Metropolitan King County Councilmembers Larry Phillips and Reagan Dunn, the Chair and Vice Chair of the Council’s Transportation, Economy and Environment Committee were joined by Council Chair Larry Gossett and Council Vice Chair Jane Hague in releasing this statement on the collapse of the I-5 bridge spanning the Skagit River outside of Mt. Vernon.

“We are very thankful no one was seriously injured in the bridge collapse. We owe the emergency crews and first responders a debt of gratitude for their quick response. This collapse, while possibly caused by driver error, should be a reminder of why the County makes thorough safety inspections of all of our King County bridges on a regular basis.

“We are calling on the County Executive and the Director of the King County Department of Transportation to brief the Council on the current state of the bridges within King County and on the inspection schedule to ensure those spans are safe for travel.

“This tragedy is a stark reminder of the challenge facing us within the State Legislature. We currently do not have the financing needed to maintain these aging structures. As the Legislature continues working on the State budget, local jurisdictions throughout the State have a critical need for local option funding tools just to maintain and preserve our existing roads and bridges.

“We urge the State to provide local and regional governments with the financial options to not only make the necessary repairs to the Skagit River Bridge, but to also maintain the vital transportation infrastructure throughout our region.”