That is exactly what we might hear in 20 years or so. While the Mid-Columbia has a knack for getting it’s transportation projects funded eventually we may be faced with a similar dilemma as that of our friends on the west side.

The Kennewick/Pasco Blue bridge was built in 1953 and funded through a 1951 issued state wide bond for road improvements. Located about a mile upstream on the Columbia River from the then “Green Bridge” (the only crossing in the area at the time), the 2,500 foot bridge took 3 years to build and cost $6.5 million to complete.

The projected lifespan of bridges such as these is 50 to 75 years according to, regional WSDOT Project Engineer, Moe Davari, and according to Moe, the Blue Bridge is a critical economic artery for Washington State. Of the estimated 55 thousand vehicles that pass over the bridge daily at least 8 thousand are trucks. Trucks that are delivering goods from Canada, Spokane, Idaho and other regions across the Pacific Northwest.

So what happens when the Blue Bridge needs to be replaced. According to the stats given to me by Davari, it could be costly. While exact numbers are hard to nail down without an engineering study, if you were to compare costs with other bridges built in the area and take into consideration other factors it could be well over a 50 million dollars, today.

According to Moe, two spans recently constructed across the Yakima River cost roughly 22 million. The spans were 690 feet. I asked Moe what he thought the Blue Bridge would cost to replace. While he couldn’t quote a figure, as an example he suggested costs could be from $150 - $300 per square foot of deck. There are many of variables to construction of this type construction such as the terrain the span would cover, water depth and other challenges. To be the safe side I checked my numbers for deck construction at the halfway mark of $225 per square foot. Simple math on a roughly 2600 foot long by 60 foot wide deck gave me a rough 35 million deck price tag (in today dollars). I am not sure what supporting structures cost as those are probably the most variable due to other factors I mention above. But if you look at the overall cost of 6 million 50 some odd years ago, and were to just appreciate the 35M deck price from the 1950’s to 25 years from now, and you can see that this bridge conservatively would cost into the 100 plus million dollar range or more.

So when I hear initiative monger Monte Benham spout off “Benton County has its needs, too. If King County has such great needs, let King County pay for them.” I have to ask the question: What if the shoe were on the other foot? As I said before, the Mid Columbia has a knack for getting transportation projects done and all this while giving more to state transportation than we keep. But if a project like replacing the Blue Bridge came around and state wide transportation funds were no longer a reality, what would we be in for?

No one knows for sure if each county would be responsible for their own roads and infrastructure if I-912 passes. It is a possibility. Especially if we ignore the states largest source of transportation funding, King County, and their needs. In doing so, we are also cutting the hamstring on less populated counties who rely on these funds as well.

As I have noted in another post, there is perhaps some work to do at WSDOT and even Sen. Delvin might have a point when he says our transportation project costs are higher than other states. But I-912 doesn’t solve a single problem for Washington transportation. Not a single one. In fact, it will have the opposite effect and with it’s passage will take Washington State even longer to get back on the road to solving our transportation problems.