Determinations made by the Coast Guard to accommodate superyachts will affect the price of light rail and other bridge projects in Seattle and environs.
“In order to accommodate the superyacht community, the United States Coast Guard has determined that fixed bridges crossing Seattle’s Ship Canal between Puget Sound, the Ballard Locks, and Fremont must have at least 205 feet of vertical clearance,” reports Ray Dubicki for The Urbanist.
The decision to raise bridge heights above other bridges in the area, like the Aurora Bridge and the Ballard Bridge, is a result of the planning process for Sound Transit’s planned extension of light rail to Ballard, but as noted by Dubicki the requirement will impact plans for the Salmon Bay rail bridge and the future replacement of the Ballard Bridge.
“Horizontal bridge clearances were also included in the determination, and found some proposed Sound Transit bridge designs required wider clearances to avoid collisions in the narrow channel,” adds Dubicki.
The height requirements, along with width requirements, are expected to make the rail projects more expensive, but Sound Transit is still trying to figure out the exact impacts of the determination.
The source article below includes more details on the determination and the ongoing coordination between Sound Transit and the Coast Guard.
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