TV spotlight for South Park Bridge
The South Park Bridge (seen in our February 2009 video from a Duwamish boat tour) made a cameo appearance during a CBS network news story last night; see it here. Accompanying news release from the county today:
Constantine: National news report spotlights need for South Park Bridge replacement
“Last night the CBS Evening News made a national example of the crumbling South Park Bridge, which, as their story correctly pointed out, is so dilapidated that it may have to be shut down next year. When that happens, we will lose a busy crossing point over the Duwamish River that carries 20,000 vehicles a day, and the too often neglected South Park neighborhood near Boeing Field will suffer further as a result.
“It should never have gotten to this point. Over the past few years, I have worked to identify a funding source for the replacement of this crumbling, unsafe public structure. I successfully lobbied to get this project included in the 2007 Roads and Transit ballot issue, and like the reporter who covered this story, I felt that the South Park Bridge was an excellent candidate for federal stimulus funds. I made sure to get this bridge at the top of King County’s stimulus funding list, and I traveled to Washington, D.C. in December and January to meet with our state’s delegation to spotlight the bridge’s replacement as a worthy stimulus project.
“I will continue to fight for funding to replace this key piece of King County infrastructure. This project would create many new construction jobs and would ensure a brighter future for working-class neighborhoods. Given the possibility of further stimulus spending in the future, I will continue reaching out to our delegation in Washington, D.C. to get this project completed.”
Tags: south park bridge
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April 7th, 2009 at 11:20 am
The link doesn’t work. I think you’re missing part of the “http://”.
Thanks for covering this. I thought they had a plan to rebuild the bridge. I got something in the mail for an open house.
Closing this bridge would be a killer to the businesses in south park which thrive off of the East Marginal way lunch crew. South Park has been improving big time, to kill it off like this is such a shame.
April 7th, 2009 at 11:32 am
Thanks, fixed. No, the whole thing is kind of a big mess arguing over whose responsibility it is, where the money will come from … reminiscent of The Viaduct, although to listen to some, this one may actually have to close long before there’s a solution!
April 8th, 2009 at 6:35 am
For those of us in White Center, the bridge is a big deal, too. We use the bridge frequently, and South Park feels like an extension of our neighborhood. The city council is also talking library reduction and/or closure in South Park, which would be a horrendous thing if it occurs. Maybe Microsoft could pay for that, too.
April 8th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
They built that library as a gesture of commitment to the neighborhood. Its really sad how Seattle deals with its fringe communities.
April 8th, 2009 at 3:34 pm
That’s horrible news about the possible closure of the S. Park Library as it has been really important to the community even though it has only been open less than 3 years. I was just reading on the Seattle Public Libraries site
http://www.spl.org/default.asp?pageID=branch_open_about&branchID=25
and it says there that the people in S. Park started advocating in 1908 for a branch library and it took them 98 years to get one.