The Hood Canal Bridge, which spans the Hood Canal between the Olympic and Kitsap peninsulas and allows passage for traffic on Highway 104, reopened to cars Monday night after a mechanical failure kept the bridge closed for hours, the state Department of Transportation said Monday.
It left the bridge stuck in the open position for a boat to motor through at 1 p.m. Monday, barring all vehicles. Crews, assisted by a tugboat, remained on the scene into Monday night to reopen traffic, the transportation department said.
It wasn’t immediately clear if the mechanical failure had been resolved for good.
Any bridge closure is a big problem for the people who rely upon it for traveling across Hood Canal. Other than driving hours to the south and around the bottom of said canal, which is technically a fjord, there is no good option. That’s a detour of approximately 110 miles.
The other option would be to ferry across from Port Townsend to Whidbey Island, but that’s likewise a long, costly detour of several hours, and usually requires a reservation.
In summer the Olympics are a major tourism hub, especially those coming from the east and seeking Olympic Mountain hikes, coastal rambles or oysters. A prolonged closure would deal a financial blow to businesses in Port Townsend, Port Angeles and communities even farther west.
The Hood Canal Bridge was completed in 1961 and is the third longest floating bridge on Earth.
It has seen its share of mishaps over the years, most famously when it sank in 1979. The bridge was declared a total loss, and didn’t open again until 1982.
Salty air and wind are hard on the bridge’s complicated mechanisms. The bridge has previously closed for long spans of time: It shut down for a significant overhaul in the late 2000s. To assist travelers during that closure, the state added a small foot ferry from Lofall in Kitsap County, resurrecting a ferry route that was in operation during the 1950s.
