Good news Tri-City motorists: Nearly yearlong blue bridge painting project is almost done
Good news for Tri-City motorists sick of lane closures, backed up traffic and the dreaded zipper merge on the blue bridge.
The end is in sight.
The Washington Department of Transportation reports a year-long project to repaint the entire bridge will wrap in mid-January.
The Tri-Cities’ busiest Columbia River span is undergoing a $33.5 million paint job. Work began in February.
The four-lane blue bridge, also known as Pioneer Memorial Bridge, carries Highway 395 over the river, linking Pasco and Kennewick. During normal periods, about 66,000 vehicles travel the 2,500-foot span per day.
Bridges back up
For nearly nine months, drivers have either endured backups or used neighboring bridges to go about their business.
The Glenn Lee-Sam Volpentest (aka Interstate 182) bridges between Pasco and Richland and the Ed Hendler Bridge (aka cable) between Kennewick and Pasco, have experienced unusually congested traffic as motorists seek alternative routes to avoid the work zone.
Southern Road and Bridge of Florida is the contractor. It completed work on the bridge’s underside and is painting the upper trusses — the visible arched section that towers over the roadway, said Scott Klepach, WSDOT spokesman.
Painting will be complete by late November. Southern will begin removing the containment system it uses to keep blasting material and old paint out of the river. The ongoing work will require lane closures, so traffic will be affected until the project wraps in January.
A vacuum system collects debris and diverts it to a machine, where it is separated. The old paint was disposed of safely and the blasting materials reused. The equipment is positioned under the bridge on the Pasco shoreline.
The project included removing old paint, checking the structure for rust, and repainting it with five coats of “Air Force Blue,” retaining the color that gave rise to its name.
Don’t look up
A supervisor with Southern Road and Bridge asked the Herald to advise motorists to avoid the temptation to observe painting crews working above the roadway.
Workers have observed many fender benders caused by distracted drivers, he said.
The blue bridge is the oldest of the three Columbia River bridges. It was dedicated on July 30, 1954. The trusses were repainted in 1995, but not the top and bottom of the bridge.
The cable bridge opened in 1978 and the Glen Lee-Sam Volpentest bridges opened in 1984 and 1986.
The new paint job comes courtesy the Federal High Administration’s National Highway Performance Program. Repainting the blue bridge was WSDOT’s largest Tri-Cities project in 2024.
This story was originally published October 30, 2024 at 2:23 PM.