South Park Bridge replacement tops transportation agenda

As the newly-appointed chair of the King County Council Transportation Committee, I am committed to leading the process of assembling the funds required to replace the South Park Bridge.

In a briefing at my committee’s first meeting of the year (Jan. 24), members were told repeatedly that the South Park Bridge cannot be repaired. The 76-year-old span recently scored just four points on the Federal Highway Administration’s 100-point sufficiency rating scale (the Alaskan Way Viaduct received eight points). Engineering studies show that the South Park Bridge is seven times more vulnerable to earthquake damage than the Viaduct.

While the bridge lands on a tiny “sliver by the river” governed by King County, it is a regional facility serving thousands of daily trips that start or conclude in the cities of Seattle, Tukwila, SeaTac and beyond. Closing the bridge, as King County would likely have to do if no replacement funding is obtained by 2010, would compound the traffic woes on other important roadways. Some 20,000 vehicles use the bridge every day—trucks and cars that would then be forced onto alternate routes such as State Route 509. This diversion would more than double morning and evening commute delays at the north end of the nearby First Avenue South Bridge.

King County developed a replacement plan for the South Park Bridge, held a series of public meetings, and garnered community support for this proposal. Bridge design work is fully funded and we will be ready to start construction by 2010.

But the construction cost of a new bridge is daunting: an estimated $150 million.

And as I continue efforts to establish the regional funding source we need to build a new South Park Bridge, please let Executive Sims, Mayor Greg Nickels, the councils and mayors of all surrounding cities, and your state legislators know that you support them in seeking regional, state, and federal funding for this important project.

Council program provides vans for non-profit groups

On Feb. 22, I stopped by Highline West Seattle Mental Health to present the keys to a retired van from the King County fleet.

Since 1996, the King County Council has distributed more than 250 retired vans to non-profit organizations or governmental entities. King County vans are retired and prepared for donation after eight years in service.

This program aids these organizations, but it isn’t a giveaway: the recipient organization must sign a contract stating that the van will be used to provide transportation to people traditionally underserved by public transit, including children, seniors, low-income people and the disabled.

According to Highline West Seattle Mental Health officials, their donated van will be used to transport clients of the Expanded Community Services (ECS) and Program of Assertive Community Treatment (PACT) programs. Both programs provide housing and services to former residents of Western State Hospital during their re-integration into the community. The vans will help in transporting clients of these programs to social events, the grocery store, and medical and psychiatric appointments.