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Public comments
welcome
The Citizens Advisory Committee is accepting
public comments about the toll schedule for
the second Tacoma Narrows Bridge. To have
your comments be heard, visit
www.tacomanarrrowsbridge.com. |
Bridge moves toward
completion, tolls discussed
By Lori Losee
KP News
The nine-member, governor-appointed Citizens Advisory
Committee is in its final stages of making
recommendations for the tolls and/or discounts for the
second Tacoma Narrows Bridge, with a final decision to
be unveiled to commuters in the spring.
Photo by
Mindi LaRose |
The CAC
met in October and will meet again on Dec. 6 to work on
recommendations that will be forwarded to the state
transportation commission, which will make the final
toll schedule, according to WSDOT spokesperson Janet
Matkin.
“Right
now, the CAC is looking at toll rates and possible
discounts for commuters using the ‘Good To Go’ option,”
she said.
The “Good
To Go” electronic toll collection program gives
commuters the option to pay tolls on the new Tacoma
Narrows Bridge without stopping.
A total of
six toll booths will be managed by toll collectors,
including three express lanes, which will utilize
“electronic” toll collectors mounted over the highway
lanes to read the “Good To Go” sticker on vehicle
windshields and debit the user’s account each time.
“The CAC
is working on fulfilling its obligations to pay for the
bridge while addressing the community’s needs,” Matkin
said. “They just need to find the right mixture. That is
why they are looking at various scenarios and then will
evaluate what makes the most sense.”
A barge delivers
a bridge deck earlier this summer.
Photo by Mindi LaRose |
Matkin
said she expects the CAC’s recommendations be made to
the transportation commission after the first of the
year, and then a final decision on the toll schedule to
be finalized in the spring after a public hearing.
According
to Claudia Cornish, WSDOT media relations manager, the
WSDOT toll projections to pay back the bonds for the
construction of the bridge begin at $3, with an increase
of $1 each year for three to four years and peaking at
$6.
“This is
just a projection by the WSDOT,” Cornish said. “It is
fully up to the transportation commission for a final
price and incentives.”
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Bridge update
Cornish said the project was 83.29 percent
complete as of the end of October. By the
end of November, all 46 bridge decks would
have arrived to the construction site. The
last 15, which were en route from South
Korea, were expected to arrive shortly after
Thanksgiving. The remainder of the lifting
of bridge decks is expected in December.
The next step is permanent bolting and
welding of the bridge decks, which are
currently temporarily suspended.
Cornish added that due to several powerful
storms and high winds, work on the bridge
decks was suspended several times.
“I don’t know if that will cause any delays
in the opening,” she said.
The second Tacoma Narrows Bridge was
supposed to open in April 2007, but the
opening has been pushed back to early July
2007.
Cornish said the three-month delay was due
to corroded cable wire. “We had to reject
one-third of the wire we ordered from the
South Korean company,” she said.
Cornish said the reason for such a long
delay in ordering new cable wire is that it
is very specialized wire that only a few
companies worldwide fabricate. Three new
companies in South Korea, China and the
United Kingdom fabricated the new cable
wire.
After the completion of the second
suspension bridge, the first bridge that was
built in 1950 will undergo an 11-month
renovation. The entire project will be
completed by 2008. |
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