AGNEW — Close to 100 community members braved the wet weather to usher in the nearly complete McDonald Creek Bridge on Saturday. The bridge is tentatively set to reopen Tuesday.
Clallam County Commissioners Mark Ozias and Randy Johnson thanked the community for their patience, and county staff and crews with Orion Marine Contractors Inc. for their work.
The bridge was tentatively set to open today but Pat McElroy, Clallam County bridge project engineer, said due to wet weather, the bridge will tentatively reopen to the public at noon Tuesday after road lines are painted.
The 1957 bridge was closed July 5 last year to replace it with a more seismically stable and wider bridge. It was expanded from 24 feet to 40 feet.
Costs for the new bridge remained on budget at about $3.07 million, McElroy said, despite rain and snow delaying the project earlier this year.
At the bridge ceremony, Agnew pioneers were also recognized on the bridge and members of the Agnew Helpful Neighbors Club hosted pie and coffee nearby in its building.
Participating pioneers were Terry Hugo, Bill Rogers, LeRoy Kuest, Ted and Shirley Crosby, Carmen Jarvis, Marcia Brown, Evelyn and Jim Anderson, and Carrol Gates.
Kathy Wright and Kameryn Pierce, 8, brought their dogs, Gaige and Murphy, to the celebration Saturday. Wright said she lives near the bridge and planned to celebrate the occasion by going to Agnew Grocery to purchase some peanut butter bones for her dogs.
“It’ll be nice not to have to go around anymore,” she said.
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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him at mnash@sequimgazette.com.
Montana Mathis, 10, of Sequim rides her bike on the McDonald Creek Bridge for the first time Saturday while visiting her grandmother who lives near the bridge. (Matthew Nash/Olympic Peninsula News Group)
During the ceremony to celebrate the completion of the McDonald Creek Bridge, Clallam County Commissioners Randy Johnson and Mark Ozias, second and third from right, recognized Agnew pioneers, from left, Terry Hugo, Bill Rogers, LeRoy Kuest, Ted and Shirley Crosby, Carmen Jarvis, Marcia Brown, Evelyn and Jim Anderson, and Carrol Gates, far right. (Matthew Nash/Olympic Peninsula News Group)
Jennie Hajek, left, and Vicki Kocha of the Agnew Helpful Neighbors Club help serve pie Saturday to celebrate the completion of the McDonald Creek Bridge project. (Matthew Nash/Olympic Peninsula News Group)
