.

    • KM August 30, 2020 (2:04 pm)

      I’ve had positive experiences with Heather, personally, even when I didn’t hear the outcome I wanted (regarding a reroute/intersection). Excessively stylized posts (here) or comparing women to dogs (here) or people fighting for racial equity with the KKK (other post) aren’t going to work well for you, online or in the real world. You might just be trolling, and if so, joke is on me. But if you are new here, I hope you’ll reconsider your approach.

  • HurryWithThatBridge August 29, 2020 (9:48 am)

    Thank you to everyone that has been working very hard to get the WS Bridge repaired or replaced. I live in Westwood and my nose has been hurting in the mornings on weekdays from the increased pollution. I cannot imagine what it will be when even more cars travel through our neighborhood.  We need more access options than the 1st Ave Bridge. Please!

    • me August 29, 2020 (12:21 pm)

      Fixing the bridge won’t make the pollution go away, it just moves it to another neighborhood…

      • HowAboutNow? September 1, 2020 (5:18 pm)

        There is an argument that the topography of moving excessive traffic off a high, windswept bridge in the bay to a maze of streets in a river valley diminishes the dispersion of the pollutants so – more than likely – restoring the bridge ASAP will diminish the impact to what is believed to be already economically challenged neighborhoods with higher pre-existing conditions.

  • TT August 29, 2020 (9:59 am)

    If you want accountability, look to Amazon for dumping thousands of its employees in our city. This was the only neighborhood where people were crammed in, so then building started and now it’s overcrowded. WS bridge wasn’t built for that many people. If Amazon actually paid more than pennies in taxes, maybe one of the most the valuable companies in the world could contribute funds to a city they are running into the ground. And doubling up on police presence on the bridge? Doubtful since we defunded the police department. 

    • WSB August 29, 2020 (10:03 am)

      The police department has NOT been “defunded.” The city council voted for some cuts. The mayor vetoed them. Whether the council will vote to override that, or negotiate something, is not clear but in the meantime it’s status quo.

      • TT August 29, 2020 (6:05 pm)

        Protest efforts were in large part to defund. Making “cuts” is taking away funds which to me is defunding. But yes, I see you are right now, the “cuts” have not taken place yet but likely will as the people have spoken. Can’t say that will amount to more police presence on lower bridge in the future since 100 may lose their jobs, that’s all I’m saying. 

        • WS2000 August 29, 2020 (7:26 pm)

          You realize that the price of increased patrols on the WS bridge is the continued brutalization of our Black and Brown neighbors, don’t you? Many of us believe that human beings are more important than enforcement of the bridge restrictions.

          • HowAboutNow? September 1, 2020 (5:16 pm)

            I’m sorry, but explain to me how additional police patrols on the WS bridge cause brutalization of our Black and Brown neighbors?  I’m not seeing the correlation and wildly inaccurate claims only diminish the cause of racial equity.  

    • Elton August 30, 2020 (10:27 pm)

      Real solid logic there, TT. Shame on Amazon for creating good paying jobs so that there would be more customers for small business owners and more tax revenues for local government. SLU and Denny Triangle was much better before as a breeding ground for drug dealers. If $300+ MM a year in state/local taxes is “pennies” to you, you’re a lot wealthier than many of us. SDOT and the companies involved in building the bridge have no culpability, right? Just private businesses who were started many years after the bridge was built. Why stop at Amazon? Let’s go ahead and force Starbucks, Costco, and Microsoft to pay for this bridge, too. If we just had a higher unemployment rate and less overall tax revenues surely we’d all be better off.

  • Mj August 29, 2020 (1:05 pm)

    Colonel Mustard – thank you.  SDoT and the City need to be working 24 7 on the project.  And SDoT needs to enhance capacity on the alternative routes post haste!

    • HowAboutNow? September 1, 2020 (5:12 pm)

      I looked for spotlights on the bridge this weekend to illuminate the work being done as I passed through that night….I was sorely disappointed….

  • Bradley August 29, 2020 (2:37 pm)

    Every time I go through the Chelan Cafe interchange, I mark WAZE with a hidden Police officer there. Roll the dice!!

  • West Seattle Resident August 29, 2020 (5:55 pm)

    It’s a race.  Which gets done first the bridge or light rail.  

  • joseph illg/crabcat August 30, 2020 (3:03 pm)

    Are any/all [cost be dammed] repair options being explored  ….wild ones..insane ones..never entertained innovative ..crazier than a box of frogs ones    a collection of those and responses to them  could be revealing of stale mind sets and other set thinking

  • HowAboutNow? September 1, 2020 (5:11 pm)

    To think that this is as far as we have gotten in five long months is downright embarrassing.  Yes, it’s a big problem, but you’d think it was only a minor inconvenience to a few people, and not hurting anyone with air pollution.  I do not understand the speed that SDOT and City Council is taking on this, including fixes to WMW which are now urgent at the new traffic levels.

Sorry, comment time is over.