Politics & Government

Puyallup Bridge May Find New Home Over White River

The Puyallup River Bridge is slated to be replaced in 2015. Local officials hope to repurpose the old one into a pedestrian bridge over the White River.

The old Puyallup River Bridge, slated to be replaced in 2015, could find a new home over the White River as a pedestrian foot bridge if an agreement between various parties comes to fruition and more importantly, funding comes through.

That means that residents in both Buckley and Enumclaw who regularly make use of their respective sections of the Foothills Trail could finally cut across the river without having to get into a car or dodge traffic while walking on the shoulder of busy State Route 410.

The agreement, which is near completion between the Washington State Department of Transportation, which owns the bridge, the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers and the State Historic Preservation Office, would make the bridge available to WSDOT to give to Pierce and King counties, and the cities of Enumclaw and Buckley, to install over the White River as a pedestrian bridge only, said Tony Tipton of Pierce County Parks and Recreation Services.

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"Because of the historic designation of the steel truss bridge, WSDOT has a responsibility to seek out other uses for the bridge before its scrapped," Tipton wrote in an email Thursday.Β 

The idea has a basis on at least two engineering studies done in the last five years:

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An initial estimate for the cost of the project was about $5.5 million.

The WSDOT has committed to working with the two counties and municipalities on repurposing the bridge through the summer of 2017, he said. If at that time the necessary funding and permits to repurpose the bridge have not been secured, WSDOT would attempt to find another use for the steel truss bridge until June 2019.Β 

Right now, this White River bridge project has insufficient resources, but the parties are actively seeking funding for the next few years, primarily through grants, he said.

The WSDOT is scheduled to remove the old bridge in 2015 and will secure it while the counties and cities work to secure funding before the 2017 deadline, Tipton said.

According to a white paper jointly produced outlining the project (see attached PDF), the pedestrian bridge touches on five key areas through which to seek appropriate funding: health and safety, historical preservation, outdoor recreation, sense of community, and economic development.

"Securing funding to move forward with the proposed project will be a challenge, but we are hopeful the collective efforts of the Parties [King and Pierce counties and cities of Enumclaw and Buckley] working together will increase the chances of success," he said.


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