Senator Cantwell, Seattle Mayor Durkan, Port of Seattle Commission President Gregoire Announce Start of Long-Awaited Lander Street Bridge Project
Bridge construction on this corridor critical to freight, SODO underway
Seattle, WA – Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) joined Seattle Mayor Jenny A. Durkan and Port of Seattle Commission President Courtney Gregoire to celebrate the start of construction of the Lander Street Bridge Project. The Lander Street Bridge will provide much-needed traffic relief and improve safety for commuters and freight operations on South Lander Street between 1st Avenue South and 4th Avenue South. South Lander Street is in the state’s largest and densest manufacturing and industrial area. The street now closes for over 4.5 hours each day for train crossings. This leads to travel delays, lost business revenue, increased idling and carbon dioxide emissions, and safety risks. The street currently serves 13,000 vehicles, 1,400 pedestrians, and 100 bicycle riders daily.
“This vital project will increase safety, reduce congestion, and help move Washington state products around the globe,” said Senator Cantwell. “By creating an overpass on Lander Street, commuters will have easier access to the SODO area, local businesses will be able to keep their delivery schedules and have easier access to their customers, and trucks moving between I-5 and the waterfront will see travel times reduced, ensuring that freight is able to move quickly to and from the Port of Seattle.”
“This is a prime example of the progress we can make when leaders at the federal, state, and city level work together to make smart investments in transportation infrastructure,” said Mayor Durkan. “I want to acknowledge and thank Senator Cantwell and Port Commission President Gregoire for their leadership in getting this done. We made this investment in our future because South Lander Street is an essential east-west connection in SODO, and this bridge will ease traffic on this critical freight corridor in our industrial lands and make it safer for people walking, biking, and driving.”
“The Lander Street Bridge project represents an important partnership between the Port of Seattle, the City of Seattle, and our federal government through the efforts of Senator Cantwell,” said Port of Seattle Commission President Courtney Gregoire. “The new overpass will improve an important transportation link in SODO for our working waterfront.”
Major funding for this $102 million project was provided through a grant from Senator Cantwell’s federal Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) program. Cantwell created the INFRA program (formerly known as FASTLANE) to provide funding for projects of national or regional significance that increase safety and reduce congestion, including railway, seaport, and highway projects. The final source of funding for this project was secured last summer through a memorandum of understanding between the City and the Port of Seattle as part of the Safe and Swift Corridor Program.
The variety of additional funding sources speaks to the shared priority of Lander Street safety and mobility improvements, with contributions from the City of Seattle’s 2016 budget appropriation and Move Seattle Levy, the National Highway Freight Program, Freight Mobility Strategic Investment Board, Puget Sound Regional Council Surface Transportation Program, Transportation Improvement Board, Connecting Washington, and BNSF Railway.
The full closure of South Lander Street between 1st and 3rd Avenues began May 22 and will remain closed through early 2020. Find out more about the project here.
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