SEATTLE, Wash. — Washington state Transportation Secretary Lynn Peterson revealed Wednesday how much a major design mistake that led to cracked pontoons on the new SR 520 floating bridge will cost.
"The total cost of the design errors will be about $208 million," Peterson told reporters.
That seriously cuts into the reserve fund for the entire project.
So the state says it needs to add $170 million to the reserve.
"The good news is we believe we can pay for the majority, if not all, with existing funding sources and without asking for any new revenue," Peterson said.
That existing funding comes from bonds backed by the tolls SR 520 drivers are already paying.
The state says there was unused capacity in that financing so toll rates will not change.
And drivers will not have to pay tolls for a longer period of time.
The transportation secretary says she'll also look for ways to cut costs in other projects around the state to make up the rest of the deficit.
The pontoon problem has hit the state hard financially because, unlike the Highway 99 tunnel, where contractors did the design work, the bridge was designed by state employees.
"It was our design, and therefore because it was our design, it was our risk," Peterson said.
One state worker was fired and another was disciplined over the cracked pontoons.
The state now estimates the new SR 520 bridge will open in April 2016.
KIRO
