The federal government’s denial of King County’s application request for $99 million in stimulus funding to replace the ailing South Park Bridge Feb. 17 is now creating concerns among industrial businesses that hug the Duwamish River and depend on it, and the bridge, to transport cargo and personnel.

King County was depending on the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery, or “TIGER” grant, which may have been the last chance to replace the 80 year-old bridge before it is torn down, as soon as June.

However, there may be light at the end of the tunnel, er, bridge.

“There are some additional funding opportunities coming up,” said Linda Dougherty, King County Department of Transportation’s Road Service division director. She spoke at the Manufacturing Industrial Center/ Duwamish Transportation Management Association, or MIC/TMA Forum Tuesday, Feb. 23, at South Seattle Community College, Georgetown Campus.

Dougherty spoke to representatives of nearly 30 area businesses and several concerned South Park residents affected by the South Park Bridge’s impending demise.

City Councilmembers Richard Conlin, Tim Burgess, and Sally Bagshaw also spoke, following King County Engineer Tim Lane’s bleak PowerPoint presentation illustrating traffic gridlock over the 1st Avenue Bridge without the South Park Bridge as a relief valve during rush hours. The bridge was up for temporary repairs Wednesday, Feb. 10 through Friday, Feb.12 and so traffic got backed up on the 1st Avenue Bridge. He sees more of the same the first weekday on, when the South Park Bridge closes down.

“Every day our bridge is getting tormented,” said Lane concluded. “The wood pilings are not anchored deep enough into the river bed, and the cement is crumbling. We think it may have originally been mixed with river water.”

He said river water contains salt and should not have been used. The weight of traffic, especially trucks, shimmy the bridge like a jack hammer.

“One new funding opportunity is if there is a “Tiger Two,” Said Dougherty. “The Federal government is thinking about how to do this. They might pull from the same (TIGER) applicants, and there were 1,400, or they might modify the criteria or weight the criteria differently. By the late end of April we’ll be likely hearing from the Federal government.

“The senate passed the Jobs Bill, and while we’re not quite sure what that might mean for us on the ground here in western Washington we’re hoping for a grant opportunity,” added Dougherty. “(Building) a new bridge certainly would generate jobs. We have done this with other bridge projects before. We submit a grant proposal to have all the steel parts fabricated and assembled to the tune of about $18 million. It’s a great way to keep project moving. And you’ve got all your steel there and ready to go. The tricky part with this is before we’d order it we would want to know we had the rest of the funding assembled.

“Also, the state’s department of transportation distributes bridge replacement funds that come down from the Federal government,” she said. “But that funding pot has become less so we’re hoping for the $20 to $30 million range. I’ll be talking to them this week and will be encouraging their staff to ‘think South Park Bridge’ before they think about anything else.”

“Mobility across that bridge allows for a whole myriad of companies with different talents to pull together and allows us to be competitive internationally,” said Johnny Bianchi of B&G Machine, Inc., 6400 Corson Avenue South.

“We’re here on this (east) side of the bridge and rely on all the other shops across the bridge. We’ll get the job, then move it around to the different shops in that area. We cross the bridge daily. We’ll be at Seidelhubor (Iron & Bronze), Gear Works, Puget Sound Coatings, Machinist Inc. And when we’re all done, we’ll go to Custom Crating to help crate it up with international shipment and the stamp on it to go anywhere around the world. Seattle has developed a whole matrix of businesses that work together. We all need each other.”

Councilmembers pointed out that the South Park Bridge is a King County project, and they have their own, but each added that the city has been concerned about the bridge for a long time and wants to create a consortium and make it a priority. Conlin referred to businesses that interact along the Duwamish River as an “industrial eco-system.”

“You mentioned that the South Park Bridge does not belong to the city,” said Robin Guevarra to the Coucil. She and husband John are longtime South Park residents and members of the South Park Neighborhood Association and expressed fears of a community without a new bridge. “However, the city (property) is on one side of the bridge, and the city is on the other side of it. Your police and fire department emergency vehicles and your school busses depend on it. This is your use bridge, whether you own it or not, and jobs lost will be a loss of your revenue.”