The flooding from the atmospheric river, which, according to the National Weather Service, dumped between 10 and 16 inches of rain on Western Washington in December, will not soon be forgotten.
The historic event was the state’s fifth-wettest on record and saw several levees breached, resulting in myriad road detours, school cancellations, go-now evacuation orders, and more.
One of those road closures was the Stewart Road bridge in Sumner, where construction halted on a new bridge straddling the White River. As a resident of nearby Lake Tapps, I cross the river at Stewart Road daily, so I was keenly aware of the closure and the additional minutes and hours it could add to motorists’ commutes…