Bridge that connects Tacoma and Fife to remain closed until 2033
The city of Tacoma now estimates that the Fishing Wars Memorial Bridge will reopen around 2033, a decade after it closed.
The Federal Highway Administration in 2023 shut down the bridge, which links Tacoma to the city of Fife, after it found too much debris and buildup to conduct an inspection. The bridge spans the Puyallup River.
The city was in the process of cleaning the bridge and securing permits to do so and planned to wrap that up in 2026 while maintaining a long-term goal of replacing the bridge.
The city has since changed plans because it discovered more extensive damage. Instead, it’s shifting gears to focus just on replacing large sections of the bridge and reopening it 10 years after it first shut down, according to Public Works deputy director Corey Newton.
“We’re all about the most efficient use of government resources and dollars,” Newton told The News Tribune.
The city also received confirmation on July 6 that it will receive $7.6 million in federal grant funding to cover the costs of the environmental analysis and final design for the replacement, City Manager Hyun Kim said at the July 7 council meeting.
Kim thanked the City Council for advocating for the funding with Tacoma’s representative in the federal government earlier this year. Mayor Anders Ibsen also thanked U.S. Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, and U.S. Reps. Emily Randall and Marilyn Strickland for helping to secure the funding.
“It gets us closer to a construction-ready project that will reconnect the Port of Tacoma, the Puyallup Tribe, the City of Fife, local businesses, and the thousands of people who rely on this corridor every day,” Ibsen said in a news release announcing the funding. “This investment will help ensure Tacoma and the South Sound remain competitive while reinforcing a supply chain that serves the entire nation.”
Darius Thompson, an assistant division manager in the city’s Public Works department, estimated that the entire project would cost about $288 million. Most of that funding would come from a “mega grant,” likely from the federal government, Newton said.
Since the beginning of President Donald Trump’s term in office, government agencies in and around Pierce County have witnessed the sudden loss of federal funding that they previously relied on. Newton said the city could face similar obstacles as it looks for federal dollars to fund the rest of the bridge-replacement project.
“That’s a realistic challenge that every jurisdiction faces,” he said. “These projects only work with state and federal dollars, and so we just [have] to rely on our partners at both our federal agencies, as well as our state agencies, that offer up grants and provide us notice of funding opportunities for us to apply for.”
