Just south of Kent stands a troubled bridge over waters.
The nearly 3,000 vehicles per day that cross the Alvord T Bridge on 78th Avenue South over the Green River will need to find another route when King County closes the bridge in June, if not sooner.
“It’s about 98 years old and it’s worn out from the foundation to the structure,” said Rick Brater, manager of the county engineering road services division. “The bridge is designed with old riveted connections and if those fail the bridge would collapse. It’s getting to the point where it no longer can be used.”
The county plans to close and demolish the narrow bridge next summer. County officials will close it sooner if inspections show the bridge as unsafe to cross.
Kent city officials were updated about the bridge at a recent City Council Public Works Committee meeting.
“The county asked for a grant from the state Department of Transportation bridge replacement fund but with its proximity to bridges on Central Avenue and Highway 167 they decided it was not necessary to have the bridge,” said Public Works Director Tim LaPorte. “With no funds to replace it, it’s going down.”
The bridge crosses the river at 78th Avenue South. Some drivers like to use it as an alternate route when traffic is heavy on Highway 167 and serves a light industrial area. The bridge can no longer handle heavy vehicle loads and has a posted load limit.
Brater said the county tried to get state funding. A new bridge would cost about $18 million.
“In terms of needs it was low in priority because of other parallel access roads,” Brater said.
The state did give the county a $920,000 grant to demolish the bridge because it would be a big liability if the bridge stayed in place even though it was closed.
“We constantly monitor its condition,” Brater said. “If we need to close it immediately we will. We will try to keep it open until the end of June.”
The county plans to hold community meetings later this year to inform drivers about the bridge closure.
“Because there are parallel north-south roads next to it, the impact to overall transportation will not be dramatic,” Brater said.
Kent also has a waterline that stretches across the bridge and will be removed when the bridge comes down. LaPorte said other parts of the water system can replace the lost line, but in the future the city will need to put a line under the river in order to provide more water to the area if it becomes a manufacturing zone as scheduled under the city’s long-range plan.
For the city to bore a waterline under the river would cost an estimated $400,000, LaPorte said.
“But there is no expenditure now for water,” he said.
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