State Rep. Jake Fey joined Gov. Jay Inslee, former State Rep. Dennis Flannigan, Tacoma Mayor Marilyn Strickland and several other local and federal officials in a “Rededication Ceremony” for Tacoma’s Murray Morgan Bridge Friday morning, Feb. 15. Lincoln High School’s Drumline provided music for the Rededication Ceremony, and Kurtis Kingsolver, the city’s Public Works Interim Director, emceed the morning’s events.
The Murray Morgan Bridge was built to replace an older swing bridge dating to 1894. The newer bridge opened for business as the 11th Street Bridge in 1913 – 100 years ago. Murray Morgan, a local author, historian and professor, was honored in 1997 when the bridge was renamed for him. He wrote Skid Road (his 1951 history of Seattle) while working as a bridge tender on “his” bridge.
The city’s very recently rehabilitated Murray Morgan Bridge reopened for traffic just a few weeks ago. “I was certainly very committed to helping save and restore our bridge when I was a member of the Tacoma City Council,” Fey emphasized. “Murray Morgan is extremely important in maintaining the Downtown Tacoma-Port of Tacoma connection. The bridge drastically cuts travel time between these two pivotal parts of our community, and greatly increases emergency response time to the Port.”