Should the City of Seattle repair or replace the West Seattle Bridge. Take the survey.
Photo by Patrick Robinson
District 1 City Councilmember Lisa Herbold shares the pros and cons of repair and/or replacement options for the ailing West Seattle Bridge. She urges people to take the survey she's sponsoring on those options.
Seattle will soon decide whether to repair or replace the West Seattle Bridge. The West Seattle Bridge Community Task Force, the Seattle Department of Transportation, and SDOT's Technical Advisory Panel (TAP) of engineering experts are charged with advising the Mayor - who will ultimately make this critical decision. I’m writing to request your participation in a survey for District 1 constituents about this decision.
In part because of uncertainty about the life of a repair, the efforts to date have focused upon whether to proceed with a repair or whether to move directly to replace the bridge. To inform the decision, SDOT evaluated three conceptual options for a replacement. If a replacement is chosen, a “Type, Size and Location” study would be needed to decide which replacement option to pursue.
The TAP has found “all alternatives are technically feasible from an engineering standpoint.”
According to SDOT, Repair has the following pros and cons:
- Lower costs now, but higher annual maintenance costs
- Quicker to get traffic back on bridge; but bridge will have to close again
- Lower safety/seismic scores
- Higher scores for positive impacts on equity, business, workforce, and mobility
- Success of repair depends on response to stabilization/unknown life of repair
According to SDOT, Replacement has the following pros and cons:
- Higher cost to build, but lower annual maintenance costs
- Longer to get traffic back on bridge; but bridge won't need to close again
- Higher safety/seismic scores
- Higher future multi-modal compatibility scores
- Success doesn't depend on response to stabilization/more certainty re: life of repair
Here are links to the slides from last Wednesday’s West Seattle Bridge Community Task Force meeting with SDOT’s summary information for Repair and Replace. Capital costs and maintenance/operations are listed by dollar signs, from 1 to 5.
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