The summer construction season for the King County Road Services Division kicked off this month with a $21.5 million project to replace the 93-year-old Mount Si bridge. It is one of several projects to improve the transportation network throughout unincorporated King County.

In the past decade, the county has placed primary importance on preserving infrastructure and supporting traffic and pedestrian safety to keep the road network safe and useable. The collection of projects the division will work on in 2007 centers on replacing aging infrastructure and upgrading safety for motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians.

One long-term need has been replacing the Mount Si bridge over the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie River.

“The county has been patching and repairing the Mount Si bridge for more than 90 years,” said division director Linda Dougherty. “Not only is the bridge old, but it is also not original to its location on Mount Si Road near North Bend. The narrow, rusting bridge was built over the White River near Buckley and moved to North Bend in the 1950s. Today, it requires a great deal of ongoing maintenance and special inspections to keep it open and safe for public use – plus, it does not meet modern standards.”

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