Saving the Murray Morgan Bridge ( 8. October 2007, 08:21 by Erik) ~ Bridge to the East Side
In case you’ve forgotten about it – and it has been a while since we’ve talked about it – but the TNT reminded us this weekend that efforts to save the 11th Street Bridge are far from over.
Last week at the City Council study session we heard about possible state or federal funding for the Bridge as part of the City of Tacoma’s legislative goals. And in Sunday’s Tribune was a summary of the options the City and the State are jointly considering.
There’s a possibility of turning the bridge into a pedestrian-only bridge, with allowances for emergency vehicles. If structural improvements would be too expensive, officials are considering locking the bridge in an upright position to allow boat traffic to pass underneath.
Structural tests may force the issue to a head soon.
We hope good things are in the works. We hope…
Link to the News Tribune
Poster by Beautiful Angle
Commenting Is Closed
Comments are allowed for two weeks from the posted date. If you want to make a comment or reopen this discussion, please contact us with your request. Thank you for visiting.
The events in Nalley Valley serve as a keen reminder as to why we need the Bridge. What if the same thing happened at the Prax-Air facility in the port?
The bridge not only serves emergency response to the Port but also an alternate emegency route out of downtown for some of our largest employers.
1 | Posted by Marty | Oct 8, 08:31 AM
A $77 million dollar restoration is a hefty price to pay. Restore it or let it go. No middle ground.
2 | Posted by sultans007 | Oct 8, 08:54 AM
“Pedestrian-only” is an interesting idea, but it sounds like it could be the tipping point towards a slippery slope of no roads funding, and then falling apart more, and then “why not just tear it down”…
3 | Posted by jamie from thriceallamerican | Oct 8, 09:16 AM
A $77 million dollar restoration is a hefty price to pay.
It’s a matter of priorities. That’s a drop in the bucket! How much would a new bridge cost?
4 | Posted by morgan | Oct 8, 09:21 AM
I posted this idea some time back . There are examples out there to work from that not only could make this work, but make the project another example of Tacoma breaking with convention, honoring and reusing the past in a new way.
5 | Posted by UPSpatrick | Oct 8, 09:45 AM
It’s a matter of priorities. That’s a drop in the bucket! How much would a new bridge cost?
How much did the 509 cost?
6 | Posted by sultans007 | Oct 8, 10:18 AM
My favorite thing about the bridge is the funky, albeit a little creepy, wooden stairway underneath it. I hope that’s saved if the bridge is rehabbed — the Foss needs all the pedestrian access it can get.
7 | Posted by michael g. | Oct 8, 10:41 AM
this is a typical liberal crisis and more proof about our messed up priorities. Why cant we spend that money on education!? Think about how many school super attendants we can dismiss with all that dough!
9 | Posted by RR Anderson | Oct 8, 11:17 AM
Has there been any thought into making it into a pedestrian only walkway, perhaps with stores and such?
11 | Posted by boandluke | Oct 8, 03:46 PM
This idea about locking the bridge into an upright position…
“White Trash.”
It’s like the guy whose $500.00 car broke down and he can’t afford the $2000.00 repair bill. So, he reasons that he’ll park the car in front of his house, right on the parking strip and fix it later himself. Five years later the car is rusted out, the tires are flat, vandals have broke out the windows—-but hey—-can’t get rid of it, the front grill is in perfect condition.
The Murray Morgan Bridge—Tacoma’s icon to “White Trash?”
13 | Posted by Mofo from the Hood | Oct 9, 08:59 AM
I kind of like the walkway and shops idea, though I don’t know if it’s really economically viable. Might be worth looking into.
I hope that the city keeps/restores the bridge, but have some concerns. First, I am worried that it may be used to “export” investment/development across the water to the Browns Point area. There’s already a shortage of development downtown, so spreading it out over a wider area could be disastrous.
My second concern isn’t about the bridge itself but rather everything else that the city might do. Assuming that a finite level of resources is available, what project(s) or investment(s) will get bumped off the list by the $52M that the restoration would cost (over the cost of demolition)? Might it make the difference in a streetcar proposal? Park improvements? Additional police officers?
I hope that the restoration happens, but I’d like to see the decision made on a rational economic basis. What opportunities will the city forgo in investing in the bridge?
14 | Posted by Erik S | Oct 9, 09:16 AM
As a pedestrian/emergency only bridge, could it become a funky one-story version of Pike Place? A sort of permanent Farmer’s Market with small stands for farmers, fishermen, butchers, craftspeople, street musicians, and funky art? (Side concern: Would that hurt Freighthouse Square?)
Second idea: What if it became a pedestrian/emergency only bridge with a streetcar line running across it? Would that help anything? Enough to pay for it?
I think the biggest problem in trying to make it a pedestrian-only bridge is that it doesn’t go anywhere more than a small fraction of people need to go, and that’s not going to change now that the Port has Bogarted all the land on that side of the waterway.
Pedestrian only? You can count the number of peds that would cross the MM monthly on your fingers.
Fix it. The Morgan is more of a Tacoma icon than the MoG cone. Right up there with the Java Jive.
16 | Posted by Squid | Oct 9, 11:23 AM
I think “mofo” has a point. Don’t let it just sit and rot while everyone wanders around and wonders what do next. It isn’t getting better with age! So, I guess the old adage, “move it or lose it” comes to mind.
17 | Posted by sultans007 | Oct 9, 03:16 PM
tear it down and put another access method to the Thea Foss……or, it adds more space for developement on the foss west side…..in reality, even when urban waters goes in, most people that work there won’t need to come directly over to downtown……the only one who uses that bridge are emergency vehicles and trucks going to the port and the few employees from the port that use it to go to work…….keep in mind they are finishing a brand new easy access road on the south side of the foss…….
18 | Posted by rich | Oct 9, 04:22 PM
Good point. It seems to be a sentimental favorite among some people, but is it practical?
19 | Posted by sultans007 | Oct 9, 08:44 PM
Is it practical?
Is the Eiffel Tower practical? It’s a metal structure too and for some reason the French take care of their older structures better than we Americans do.
Beyond that I think the MM has been kind of a domino planned to fall since the other waterway bridge a mile or so east was closed years ago.
Before then the route from downtown to Brown’s Point was both practical and interesting compared to the current 509 Bridge and freeway style route.
A lot of interesting structures in Tacoma have been demolished because someone did a sleight of hand trick and distracted the public attention to some future promise.
20 | Posted by Mofo from the Hood | Oct 9, 11:07 PM
Hard to compare the Eiffel Tower to the Murray Morgan, but let me try. Both are landmarks, one is meticulously maintained, one is not. One is a rallying beacon for an entire nation, one is not.
But, undaunted, I can see the bridge being a beacon for a city. If it is, then let’s save it before it is too late, if it isn’t already. I hope it isn’t, but if it is, then is it practical to save it?
21 | Posted by sultans007 | Oct 10, 09:17 AM
Is it practical to save it?
Good question, but why ask it now? Why not when it was on the drawing board?
“Here’s your new bridge ladies and gentlemen. It’s designed to last 50 years with minimal maintenance. At year 50, just bring in the wrecking ball and knock it down.
Planned obsolescence.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the Eiffel Tower. After the world’s fair runs it’s course, just bring in the wrecking ball and knock it down.”
I’m not sure if that philosophy better fits an MIT graduate, a Harvard MBA, or a labor union president.
Is it practical to save the MM? Economic realism says no. It’s an easy decision at this point since the question of structural integrity is in the forefront.
Why is it, I wonder, that any structure, bridge or you name it, shouldn’t stand for 200 years?
Evidently the decision about the MM bridge was decided years ago. And, as I mentioned before, there was a waterway bridge closure a mile or so east that severered the practical and interesting route from downtown to Brown’s Point.
I suppose at one time before the bridge was built that somebody stood about where the west end meets land, and asked the question, “What would be the most practical route from downtown to Brown’s Point?”
We’re so much smarter these days…The 509 Bridge route to Brown’s Point just couldn’t have been imagined back in the old days.
22 | Posted by Mofo from the Hood | Oct 10, 06:06 PM
Commenting is closed for this article.
