Restoration of busy Puyallup bridge means 18-month closure
Puyallup began a restoration project on the Veterans Bridge on Wednesday that will close the span for 18 months.
The Veterans Bridge, also known as the Milwaukee Bridge, crosses the Puyallup River at Milwaukee Avenue Northeast and Northeast 5th Street.
The city’s senior manager of capital improvement projects, Ted Hill, said crews will reinforce the support beams and redo the box girders.
“We want to get this bridge to last another 30 years or so,” Hill said.
The 3-foot sidewalk will be removed from the downstream side and replaced with a 6-foot sidewalk on the upstream side of the bridge.
The Veterans Bridge was built in 1962 by Pierce County before it was annexed by the City of Puyallup. The bridge logs about 10,000 vehicle trips daily, but city projections estimate that number will rise to nearly 24,000 by 2032.
Staff told the City Council in August the structural health of the bridge is about 15 out of 100. It has been deemed a “structurally deficient” bridge and does not meet operating load requirements.
“Here in Puyallup, we’re fortunate to have caught this problem before the condition of Veterans Bridge proceeded to critical or, even worse, imminent failure,” the city said in its project description.
The $17 million restoration project relies on $12 million in federal grants. Hill said the city can use all of the federal funding before relying on city money.
There were obstacles to overcome before starting construction, Hill said. Applying for grants, deciding whether to restore or replace the bridge, consulting with the Historical Preservation Committee and getting permits took more than seven years.
“I’ve never had a project with so many hurdles,” he said.
Drivers are expected to take state Route 167 to Meridian as a detour. The first week of construction has already had traffic impacts. Benston Road intersection will be accessible for most of the project.
Hill said there has been increased traffic on Meridian, a road that was already exceeding traffic capacity. Even with many working from home, the street department estimates that traffic is down only 20 percent.
While he recognizes that the current traffic congestion will cause headaches, he said there isn’t much of a choice.
“It’s either we do this now, or shut it down,” Hill said. “This is the best of the two evils.”
