Edgewater Bridge: ‘Road Closed’ really means the road is closed

Walkers and drivers seem to be having trouble understanding what “Road Closed” signs mean around a year-long construction project between Everett and Mukilteo.

The Edgewater Bridge, which is on Mukilteo Boulevard, closed just before Halloween. It is being torn down and replaced. It was built in 1946 and needs to go. The problem is the closure has cut-off the most direct route between Everett and Mukilteo and split the neighborhood in two.

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Long-time residents, like Chris Powell, said it has really impacted the community.

“It takes 30 or 40 minutes now to get to anywhere in Mukilteo,” he said. “It used to take 10 or 15 minutes.”

Powell can no longer take his favorite dog-walking route to the beach without walking through the construction zone or across the closed bridge.

But I guess Powell’s a rule-follower because City of Everett inspector Tom Gallagher told me most of the walkers are just going across the bridge anyway, even though it’s closed.

“We’ve chased them off the bridge while they’re out there walking their kids,” Gallagher said.

Just last week, a group of walkers asked the construction crew to move the massive crane on the west side of the bridge. And drivers are just as bad.

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“We call them non-believers,” Gallagher joked. “They’ve gone by five ‘Road Closed’ signs, and I mean there’s only two words on those signs: Road Closed. They even go by one that says ‘Danger, Bridge Out.'”

I watched as driver after driver zipped right past those signs and up the workers, cutting the concrete guard rails away. It’s like the closure doesn’t exist.

“We had this delivery truck driver pull up, and the guys came out with a big screen TV and they’re heading for the bridge,” Gallagher said. “We told them to leave, but they said, ‘They’re other people out there.'”

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It’s particularly bad on the weekends when there isn’t as much activity on the bridge. People keep trying to cross. Workers are about to start cutting four-foot-wide holes in the bridge deck to drive new piles in the ground below. Everett’s Tom Hood said they don’t want anyone getting hurt.

“It’s not safe for the public to be here,” Hood said. “It can create an unsafe work zone for these workers who are just trying to get their job done.”

It’s 92 feet down to the bottom of the ravine, not a spot you want to end up and not an easy spot for a rescue, if you survive the fall. Hood is hoping people get the message and just deal with the inconvenience.

“When we get the second crane out here on the Everett side, that will be a very visible barrier for people who have already passed the first four ‘Road Closed’ signs to see that there is no way they are getting across this bridge.”

The bridge probably won’t come down for several months as the contractor builds the new span from underneath, but just because it’s there doesn’t mean you can cross it.  The road is closed, and it will be closed until at least next November.

Chris Sullivan covers transportation for KIRO Newsradio. Check out more of Chris’ Chokepoints.

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