Paula Hammond, the new state Secretary of Transportation, told Tacoma City Council members Tuesday that the city’s iconic Murray Morgan Bridge is closed indefinitely to all vehicles, including emergency vehicles, because of “life safety” concerns.
Recent inspections revealed the steel in the 94-year-old bridge is corroded and crumbling to an “unbelievable” extent, Hammond said. It’s not clear when or even if the bridge would be reopened. Pedestrians and bicyclists can continue to use the bridge for now.
Hammond said she realizes how important the span is to the city both for its history and for economic development. She said she wants to work with city officials on how to proceed, but there’s no plan or enough money in place to rehabilitate it.
The news prompted council members to bombard Hammond with a series of angry questions.
Councilman Tom Stenger led off by asking about the state’s failure to maintain the bridge, and about agreements from the 1990s in which the state promised to repair the bridge before giving it back to the city.
“Why have you allowed it to be demolished by neglect?” Stenger asked. Later, he suggested the city might sue the state for not honoring its agreement.
Mayor Bill Baarsma and Councilman Mike Lonergan said they were concerned about public safety, noting that the bridge provides a critical link between downtown and the Tideflats. Baarsma raised the specter of an industrial accident akin to the recent Atlas foundry explosion.
Lonergan said that it wouldn’t take “Simpson Tacoma blowing up. It could be someone having a heart attack and dying!”
Baarsma and Lonergan both pressed Hammond to develop an emergency response plan. “You’re not telling me you’ve come here without a life safety plan?” Lonergan said. “Please tell me you’re not doing that.”
City Manager Eric Anderson said the city has a plan for how to deal with the bridge’s closure, but response times will be longer.
CORROSION IS ‘DEVASTATING’
Hammond, who was appointed transportation secretary Oct. 15, said she couldn’t speak to everything that has happened regarding the bridge during the last 17 years. She directed Kevin Dayton, the agency’s regional administrator, to work with city officials over the next two days on an emergency response plan. She said she’s willing to talk with experts about the possibility of rehabilitating the bridge, though she also said it’s hard to see how it could be fixed given the extent of damage.
The corrosion on the bridge is “devastating,” Dayton said. He described “extensive section loss,” and the manner in which pieces of the bridge are riveted together. Some rivets could be hit with a hammer and the head would collapse, he said. Some damaged sections of the bridge could fail and cause the entire structure to fail, Dayton said.
Council members appeared unified in blaming state officials. But they signaled some disagreements, too. Councilman Rick Talbert said he’s more interested in figuring out how to keep the 11th Street corridor open than in fighting with the state. Councilwoman Julie Anderson said, “We are where we are, but how we got here really is important.”
Also, Anderson said she’s not prepared to give up on the idea of saving the bridge.
But Councilwoman Connie Ladenburg said that while everyone would like to see the bridge saved, she doesn’t want it to come at the detriment of some other regional transportation project. “We do need to hash this out,” she said.
RESTORATION AT LEAST $77 MILLION
The bridge opened to traffic in 1913. It was part of Highway 509 until 1997, when the state opened the new cable-stay bridge. In 2002, state officials reduced the bridge from four lanes to two lanes and imposed a 10-ton weight limit, except for emergency vehicles.
State officials had planned to demolish the bridge, but a grassroots group rallied to save it.
A little more than $25 million has been set aside, but it doesn’t come close to covering the cost of repairing or rehabilitating it. A 2004 consultant’s report estimated a full restoration would cost $77 million.
Recently, city and state officials talked about the possibility of repairing the bridge enough to keep it open for pedestrians and emergency vehicles only.
Dawn Lucien, a bridge advocate, said Tuesday’s announcement was “very bad news.” But she noted that Hammond is willing to sit down and talk with city officials, and Lucien thinks Tacoma has the ear of Gov. Chris Gregoire on the issue. “And the City Council members are very, very concerned about this,” she said. “That’s good news.”
MORGAN BRIDGE FACTS
Built: 1913, rebuilt 1957
Type: Steel-truss
Length: 1,748 feet
Daily vehicles: 1,300
The name: Formerly known as the 11th Street Bridge, it was renamed in 1997 for historian Murray Morgan, who worked as a bridge tender.
Distinction: Listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Dubious distinction: Listed No. 1 among 20 Pierce County bridges found to be “structurally deficient.”
