To those interested in the South Park Bridge:
You are receiving this because you have contacted me at some point about the South Park Bridge. As you know by now, this historic bridge is slated to close on June 30th because it no longer is safe, and there is currently no source of funding to build a replacement bridge. Like you, I am very unhappy about this. The loss of our bridge is a blow to South Park, and I feel it as much as each of you. I love the South Park community, the businesses, the people, and the vibrancy, and this important bridge crossing the Duwamish is part of that vibrancy. I drove past this bridge every single day when I was courting my wife, Gabriela. Sundays I am often at Jalisco’s eating dinner with my in-laws. I am on the South Park email list, so I know every time there is a house broken into, a puppy lost, or a cool garage sale. When I go to Duwamish Alive, ECOSS, or attend the Fiestas Patrias parade, members of the community remind me about the need for the new bridge. You have done an amazing job advocating for our bridge. I hear your frustration, and I share it.
As someone committed to public service, there are few things that cause me as much personal disappointment as when our government is not working as it should, as in this case. The bridge is the responsibility of King County, but part of the problem is that the $130 million required for replacement is a huge amount of money for any level of government.
Here at the state level, Bob Hasegawa, other legislators, and I have worked on legislative solutions to this problem for years. In 2008, Bob and I sponsored HB 2969, which would require local bridge owners (King County in this case) to “maintain, replace or appropriate funds for bridges deemed to be especially deficient.” We also sponsored legislation (HB 2529) to designate the South Park Bridge as a “Highway of State Significance” which if passed could have garnered state funds. We advocated successfully for the South Park Bridge to be part of Proposition 1, which unfortunately was not passed by the voters. If it had, the bridge would have been funded. In 2009 with closure looming, we pushed that the South Park Bridge be added to the state transportation request list for federal stimulus funding, but it was not added because it was on the Puget Sound Regional Council list. We were hopeful at this point, but once again it was not ultimately chosen by the PSRC for funding. Since my election, and for six years on the transportation committee, I encouraged funding for the bridge at every step, but chances of success were very limited because ultimately the state does not have fiscal responsibility for the bridge, King County does. To give you some perspective, the state is responsible for 3600 bridges, many of which are in need of repair. There is not anywhere near enough money for the bridges we are obligated to maintain as it is.
I am reluctant to point fingers at other branches of government, but the City of Seattle is also partly responsible for the situation. Despite the bridge being smack dab in the middle of south Seattle, the city also has consistently refused to help with the annexation of the “sliver by the river” or in fixing the bridge, until funding was appropriated by the county.
The State of Washington stepped up to the challenge of our infrastructure transportation needs by raising the gas tax twice in order to pay for our vital safety improvements. It has been suggested that other projects were funded by the state, and that we could have funded the South Park Bridge. You should know that money set for a Viaduct or 520 bridge replacement would not and could not be diverted into solving our South Park Bridge problem: if there had been money available from those two vital projects of statewide significance, they would have been put into other state projects. I also advocated with the freight mobility community for years, but received no support, as they believed their freight mobility would not be impacted by the estimated 24,000 cars that would be diverted to the First Avenue Bridge.
It is personally very disappointing to me that despite years of advocacy the responsibility comes down to who owns the bridge. I encourage Dow Constantine, King County Executive, Jan Drago, our interim county representative in District 8, and Joe McDermott, who hopes to represent us after November, to advocate strongly for the $130 million federal transportation TIGER grant needed to fix the bridge. I know that many of you have contacted them as well, and I encourage you to continue to voice your concerns and ideas about the South Park Bridge. More information from King County, including details of the South Park Bridge final closure plan is posted on this King County site: http://www.kingcounty.gov/transportation/SouthParkBridge.aspx
You have my continued support in this effort.
Sincerely,
Zack Hudgins
State Rep. Zack Hudgins, 11th District
