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.
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