A Meeting at Bridge 155

Suppose you wake up one morning or come home from work, say, and find your lawn staked out almost to your front doorstep? Those orange stakes signal your life is about to change. That’s the predicament in which Kevin Olson and Vicky Olson found themselves this past week. I posted about the Olsons’ situation after a chance meeting with Kevin in the produce section of Fred Meyers (“Upgrades Planned for Tualco Valley Speedway,” 7/18) when he told me about the County’s intent to replace Bridge 155 over Riley Slough. Until last week the County’s project was just a concept on twenty-seven pages of paper with cost projections, timelines, numbers and measurements, facts themselves worthy of concern for the Olsons. But seeing those garish orange stakes, the physical manifestation of encroachment on life and property, really bring home the stark facts of the matter. I know: we’ve had stakes near and on our property, and they’re wooden slivers that fester your peace of mind.

I’m standing by the Olsons’ home on the north side of Bridge 155  on the upper Loop Road. County district five councilman and Council Chair Dave Somers has set aside time to meet with Kevin to discuss the County’s proposed bridge replacement project. Kevin has invited The Ripple to attend the meeting.

It’s an Indian summer day: blue sky, shafts of morning sunlight filter through the maple trees across the road. Except for an occasional vehicle passing by, the quiet of Riley Slough soothes. Kevin’s rustic cottage complements the pastoral setting, plank siding, unpainted, the place nearly picture puzzle perfect. Whenever Gladys and I roll by, the coziness of this little cottage nestled on the bank of Riley Slough impresses us. Primroses in the window boxes announce spring; colorful hanging baskets accent the summer; the lawns always kempt and well-tended. And so out of place now are those threatening day-glo orange stakes and surveyor’s figures splashed on the cement drive in front of the barn.

Councilman Somers, escorted by property owner Ginger Mullendore, strolls up the road to meet us...a half hour late…bad accident on Highway 2. Dave is soft-spoken, a good listener. The fact he’s not wearing a tie and arrives on foot instead of rolling up in an “XMT” County vehicle puts us at ease. Dave is here to address a constituent’s concern, to assess the issue up close and personal. The meeting, necessarily, is one-sided: Somers is here to listen, gather information, and see what he can—if anything-- do to help. Kevin has done his research, asks pertinent questions he’d like answered, issues he’d like explained. Of paramount concern is the County’s right-of-way. Kevin believes it’s twenty feet from centerline; County claims thirty feet. Dave says rights-of-way vary, from twenty to thirty feet depending on the locale. He’ll check it out and asks if the County has contacted Ginger about buying the property the project would claim (they haven’t). Next question: average daily traffic (ADT). Kevin claims the ADT figures are too high, would like to know where the counters were placed and the dates. If the bridge replacement was safety driven, The Ripple wanted to know if structure integrity was the County’s concern or was it the issue of a blind corner at the north bridge approach? (Seems a misuse of funds If the latter is the case: only one accident has occurred in the vicinity, back in 2007…and that incident south of the bridge.) Somers shared that the County is moving forward to replace its wooden bridges (#155 was built in the 1930’s). Kevin asks a funding question: to qualify for Federal funding (the current administration has allocated funds for states to repair/replace failing highway infrastructure) are there certain parameters to which states must adhere before federal funding is forthcoming? In cases involving federal funds, Somers believed states and counties had to share project costs and match funding. The price of the project? 4.4 million dollars. I tell Dave if St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City could be renovated for 3 million, it seems that Bridge 155 could be totally refurbished for far less than the 4 million price tag of a replacement—and the Olsons could keep their cottage and not have their lives turned upside down.

We pointed to the “Salmon Crossing” sign at the south end of the bridge, another point Kevin discussed with the County engineers. Their response: “Oh, we mitigate those issues all the time.” If County engineers are so adept at mitigation, we wondered, why couldn’t they “mitigate” the new bridge corridor to the east instead of the west? That way no homes or structures would be impacted by the project. Or repair the undercarriage of #155, which, by the way, engineers have determined currently can support forty tons safely. (Furthermore, The Ripple asks, if the County is so concerned about safety along the Tualco Road corridor, why don’t they “mitigate” the sharp curves at and east of Swiss Hall; both corners are debris fields because of frequent accidents on those two corners…and how about mitigating the excessive speed along the aptly named Tualco Valley Speedway?)

So for now we wait for feedback from Councilman Somers. But those stakes in Kevin’s front yard mean the bridge project is on the move; those stakes at this juncture mean the Olson family will be forced to relocate in the near future; those stakes mean adding an additional quarter mile of straightaway which will most certainly do nothing to “mitigate” speeding along that stretch of Tualco. I think about the elderly lady in Ballard who refused to sell her little house to developers…but she was dealing with the private sector, not a government agency with eminent domain their trump card. Understandably so, Kevin is mounting a petition drive to protest the project. Gladys and I most certainly will sign…but meanwhile we wait….

Gladys and I Say our Goodbyes...

The wheels of County Works grind slowly, but grind they do. One day Kevin Olson arrived home to find flagged survey stakes at the stoop of his rustic cabin on the banks of Riley Slough. Yes, it was four years ago Kevin learned that Bridge 155 over Riley Slough was scheduled to be replaced. A lot of water has passed under Bridge 155 since then. Kevin and his wife, not wanting a speedway nearly on their doorstep, moved somewhere up Woods Creek a year ago. The County has compensated owner Ginger Mullendore for the loss of her property. Then County Councilman Dave Sommers who met with Kevin, Ginger, and The Ripple (A Meeting at Bridge 155) about the project, (a meeting that accomplished nothing as far as mitigating the proposed shift west of the bridge approach), is now 5th County Executive. One of our stately Valley maple trees standing in the way of progress is now a heap of firewood rounds. In its stead a power pole now supports temporary power lines. The surveys are done, detour signage is posted and actual demolition of old Bridge 155 is scheduled to begin Monday, 4/15/2019 (tax day, note the irony?). Completion date: 1/30/2020 (wonder what Vegas odds are for that to happen?). In the interim, Valley commuters will detour via the Lower Loop Road. New scenery for that traffic, yes, but certainly an aggravation for the resident locals adjacent to the new route, especially the Werkhoven Dairy, making this coming winter one of discontent for their dairy cows. (Andy Werkhoven's sentiment: "I wish the County'd post 'local access only' signs.")

Yesterday Gladys and I pedaled out to the old bridge to say our farewells. A fleet of PUD rigs were on scene. A flagger motioned us around two bucket trucks, the work stations of both full of linemen working on the new power configuration. We stopped at the north bridge approach where I wandered among the spray painted hieroglyphics on the pavement to record the old bridge surface one last time. And for one last time Gladys and I pedaled across.

We pulled up alongside two PUD surveyors carrying their transits, levels, and grade rods. "I can't tell you how many times I've ridden across this bridge over the years," I share. One replied,"You should see what it looks like underneath--scary!" "Tell me about it," I said. "A few years back a pair of inspectors let me accompany them beneath for its biennial inspection" (Crossing over in the Valley: the Abridged Edition). At the south approach I stopped Gladys by the carcass of the newly felled maple tree and recorded the old bridge from that angle.

My photography session over, I mounted up and as we leisurely pedaled by the two surveyors, I told the one holding the grade rod," You know what was the scariest part about being under there? Seeing those trolls!" He grinned and shook his head....


"Trip, trap. Trip, trap. Trip, trap." Who's that trip trapping across my bridge!"

"Hush, you hairy headed thing. It's just the County. They've come to replace your roof."

The Ripple's Latest Scoop...

You heard it here first. Tomorrow, July 25, 2018, a Wednesday, preliminary work begins on the replacement of County Bridge #155 over Riley Slough. This project has been in the works for three years. Work was postponed because another County bridge replacement up north somewhere was deemed a priority, and because the County is fueled by our tax dollars, there just weren't sufficient funds to upgrade two bridges at once.

This morning Gladys and I stopped to take photos of the County work order and the rustic cabin that was home to the Kevin Olson family for twenty some years. As we pedaled on, I heard hammering beside the last outbuilding to the north. Standing behind his work van, a young man was pounding away on some sort of construction. The Ripple has a nose for news and I smelled some now. I asked the worker what he was cobbling together. "A temporary power pole," he replied between blows. Further queries revealed the stanchion would provide interim power for a construction company who employed him. "A crew is coming in tomorrow to demolish the house and these outbuildings," he replied. "I guess they're going to replace the old bridge. They'll need a power source while they do the work."

Call it Karma, if you believe in such a thing. Turns out the photos attached to this post will be the last ones taken of that quaint little bungalow perched on the shady north bank of Riley Slough. Tomorrow it will be hauled off in splintered shambles. From its forlorn appearance and unkempt lawn I knew it must no longer be occupied. The cabin was always neat and trim, flowers in window boxes and hanging baskets, the lawn close cropped...a sign that someone cared. Now just a few odds and ends in the carport and a faded American flag give testimony to its former residents. There's just something depressing about an abandoned home.

Three years ago this October, Kevin Olson and property owner Ginger Mullendore met with Councilman Dave Somers to discuss the fate of the bridge and its impact on her property. Kevin, tenant and current resident, who has seen the property change hands a time or two, was most concerned as the proposed bridge approach would pass only two or three feet from his doorstep. The Ripple was on hand to record the meeting (The Meeting at Bridge 155, 10/6/2015). Somers listened to their concerns but as the County's right-of-way had been breached, there was little he could do to find a solution. As part of the bridge replacement project County engineers had decided to straighten out the "dog leg" blind corner on the north bridge approach. To adjust the "kink," the County would realign the bridge approach by moving the Upper Loop to the west. The real estate required to effect the move would include part of the lawn of the old Victorian home on the south bank of Riley and nearly the entire front yard of Kevin's cabin.

The Ripple has frequently referred to the Tualco Loop as the Tualco Valley Speedway and for good reason: its many straight stretches.

I'm afraid the engineers' "safety measure" will have unintended consequences. My fear is that by straightening the stretch of road between the Upper Loop and Lower Loop intersection Valley speeders, namely motorcycles, "crotch rockets" and testosterone fueled hotrodders will have a quarter mile more in which to accelerate before they reach the next section of straight roadway stretching from the south bridge approach all the way to the Tualco Grange. The 35 mph speed limit is already a joke for the many scofflaw speedsters passing through our Valley and having nearly a half mile of straight road will serve as an invitation for them to "see what this baby will do." What has been a leisurely passageway through a scenic, pastoral Valley will now become an unregulated, unpatrolled race course, putting all who live in and commute through the Valley at risk.