HomeMy WebLinkAboutLetter re Naming the Bridge Between Indian and Marrowstone Islands of COONs Board of County Commissioners
��w ° �� 1820 Jefferson Street
w PO Box 1220
Port Townsend, WA 98368
y O Heather Dudley-Nollette,District 1 Heidi Eisenhour,District 2 Greg Brotherton,District 3
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March 10, 2025
Washington State Transportation Commission
P.O. Box 47308
Olympia, WA 98504-7308 •
SUBJECT: Naming the Bridge Between Indian and Marrowstone Islands
We are writing in support of the Marrowstone Island Community Association(MICA)Bridge
Naming Committee. The MICA undertook a rigorous community effort to decide on a name for
the bridge constructed in 2019 that reconnected Kilisut Harbor and Oak Bay to its south. The
passage between the two islands had been blocked for approximately 100 years prior to the
bridge's construction. That passage was named"Passage Through"in 2023 by the Washington
State Department of Natural Resources.
The MICA bridge naming effort included the Jamestown, Port Gamble and Lower Elwa S'Klallam
Tribes through their combined Cultural Committee, which was instrumental in the naming of the
passage underneath the new bridge. The MICA conducted extensive community outreach to
involve as many community residents in the naming effort as possible.
The committee went through an iterative process soliciting naming suggestions from the tribes and
community members. That process started with 49 different proposed names and gradually
whittled the list down to one name: Passage Through Bridge.
Given that the passage under the bridge is called the Passage Through it makes good sense to name
the bridge over that passage the "Passage Through Bridge"with the traditional S'Klallam Nation
name "sclagw" included on any signage installed on or approaching the bridge. And, given the
extensive effort to involve the relevant tribes and community residents in the naming exercise the
Jefferson County Board of Commissioners strongly recommends that the Washington State
Transportation Commission approve the MICA's recommendation.
Sincerely,
JEFFERSON COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONER
Ai41 W4.
A NI NJ
dley-Nollette, eidi Eisenhour, reg Brotherton,
District 1 District 2 District 3
Phone (360) 385-9100 jeftbocc@co.jefferson.wa.us