Washington

[Bruce]

Welcome back, Jake!

First, the old Meridian Street Bridge (opened 1925) is finally being demolished after the state failed to find anyone to accept the bridge, even with a $1,000,000 check included. I've heard rumblings it may not be entirely deconstructed, with bits of it being used on some kind of walking path. But I can't confirm that:

I did talk to some WSDOT folks at the Puyallup Meeker Days festival and they confirmed that parts of the old bridge will be reused for some new artwork. And it seems to also be in the local paper: https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/community/puyallup-herald/ph-news/article310336930.html

[jakeroot]

Welcome back, Jake!

Thanks! Nice to be back, especially this time of year.

I did talk to some WSDOT folks at the Puyallup Meeker Days festival and they confirmed that parts of the old bridge will be reused for some new artwork. And it seems to also be in the local paper: https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/community/puyallup-herald/ph-news/article310336930.html

This is great to see. Saving the entirety of the structure isn't necessary, but seeing parts of it reused for a little parklet at the new 167/161 interchange is really cool.

As a side-note, the first photo, which they say was taken shortly after construction in 1925, clearly shows the 1970s-era twinned structure in the background. Good reporting, TNT... [EDIT] I guess it's not their fault entirely, WSDOT falsely reports the photo as being from around 1925 in their blog post: https://wsdotblog.blogspot.com/2025/07/preserving-history-saving-piece-of.html

I think the original image is from historylink: https://historylink.org/File/20414

I like the old Pac. Tel. & Tel. sign

I wonder if the dashed lines marking off the exit from the main road are aimed mainly at AIs that are sometimes easily fooled.

I think that's very possible. I also seem to recall a change to the MUTCD recently that started to require them at exits.