The Dalles Chronicle

May 20, 2008

Biggs bridge reopens to interstate traffic
Businesses hope for end to lag in bridge traffic

     GOLDENDALE — After a near five-month closure, Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) re-opened the Sam Hill-Biggs Rapids Bridge on Monday evening to all traffic for the 2008 summer vacation season.
     The bridge will remain open throughout the entire summer season, until Sept. 3, when it will close again for the remainder of construction activities, according to a Washington State Department of Transportation news release. All previous weight restrictions have also been lifted.
     It’s too early to know what change in business traffic will be, said Codie Stroud this morning. Stroud manages Dinty’s Market in Biggs Junction.
     “It’s not noticeably different yet,” she said this morning. “I’m sure a few of the people from Maryhill will be coming over — people who usually came over every day and we haven’t seen in four months.”
     Stroud said business dropped about 30 percent while the bridge was closed.
     “We didn’t see a lot of our truckers that would come in. We have missed them. I’m sure they’ll start coming.”
     Reports from Dinty’s Motor Inn indicated that they weren’t as badly affected by the closure. People who arrived from the south on Highway 97, sometimes stayed the night when they discovered they couldn’t travel north.
     “It was necessary for us to close the bridge entirely due to safety concerns for the construction crews and the traveling public, to minimize the length of impacts to the surrounding communities, and to ensure the highest quality construction,” said WSDOT’s Columbia Gorge Project Engineer Chris Tams.

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