The bridge that provides access to Mount Rainier has been permanently closed since April due to structural concerns.
WILKESON, Wash. — The fate of a connection to a part of Mount Rainier National Park hangs in limbo as the Washington Department of Transportation (WSDOT) considers options for the state Route 165 Fairfax Bridge.
The bridge, which has been closed since April, posed safety concerns due to the structural integrity of the bridge’s steel supports. WSDOT made the decision to permanently close the bridge on April 22.
Now, WSDOT is considering two options following a planning study. One of those options keeps the bridge permanently closed.
“This fall, a WSDOT design team will start preliminary engineering and the environmental review phase on the two alternatives being advanced from the planning study,” said Cara Mitchell with WSDOT in a statement to KING 5.
She said those alternatives are replacing the bridge in a location north of where the bridge currently sits or to “maintain the permanent bridge closure.”
For the first option, Mitchell said the timeline for building a new bridge would take around six years. That timeline is from preliminary engineering to final construction. She added that WSDOT does not have construction funding allocated for the bridge.
“The build option looks at replacing the bridge within the first half mile north of the existing bridge,” Mitchell said. “Preliminary cost estimates are at $160 million. While WSDOT has allocated preservation funding from the current transportation budget to start preliminary engineering and environmental review, the agency does not have construction funding assigned to the project.”
For the second option, the Fairfax Bridge would be torn down. No alternative route would be available to that portion of Mount Rainier.
“State Route 165 would end south of Carbonado where the current closure is,” Mitchell said.
She added that an early timeline for bridge removal is 1.5 to three years. This applies to the option of building a new bridge as well.
“[The] bridge removal portion, in both the build and no-build option[s], is estimated at $15 million to $25 million,” Mitchell said.
WSDOT said the environmental review stage will provide additional opportunities for community input on both options being considered. The agency said the timeline for that stage would be “roughly two years.”
