Sumner’s $30 million bridge project would improve traffic and White River’s current
Sumner city officials hope to make substantial gains in 2021 to secure the last pieces of funding for an important bridge replacement project.
While the Stewart Bridge on 8th Street East is in relatively good shape for its age, the city has determined that the bridge is a bottleneck for both traffic and a “chokepoint” for the White River.
This $30 million project looks to replace the two-lane bridge with a new four-lane 74-foot wide bridge, a sidewalk and a trail crossing.
An interlocal agreement between the county and Sumner on the bridge project was passed by the county council on Dec. 8. The agreement establishes both Pierce County and Sumner as responsible for oversight the reconstruction of Stewart Bridge.
Pierce County added the project to its six-year Transportation Improvement Program and agreed to pay a total of $4.26 million toward construction.
Pierce County Council member Pam Roach sponsored a bill to amend next year’s budget to include the $4.26 million. The bill is expected to be voted on Dec. 22.
“This is a much needed project,” Roach told The Puyallup Herald on Dec. 18.
Sumner has been collecting funds for the $30 million project over the years. The Federal Highway Administration, the Washington State Freight Mobility Strategic Investment Board, Pierce County, Auburn and Sumner have chipped in construction costs, said Michael Kosa, project manager.
Total funding remains $12 million short. For the upcoming legislative session, Sumner is asking the state to provide $7 million and intends to seek the remaining $5 million through other grants or city funding, Kosa said.
“Sumner continues to seek additional funding partners, but being over 50 percent funded is a major achievement,” he said.
There has been no traffic analysis on the bridge, but the added lanes would double the current capacity of the roadway, Kosa said.
The current width underneath the bridge between the two end walls is 232 feet, but the redesigned bridge would increase the width to 330 feet, he said. The bridge design also reduces the number of piers from two to one, further increasing the space for the current.
The Stewart Bridge is at risk of closing during floods because its deck is too close to the river. Years of sediment and debris from Mount Rainier have raised the stream bed over the past few decades, meaning the river is now closer to the bridge.
“Additionally, the new bridge will be significantly higher than the existing bridge to allow more flow underneath the bridge during flood events,” Kosa said. “These improvements will result in significantly reducing the impact of the bridge on the river below.”
Construction on the bridge is one of four projects in the $99.5 million White River project to mitigate flooding in north Sumner, and the final 900 feet of a corridor widening project has been planned since the 1990s.
“This project is the final project needed to fully complete the corridor as envisioned almost 30 years ago,” Kosa said.
The project timeline is contingent on salmon migrations, but expected to be completed by 2025.
This story was originally published December 20, 2020 at 7:00 AM.
