The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1919-09-04
BUILD BRIDGE
ACROSS RIVER
AT THIS POINT
state Good Roads Association
Officially Recognizes Ken
newick- -Pasco Crossing
HUBER WANTS A FRANCHISE
Seattle Engineer asks Commissioners
for Permission to Construct
Toll Highway Bridge

A highway bridge across the Col.
umbia river between Kennewick ane
Pasco, which a week ago seemed on
" a possibility, is today a decidedly
live probability. The urgent need Of
It has been officially recognized by
the Washington Slate Good Roads
association and petition asking fo1
a franchise for its building has been
filed with the county commissioners
Of Benton and Franklin counties.
For years the question of bridging
the Columbia at this point has bobbed
up at the annual meetings of the
state association and for years it has
been numerically and promptly
swatted by invoking against it the
associations invariable rule of re-
fusing its endorsement to any local
highway project. Year after year
the bridge proposition has gone down
before the argument that bridge
between Kennewick and Pasco is a
local project and as such could not
be considered as a part of the states
highway program. Every year OPP
ponents to the bridge have scored
with the contention, that Kennewick
and Pasco had no more valid claims
for bridge than has Vantage, Wal
lula or any other crossing point along
the river.
At tn e Associations meeting at
Yakima, however, there was very
marked reversal of sentiment. Altho
the cry of "local project was raised
against the bridge proposition, this
old argument broke down completely
in the face of the present apparent
inability of the Columbia River fer
ries to satisfactorily handle the great
procession of tourist cars which have
swept across the state this summer.
In accepting his Office the newly elect
ed president, j. j. Donovan, of Bel
lingham, told the association that
the time had come when a bridge
across the Columbia had become a
necessity in the states road build
ing program and that the logical To-
cation for the bridge was at this
points, Many othe prominent west
side good roads workers voiced sim,
liar sentiments.
While there was some jockeying to
get the bridge endorsement incorpor-
ated in the resolutions committees
report, when it was finally, reported
out it was unanimously adopted by.
the convention. The resolution reads,
We recommend that the executive
committee study a method of financ-
ing bridge across the Columbia at
OF near Pasco and report at the next
meetingp
The work of the committee in car
rylng out this resolution will be made
easy If the proposition of Charles G.
hubert. well known construction
engineer, of Seattle, is accepted by
sne commissioners of Benton and
franklin counties. At the meeting
@ the commissioners Tuesday Mr..
nuDer asked for franchise for the
building of a toll bridge and filed a
unl- Il fH
schedule of toll charges ranging from
~ cents for pedestrians and rs cents
!or automobiles, to $5 for the heav-
.est trucks. The franchise provides
mat the bridge shall consist of a steel
ana timber superstructure with nee
sssary and suitable concrete piers and
aoutments, that construction must be
s''oertaken within one year after the.
franchise is granted and completed
ana open for use within three years
.er construction begins. The fran
.nise further provides that the
ufioge may be purchased by the coun-
1es at any time at reasonable val
: 1or the property at the time of the
ra,cnase, while the state law pro-
ues that the state may purchase at
any time.
Inc commissioners heard the petit
s sOn Tor franchise and October 49,
40 Oeen set as date of hearing,
!. rnsn q the two county boards will sit
:, II seems to me that the PROPOSE
n Of Mr.. Huber offers very sat-