📋 Tender Overview
U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell announced that the City of Seattles project to replace the 4th Avenue Bridge over Argo Railyard has received a 2.4 million Bridge Investment Program grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation. This planning grant will help the City of Seattle determine how to minimize traffic congestion lessen supply chain delays and mitigate other impacts while the bridge is being replaced.In July the Senator wrote a letter of support for the project to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.Sen. Cantwell pushed for major increases in transportation funding under the Biden Infrastructure Law. When the BIL-funded Bridge Investment Program was announced in June Sen. Cantwell encouraged Washington state counties municipalities and tribes to apply.Other bridge projects in Seattle have benefited from Sen. Cantwells efforts. With her support and advocacy more than half of the cost of the West Seattle Bridge repair was covered by federal funds. In September it was announced that Seattles Salmon Bay Bridge will receive 25 million from the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America INFRA grant program which was created by the Senator.The 4th Avenue Bridge over Argo Railyard carries high volumes of commercial freight by truck and about 7500 daily bus riders. After identifying cracks in the bridge piers in 2017 the city closed the northbound curb lane and restricted large trucks from using the southbound curb lane to help reduce further deterioration of the piers.A seismic retrofit analysis identified replacement of the bridge built in 1933 as the best most cost-effective option.A new bridge would accommodate pedestrians bicyclists transit passenger cars and freight trucks. It would also protect efficient and cost-effective rail freight mobility for the railyard beneath the existing bridge.The Bridge Investment Program is a new program created under the Biden Infrastructure Law to fund projects aimed at reducing the overall number of bridges in poor condition or in fair condition at risk of falling into poor condition.The program is funded in two buckets 27.5 billion in formula funding over five years and 12.5 billion in competitive funding over five years. Washington state will receive 653.3 million over five years in formula funding from this program. This grant comes from the first round of competitive funding for planning grants which comprises just 18.3 million of the 2.4 billion in competitive funding available for the Bridge Investment Program this year.
