(The Center Square) – Gov. Bob Ferguson announced Thursday that the White River bridge connecting Buckley and Enumclaw will reopen Friday after it closed due to severe damage nearly two months ago.
Ferguson issued an emergency proclamation on Aug. 27, nine days after an overheight truck hit the bridge. The order allowed the state to begin repairs as soon as possible by bypassing the competitive bidding process for the project. Repairs started on Sept. 13, with a goal to reopen by Halloween.
The Washington State Department of Transportation, or WSDOT, estimated last month that the bridge would reopen sometime between Oct. 31 and Nov. 15. Ferguson said there was an inspection on Wednesday, clearing the way to reopen weeks early, restoring a lifeline between the communities.
“It’ll open between 5 p.m. and midnight. That’s the window,” Ferguson told reporters during a press conference on Thursday. “We’re hoping it’s on the earlier side of 5 p.m., but it’ll be in that window.”
Enumclaw Mayor Jan Molinaro said this was a heavy lift and called the construction workers heroes.
The community has relied on an adjacent walking bridge to get back and forth between Buckley and Enumclaw for months. The drive between the two cities is less than 10 minutes long, but the detour takes about an hour by car. The walking bridge was a feasible alternative, but now it’s getting colder.
Secretary of Transportation Julie Meredith said her department is installing more warning signs around the bridge. Ferguson said the state is seeking reimbursements from the trucking company responsible and the federal government after the damage nearly turned the two communities into a ghost town.
The U.S. Small Business Administration issued a proclamation on Sept. 13, opening the doors for local businesses to apply for Economic Injury Disaster Loans up to $2 million. Several businesses have grappled with the loss of revenue as the closure essentially turned the communities into a dead-end.
“The one thing I learned,” Molinaro said, “is how closely our two communities, Buckley and Enumclaw, are economically … people could not come from across the bridge to make an appointment or shop.”
WSDOT Communications Manager RB McKeon told The Center Square that the estimated cost for the repairs totaled $4.5 million. She said the state won’t know the actual cost until all the receipts come in, but a project manager told The Center Square after the press conference that it took lots of overtime.
When asked if taxpayers will be left paying for the project, Ferguson said he didn’t want to get ahead of “the legal folks and all that,” reiterating it was an overheight truck that caused the damage. While unaware of how many local businesses had applied for the SBA loans, he encouraged owners to apply.
Hubie Yeun, owner of Hubie’s Towing out of Seattle, posted on social media almost 24 hours ahead of the press conference that WSDOT had told him it planned to open the White River bridge on Friday.
People quickly took notice and crossed their fingers, hoping this chapter would finally come to a close.
“You don’t often see such a quick turnaround and such a quick success story with government,” King County Councilmember Reagan Dunn said. “They got it done early, and that matters, and it’s huge.”
