The city of Kenmore has officially stated it’s intent to block the deconstruction of the old State Route 520 floating bridge within the city.

In a letter addressed to Kiewit/General/Manson (KGM), the Washington State Department of Transportation’s contractor for the 520 bridge project, Kenmore City Manager Rob Karlinsey said the city will not allow some 16,000 cubic yards of concrete to be broken down at the industrial site known as Lakepointe.

“The purpose of this letter is to advise you that KGM’s proposed decommissioning of the old 520 bridge cannot be performed on this site,” the letter reads.

Uncertainty over what toxins could be in the old bridge, which was constructed in the early 1960s, is cited as a main reason for concern.

“We don’t know what their methods of making concrete were back then, and what ingredients went into making concrete,” Karlinsey said in an interview with the Reporter. “Over the years, that bridge has taken tons of vehicles across it that drip lead, dust from asbestos brake pads.”

The Kenmore City Council expressed unanimous opposition to an announcement by KGM and WSDOT  representative at a March 14 meeting.

The agencies relayed their plan to bring large pieces of concrete to Lakepointe, an industrial site at the mouth of the Sammamish River along Lake Washington, before breaking the pieces down into smaller chunks, removing metal reinforcements and trucking the debris out of the city.

In the letter, Karlinsey argued that Lakepointe is zoned for ‘regional business,’ including retail, office, restaurant and health care uses, among others and not heavy industrial uses, like breaking down concrete.

City code was changed in 2014 to bar future industrial uses of Lakepointe and surrounding areas, but existing heavy industrial companies would be allowed to stay, provided they did not expand or change their operations.

Additionally, if an activity was discontinued for more than a year, it would not be allowed to resume.

The KGM facility, which constructed the concrete anchors and deck panels for the new 520 bridge during the past four years, is one of two heavy industrial companies which was grandfathered in. The other is CEMEX, an asphalt plant.

In the letter, the city argues deconstruction of the old 520 bridge is significantly different from construction activities which KGM had previously been doing and would constitute a non-permitted change of use.

Additionally, the city argues that since it is not aware of deconstruction activities happening during the last four years, even if deconstruction may have been simultaneously permitted when construction began in 2012, the 12-month window to restart deconstruction as a continuous use has passed.

“Building components for a new bridge is one thing, demolishing and recycling components of an old bridge is quite another,” Karlinsey said during an interview with the Reporter.

While the city’s decision is currently binding, Karlinsey said KGM has a few options they can pursue.

KGM could find a different site for deconstruction, such as sites in Tacoma or Aberdeen, requiring that large sections of concrete be shipped out of the Ballard Locks into the Puget Sound.

The contractor could also try and make the case deconstruction had been happening continuously since they began operating in 2012.

“One theory is they could come in and show us that we are factually incorrect,” Karlinsey said.

KGM and the WSDOT could also argue deconstruction was part of the original agreement to let them begin construction at Lakepointe, but Karlinsey said the 520 environmental impact statement was brief and nonspecific as to where deconstruction would occur.

Kenmore Mayor David Baker also said in an interview he thinks this is also an equity issue for the city.

“Over the years, certainly for at least the last 10, 12, 14 years, we’ve really become known as regional in our thinking in that we’re always promoting the region,” Baker said. “But there’s a point where we’re not going to be dumped on, we’ve suffered since the 520 tolling has gone into effect.”

Concerns cited by Kenmore City Council members in previous Reporter coverage include increased traffic routing north along SR 522 and side roads through Kenmore after the tolls on the 520 bridge started, increasing congestion and wearing down transportation infrastructure on city-maintained streets.

Noise from breaking down the concrete was also worrying.

Kenmore also received no sales tax revenue from KGM construction at Lakepointe to offset the infrastructure expenses city officials said have been incurred.

Finally, the City Council said they were under the impression all activities at the Lakepointe site would be shutting down after construction was completed. Many council members said they were surprised to find out at the March 14 meeting deconstruction could last until next December.

“We weren’t told this, this was all of a sudden just sprung on us, and naturally, as you might guess, there are a number of people that are very concerned about this happening,” Baker said.

KGM was contacted for this story and a spokesperson responded with an email statement that read:

“Kiewit/General/Manson is disappointed and surprised by the city of Kenmore’s letter. More than a year ago, we began discussions with the city about our plans for decommissioning at the Kenmore site. They gave no indication that this would be problematic or that additional permitting would be required. We are currently reviewing our options.”

Kenmore City Council members said they thought KGM would be breaking down the bridge on its own deck on Lake Washington before bringing the smaller chunks to Kenmore and loading them directly onto trucks.

Karlinsey said he didn’t know if that would still be an option for KGM, but said he would like further communication with KGM and the WSDOT.

“I just need to know more information about what they’re proposing to do,” he said.

Decommissioning of the old 520 bridge was scheduled to begin on April 25, the day all traffic switches to the new bridge, with deconstruction at Lakepointe scheduled to begin in May.