Last month the city of Seattle announced that it would move forward with replacing the seismically weakened Magnolia Bridge with an alternative currently referred to as "Alternative A." The structure, originally called the Garfield Street Bridge, was built in 1930 and spans two-thirds of a mile. It connects Magnolia with the rest of Seattle, and provides an essential connection to the Port of Seattle and many manufacturing and marine industries.
Unfortunately, the bridge was seriously damaged during the 2001 Nisqually earthquake.
Because the Magnolia Bridge plays such a critical role in connecting neighborhoods and industry, the Seattle Department of Transportation considered several replacement options. The city has also enlisted citizens in the Magnolia and Queen Anne communities to help with narrowing replacement options down from 25 to just one preferred alternative.
Our recent announcement reflects three years of negotiating with representatives from the Magnolia and Queen Anne communities, the Port of Seattle, freight interests and others. The department specifically created a citizens organization, the Design Advisory Group (DAG), so we could hear directly from community members.
The group, which meets on a monthly basis, has representatives from the Magnolia Chamber of Commerce, Magnolia Community Club, Magnolia/Queen Anne District Council, Port of Seattle, Queen Anne Chamber of Commerce, Queen Anne Community Council, Bicycle Alliance, Seattle Design Commission, Seattle Marine Business Coalition, Ballard Industrial North Manufacturing and Industry Council, Uptown Alliance and Friends of Queen Anne.
The Seattle Department of Transportation proudly submitted Alternative A as the preferred alternative not only because it was the least expensive replacement option, but also because it was supported by the DAG, as well as by local residents taking part in no fewer than six public meetings over the past three years.
Now that we have made this decision jointly with the public, we will focus our discussion on how we will construct the Magnolia Bridge replacement. While some have concluded that the city of Seattle has already finalized a construction approach, nothing is further from the truth. The fact is we are just beginning to review our options for how to build and how to accommodate traffic during construction.
All major transportation projects involve tradeoffs. Constructing a new Magnolia Bridge will take three years. Under any of the alternatives, the work would have required closing the existing bridge for at least six to 12 months. Because of the bridge closure, we need to develop a detour plan to temporarily accommodate traffic currently traveling over the bridge.
As we proceed with construction plans, we are committed to working with the community to minimize impacts on area residents and businesses. We look forward to hearing your thoughts on the matter.
Grace Crunican is the director of the Seattle Department of Transportation.[[In-content Ad]]
