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People are hustling to pile up money high enough to make $131 million, which is the estimated cost to replace the South Park Bridge, a Scherzer Rolling Lift double-leaf bascule bridge, built about 80 years ago. $80 million has been allocated so far, from the state, King County, City of Seattle, and the Port. $10 million came in just four days after King County applied for it.
You’d be tempted to applaud the sight of so many political assholes and elbows shoveling dollars down South Park way, except for the fact that the bridge will “close” (in its open position) on June 30, and replacement will take at least three years. That should be just enough time to starve out any of the businesses the relied on the 20,000 vehicles the bridge carries daily.
You might wonder how a bridge that carries 20,000 vehicles a day simply arrived at the end of its lifespan with no back-up ready to put in place.
A temporary bridge was ruled out, among other reasons, because the permit process would have “taken years.” This is mildly ironic because the 2001 Nisqually Quake damaged the already failing structure significantly; a Seattle P-I story said: “Officials expect to decide soon whether to replace the bridge or rehabilitate it.” In 2002, the bridge received a safety rating of 4…out of 100.
Then people drove on it another eight years while officials decided to wait for someone else to pay for it.
(For perspective, the new deep-bore tunnel may carry as few as 40,000 vehicles per day, for an estimated $1.9 billion construction cost–WSDOT estimates each day 60,000 vehicles use the Viaduct to bypass Seattle, but that number will certainly fall once a tunnel toll is initiated.)
South Park has never had it easy. The first big problem after incorporation in 1902 was the lack of a good water supply (Georgetown didn’t want to let them use their water mains). Once the water came, it ended up contaminated because South Park didn’t have a sewer system. A century later, contaminated water is still an issue–the Duwamish River is fouled by everything from PCBs to petroleum, and at this point the guiding principle is simply to try not to stir anything up that’s settled to the riverbed.
That’s a South Park parable.
King County is nominally responsible for the mess, but let’s not kid ourselves. This situation–thanks to short-sightedness, incompetence, failure to coordinate–was a group effort. The rallying around funding to throw at the problem, at long last, is not a thrilling sight. The “pulling together” to wallpaper things over with taxpayer dollars does not fit the bill of a last-minute miracle.
It’s too late. The South Park of today will not be the same South Park that sees a new bridge built. And it’s unconscionable to ask South Park–with that 4-out-of-100 badge of neglect–to cheer.
Southpark has always been neglected since it is primarily low income, migratory, and industrial. The local neighborhood has done a lot lately to brighten up the place (I love the old Hat and Boots park) and some areas are slowly getting redeveloped. Closing the bridge though will certainly kill what little retail businesses there are in the area. I will try to visit the area more often so maybe they can hang on. Just another fine example of Seattle and King County politics turning a deaf ear to local businesses and communities by doing nothing or slow neglect.
Yes, South Park will lose its bridge…temporarily. But rather than dwell on who is responsible, the community can enjoy its first good taste of what it’s like to have real power. This reality will do more for the South Park community in the long run than a bridge ever will. (And yes, they will get their new bridge too.)