Drawbridge dispute: Why do boats have priority over cars?

The Washington State Department of Transportation was warning of the potential traffic woes surrounding Thursday’s Seahawks season opener all week, yet somehow during the supposed traffi-pocalypse, the decision was made to close the 520 bridge multiple times for boat traffic.

Just prior to the first closure that coincided with the travel window WSDOT had warned about, it defended the closure, saying it’s a federal mandate.

“We’re required to open the bridges during those hours,” said Mike Allende, spokesperson with the WSDOT. “It’s a Coast Guard regulation and a federal mandate that we open the bridge. The only times that we are not required to do so is between 6:30 and 10:30 in the morning and 3 to 7 p.m. in the afternoon because those are normal peak hours.”

But for a Dori Monson Show listener caught up in one of the closures, this explanation just didn’t seem to justify one boat having priority over hundreds of drivers.

“At 7:10 p.m., they opened the bridge on a major freeway route in a major city for one small 18 foot sailboat. Hundreds of cars stopped for one small boat and we are supposed to think this is just fine and acceptable,” wrote listener William. “Add into that the DOT spokesperson on the KIRO Morning News today claiming DOT’s hands are tied due to federal rules, and we have a classic case of priorities all wrong.”

Monson reached out to WSDOT Maintenance Operations Manager Dave McCormick, who said they do try to eliminate bridge openings during major events.

“Anytime we have major events going on in the area, we put a list of those together. We put a request over to the Coast Guard that says, hey there’s a major event going on, we would like to have the right to keep the bridge closed during this specific period of time just before the events. Then the Coast Guard has to balance the needs of the boater’s against the need of the highway users.”

But considering it’s often a case of many, many drivers’ needs versus the needs of one or a couple boaters, Monson asked how drivers don’t take precedence in that contest every time.

McCormick again referred to the Coast Guard, but said he thinks boaters get priority because they were there first.

“The navigation channel there, historically, has had the right of way for transportation on the lake, so that is what they have to balance. They have to balance that inherent right for the boater to use the lake against the bridge,” said McCormick. “They’ve allowed us, basically through an exception, to have the bridge across the lake to cut off the boating channel.”

Monson points out the bridge has been there for 50 years, and he doubts any of these boaters predate the bridge. In this day and age, he wonders whether boaters should still get priority.

“Do you think that rule makes sense in 2014?” Monson asked.

“I think there has to be a rule,” said McCormick. “There has to be something that sets out who has priority, and you would have to talk to the people who make the rules to see if they want to change those.”

Monson thinks the WSDOT needs to go to bat against whoever it must to give car traffic the priority over boats.

“Shouldn’t the DOT be advocating for the people who pay their salaries? Their salaries come from gas taxes, motor vehicle excise taxes, people who drive cars, and they open and close the bridge three times on as busy a traffic day as we had yesterday,” said Monson. “It’s frustrating.”