Rule closes Hood Canal Bridge for summer rush-hour

Published 12:01 am Friday, May 11, 2012

HOOD CANAL BRIDGE — The Coast Guard has signed a final rule that forbids summer rush-hour Hood Canal Bridge drawbridge openings for nonmilitary vessels.

The rule is intended to stop waits of up to 45 minutes for vehicles crossing the bridge.

The rule prohibits drawbridge openings for pleasure crafts from 3 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. every day between May 22 and Sept. 30.

Commercial tug and tow vessels and Navy ships would be allowed to halt traffic so the drawbridge can be raised to allow passage.

“This modification would relieve heavy afternoon rush-hour road traffic on state Highways 3 and 104,” said Cmdr. Daryl Peloquin, 13th Coast Guard District waterways manager.

The rule — which was signed by the office of Rear Adm. Keith Taylor, 13th District commander — is expected to be published in the Federal Register soon.

Drawbridge deviations are under district authority, Peloquin said Thursday.

“We wanted to get the word out to everyone,” he said.

“It will go into effect on May 22.”

The rule will be observed annually.

The peak-traffic closure of the drawbridge was tested last year.

Bridge openings during rush-hour were banned in the summer of 2011, and public comments were solicited.

The public comment period closed in April.

Most comments were favorable, said Randall Overton, 13th Coast Guard District bridge administrator, earlier this year.

Fixed sections

Vessels that don’t require a bridge opening may continue to sail under the fixed sections of the bridge during this closure period.

Most pleasure craft do not require a drawbridge opening, since the bridge accommodates boats that can fit between a 50-foot-high and 230-foot-wide clearance, Overton has said.

Under existing rules, any craft can approach the bridge and request that the drawbridge be opened.

Opening the drawbridge is at the discretion of bridge personnel.

The idea for the closure was suggested by then-state Sen. Phil Rockefeller and Rep. Christine Rolfes, who is now a senator. Both were Democrats from Bainbridge Island.

The move also was supported by state Reps. Kevin Van De Wege and Steve Tharinger, both Sequim Democrats, as well as state Sen. Jim Hargrove, D-Hoquiam — all of the 24th District, which includes the North Olympic Peninsula.

Bridge openings

In 2010, when the rule was not in place, the bridge opened 29 times in June, 16 for recreational boats, 12 for Navy vessels and one for a test, according to state Department of Transportation spokeswoman Lisa Copeland.

It opened 48 times in July — 22 for pleasure craft, 19 for Navy vessels, two for commercial boats and five for tests.

In 2011 when the test was in effect, the bridge opened 12 times during the summer period during peak houra, all for Navy vessels, with four requests by pleasure boats to open the bridge denied passage.

Information about the signing of the rule has been published in the 13th Coast Guard District’s Local Notice to Mariners.

For more information, contact U.S. Coast Guard 13th District’s public affairs officer at 206-220-7237.