I read with interest the article concerning the use of Airport Way during the repair of I-5 ("Unavoidable I-5 traffic quagmire to hit South End this summer," Feb. 28).
A note: All of Airport Way South and associated bridgework is built on fill.
Two points come to mind.
First, the bridge over the railroad tracks from Lucile to Summerville may only take vehicles restricted in its use to vehicles over 10K (5 tons) in the curb lanes only. The proposed use during the work on I-5 would put Metro busses (over 10K) over this bridge along with heavy trucks. Who is going to supervise the one in each direction rule?
Second, the walls of the old Rainier Brewery, which are mostly brick, have been stabilized but remain at risk to heavy pounding and vibration.
We cannot use public money to support these walls, which are private property, because of the closeness of the walls to the roadway, a wall collapse would probably block all or part of the roadway.
I had understood that SPU in its proposed intermodal transfer sites at Hudson and at Corgiate, was reluctant to run garbage trucks on this roadway because of the possibility that the vibrations from heavy truck pounding might well cause a brewery wall collapse.
At what point does WSDOT become liable for damage caused by the gross rerouting of such heavily weighted traffic to such a risky roadway?
Bill Mallow
Beacon Hill
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