September 16, 2010
Thank you so much for being here to celebrate this terrific achievement. I am Pat McCarthy, the Pierce County Executive. It is my honor to welcome you to this grand opening of the Bridge to the Beach!
This bridge provides a wonderful enhancement to the quality of life in the South Sound. Thanks to hard work by great partners, we are opening 2 ½ miles of Puget Sound shoreline to the public.
This shore is a beachcomber's delight. Our children - and our children's children - will be able to explore this magnificent shoreline and experience the amazing ecosystem that helps make this area such a special place to live.
After you see it for yourself, I'm sure you'll agree that this will become a destination for school field trips that want to study our natural environment. And - on sunny days, anyway - the thousands of walkers who use the Soundview Trail will love the scenery.
Before we open the bridge, I want to thank some key partners and supporters, and talk about where we're headed.
First, I thank the state of Washington. Grants from the state Department of Commerce and the state Recreation and Conservation Office, paid for the construction. Without their help, beach access would be something people dream about as they walk along the trail.
Governor Chris Gregoire is on a trade mission overseas and could not be here today. But she sent her representative, Veronica Marohn, who will be sure to pass along Pierce County's appreciation for the Gregoire administration's support.
Next, I want to thank several members of the Washington State Legislature. In particular, the people who represent the 28th Legislative District - Representatives Troy Kelley and Tami Green, and Senator Mike Carrell. Another key supporter is state Senator Karen Fraser, the chair of the capital budget committee. Their support was crucial.
I also want to thank Pierce County Councilmember Terry Lee. For eight years, Terry has done an outstanding job of representing Pierce County residents on both sides of the Tacoma Narrows. This pedestrian bridge has been a high priority for him, and I'm glad that we're able to celebrate this opening before he leaves office at the end of the year. You will hear from Terry in a few minutes, but I want to tell you all that we will miss him.
Now, what you're seeing today is the first phase of this project to expand public access to Chambers Creek Properties.
This pedestrian bridge is 26 feet high and 900 feet long. The height accommodates the rail traffic below, and the length ensures that we meet ADA standards for accessibility.
A future phase includes building a pier that would extend 300 feet over the water, along with day-use moorage for boats.
We also plan to remove the existing North Dock, which was used for loading gravel barges for more than half a century. Demolishing the dock will improve the health of Puget Sound by removing 200 contaminated timber pilings. We plan to work with our federal and state partners to seek funding for these future phases.
But that's in the future. Today, we are here to celebrate a significant achievement.
And I have to say - we're on a roll right now. This is the second time this summer that
I've been a part of an event celebrating public access to the Puget Sound shoreline in Pierce County.
In July, we celebrated as Pierce County teamed with the state and Cascade Land Conservancy to purchase 94 acres at the southern tip of the Key Peninsula. That property is known as Devils Head, and contains 1 mile of shoreline.
When you combine the Devils Head acquisition with the opening of this Bridge to the Beach, you can see that we are celebrating the public's access to three and a-half miles of uninterrupted and unspoiled shoreline!
This is truly an accomplishment for all residents of Pierce County, and beyond.
It's more evidence that great things are happening here at Chambers Creek Properties. It took bold vision and political courage to get here. And I'm proud to turn this program over to our next speaker, who played a major role in getting us to this point - County Councilmember Terry Lee.
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