Hood Canal bridge to receive $51M for repairs

Federal delegation secures funding via infrastructure program

By Olympic Peninsula News Group • October 18, 2024 1:30 am

The state Department of Transportation will receive more than $51 million in federal funds to repair the Hood Canal Bridge.

The funding — announced Wednesday by U.S. Sens. Maria Cantwell, D-Edmonds, Patty Murray, D-Seattle, and U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor — comes from the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) Grant Program, which provides grants to nationally and regionally significant transportation projects to improve the country’s freight network.

“Thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Hood Canal Bridge will receive the repairs it needs to continue providing a vital connection between Kitsap, Jefferson, and Clallam counties, with more than 30,000 crossings per day,” Cantwell said in a statement. “Without this bridge, drivers would need to take a 100-mile detour around Puget Sound. And if the bridge’s retractable span were to fail, submarines and other vessels would be cut off from Naval Base Kitsap – Bangor.

“This bridge is critical to the quality of life for residents and our national security.”

Murray said the bridge is a “critical connection” for people and businesses on the Olympic and Kitsap peninsulas.

“This is a piece of infrastructure that must remain safe and reliable so people can get to where they need to go — whether that’s work, a doctor’s appointment, or anything else,” Murray said. “With thousands of travelers relying on this bridge just about every day, I’m proud to have worked together with Sen. Cantwell and Rep. Kilmer to ensure we bring these federal dollars home to replace outdated portions of this bridge.”

The total federal funds are $51,125,917, according to a press release.

“This federal funding is a major step toward improving the safety and reliability of the bridge, helping ensure that it will remain open, accessible and resilient for years to come,” Kilmer said. “And with federal support, it means this project can move forward without the costs falling solely on the backs of taxpayers in our state. That’s a win-win.”

The project will replace more than 3,400 linear feet of the western half of the bridge, including the replacement of 55 reinforced concrete crossbeams and 216 prestressed concrete girder lines and the placement of nearly 4,800 cubic yards of concrete.

Preliminary design work is scheduled to begin in November 2025, with completion scheduled for June 2027. The project’s total budget is $85.2 million.

As the longest floating bridge in the world over saltwater, the Hood Canal Bridge sits in a harsh marine environment that’s deteriorated its condition over the past 40 years.

Currently, vehicles that can cross the bridge are weight-restricted at 17,000 pounds per axle or less, and overweight vehicles are forced to drive nearly 100 miles around Puget Sound.

If the bridge’s condition goes unaddressed, further deterioration and restrictions would have severe impacts on commerce and the livelihood of those who depend on the bridge every day, according to the press release.

The bridge also crosses a channel used by U.S. Navy submarines to reach the Pacific Ocean from Naval Base Kitsap -Bangor. Should the bridge’s retractable span become unusable, those vessels would be cut off from the base.

Cantwell authored the INFRA Grant Program in the FAST Act of 2015 to provide grants to nationally and regionally significant freight and highway projects. It was the first discretionary grant program to focus on improving the multimodal freight network and addressing freight bottlenecks.

In 2022, as chair of the Senate committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, Cantwell helped secure $8 billion over five years for the INFRA Grant Program as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, a 78 percent increase in funding.

This past August, Cantwell wrote a letter to Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in support of the Hood Canal Bridge project’s INFRA grant application.

Washington state has received 11 INFRA Grants for a total of $532,300,108 since the start of the program, according to the press release.

Murray, as a senior appropriator and then Assistant Majority Leader, helped secure $3.2 billion for the INFRA grant program in advance appropriations in addition to the $4.8 billion funded through the Highway Trust Fund when she helped pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, for a total of $8 billion over five years.