Expect to be de-lighted next time you see the new Tacoma Narrows bridge after dark.
The construction catwalks are coming down, and with them the work lights that turned a construction project into a celebration. Of the two fluorescent strands that have pleased so many viewers since 2005’s holiday season, one is gone now.
But lights, in an environmentally friendly incarnation, might deck the bridge again. Backers have won $1.5 million for them in the state budget.
Granted, not everyone wants the bridge lit. There are those who never wanted the new bridge, or the tolls and lifestyle changes it will bring. There are those who don’t want pay for lights with tax dollars.
But those who fell for the spectacular display asked for permanent illumination of the old and new Tacoma Narrows bridges. They contacted city, state and county officials. In response, the Tacoma and Gig Harbor city councils and Pierce County Council endorsed lighting the bridges, as have the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber of Commerce, the Sixth Avenue Business District and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 76.
Fans rallied behind the volunteers who founded NarrowsBridgeLights.org last December. The group, which includes lighting and solar energy experts, lobbied the state legislature for funds to illuminate both bridges, showing them off as icons. That paid off with $1.5 million for the project in the Department of Transportation budget, awaiting the governor’s signature.
That’s about one-third of the estimated cost to light both bridges. It’s also the credibility that will make raising the remainder achievable.
Bill Beecher and Desa Conniff of NarrowsBridgeLights.org are working on the next steps. They and their volunteer colleagues are building a base of resources and contacts.
When Sen. Maria Cantwell’s office got in touch with them, they gave a presentation they hope will lead to federal funding. Any of that sent our way will be collected whether we get lights on the bridge or not. Better they should come here than dribble off to, say, Oklahoma City or Las Vegas.
Conniff and the team have lined up logical local partners, including Tacoma Public Utilities.
“We have conservation programs that might apply,” said TPU spokeswoman Chris Gleason. “We’re talking about finding ways to support the project in ways that we can, but not serving a lead agency.”
Though the state Department of Transportation has the $1.5 million in its budget, the light team hopes to find a lead agency in local government. With that, luck and money, installation could start by next February.
“We are consulting with a manufacturer who has the most advanced LED system in the world,” Beecher said.
That company, Boston-based Color Kinetics, is working on three lighting configurations. Check out its work at colorkinetics.com.
The light group has been responsive to critics. They tell those worried about wasting electricity that solar power generated at the bridge will cover the $4,000 estimated annual power bill for the lights. The panels could feed a surplus into the grid. Any money they make could go to maintenance costs, or to retire the construction debt.
LED systems use 10 percent of the energy required by conventional lighting, have a 20-year life span and can, with a few taps on a keyboard or a cell phone, be changed to any color the eye can see. The quality of light and the way they are installed can reduce light pollution. The bridges could inspire developers and merchants to forsake the fluorescent signs and displays that do the real damage to the darkness.
The light team also is meeting with potential corporate sponsors, including computer system manufacturers. They’d like to speak with engineers willing to donate services.
So far, the team is not taking donations from random fans. They’d have to form a nonprofit, and the complications of that just make them dizzy.
Better for them to stay focused on the bigger illuminated picture.
Kathleen Merryman: 253-597-8677
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