HomeMy WebLinkAboutHood Canal Bridge Maintenance WSDOTco
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Board of County Commissioners
1820 Jefferson Street
PO Box 1220
Port Townsend, WA 98368
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Kate Dean, District I Heidi Eisenhour, District 2 Greg Brotherton, District 3
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May 22, 2023
Mr. Roark,
Congratulations on wrapping up the first phase of work on the Hood Canal Bridge early. We so appreciate
the change of schedule.
We are writing in hopes of asking for better communication as we move through the busy construction season
ahead. While we understand the need for flexibility and the change of timing sometimes required, HOW that
is communicated is of the utmost importance for those of us who rely on the bridge for emergency response,
medical appointments, making critical travel connections, supply runs, etc.
This past weekend, WSDOT's communications were inaccurate and unclear. On Saturday, May 20' at 9pm,
a notification was sent out via your app that "Hood Canal Bridge Maintenance opening in progress. Motorists
should expect delays for up 790 minutes." While some of us may understand what that means, many people
would have no idea that means that the bridge was CLOSED to cars and was expected to be until 1 Oam.
Additionally, this was one hour before the scheduled or actual closure, inciting anxiety in many people
planning to get across by the 1 Opm hour.
On Sunday morning, the good news that the bridge would be opening early to cars was sent in the form of a
Twitter post which read, "Cleared. The Hood Canal Bridget on SR 104 at MP is closed for maintenance."
Again, not at all clear to those that do not follow WSDOT jargon, and therefore unhelpful.
In order to gain clarity, one might (and at least one Commissioner did) access various WSDOT webpages,
including the general Hood Canal Bridge page, the 2023 Construction Projects and Delays page and the
Center Lock Rehabilitation page. None of those referenced any of the May closure dates any longer, which
only added to the confusion.
As you heard from East Jefferson Fire and Rescue (EJFR) Chief Black, he still had staff scheduled to be
working overtime for closures scheduled for this week that were clearly cancelled days ago but nobody in
Jefferson County seems to have been informed. There has been a flurry of communications amongst public
sector partners as we attempt to "Plan Ahead", as WSDOT has encouraged us to do, but alas we do not have
accurate information to plan with.
We strongly encourage your communications team to reconsider the language used to communicate major
traffic impacts and clearly state when the Hood Canal Bridge is OPEN to motorists and when it is not. And to
please be careful in timing of notifications that can cause undue stress and cancelled plans when sent
inaccurately.
Phone (360) 385-9100 Fax (360) 385-9382 jeffbocc@co.jefferson.wams
Again, we are very glad for the quick progress being made on the bridge, and grateful for your pivot in timing
of the repairs. We simply ask that you improve your communications to the public and to the following:
Wendy Davis, Jefferson County Communications Specialist: WMDavis@co.jefferson.wa.us 360-774-0554
Willie Bence, Director of Emergency Management (DEM): WBence@co.iefferson.wa.us (360) 316-6008
Keppie Keplinger, PIO DEM: KKeplinger@co.iefferson.wa.us (503) 806-1819
Bret Black, Chief, East Jefferson Fire and Rescue: bblack@ejfr.org 360-381-0292
All of these agencies have been in touch with your PIO and it would not be difficult to coordinate
communications.
We appreciate your attention to these matters as we approach a long summer of construction projects.
Thank you I ,�
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Kate Dean, District No. 1 Heidi Eisenhour, District No. 2 Greg rotherton, Chair, District No. 3