page_title: Washington State Route 16
section_title: Tacoma Narrows Bridge
hierarchical_section_title: Washington State Route 16 / History / Tacoma Narrows Bridge
caption_attribution_description: Opening day of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, Tacoma, Washington, July 1, 1940 Photographer: Unknown Subjects (LCSH): Tacoma Narrows Bridge (Tacoma, Wash.&#160;: 1940) Bridges--Washington (State)--Tacoma Narrows Automobiles--Washington (State)--Tacoma Crowds--Washington (State)--Tacoma Tacoma Narrows (Tacoma, Wash.) Straits--Washington (State)--Tacoma Digital Collection: Tacoma Narrows Bridge Collection content.lib.washington.edu/farquharsonweb/index.html Item Number: FAR008 Persistent URL: content.lib.washington.edu/u?/farquharson,13 Visit Special Collections reproductions and rights page for information on ordering a copy. University of Washington Libraries. Digital Collections content.lib.washington.edu/
context_page_description: State Route 16 is a 27.16-mile-long state highway in the U.S. state of Washington, connecting Pierce and Kitsap counties. The highway, signed as east–west, begins at an interchange with Interstate 5 in Tacoma and travels through the city as a freeway towards the Tacoma Narrows. SR 16 crosses the narrows onto the Kitsap Peninsula on the partially tolled Tacoma Narrows Bridge and continues through Gig Harbor and Port Orchard before the freeway ends in Gorst. The designation ends at an intersection with SR 3 southwest of the beginning of its freeway through Bremerton and Poulsbo. SR 16 is designated as a Strategic Highway Network corridor within the National Highway System as the main thoroughfare connecting Tacoma to Naval Base Kitsap and a part of the Highways of Statewide Significance program.
  SR 16 was created during the 1964 state highway renumbering as the successor to Primary State Highway 14. PSH 14, which had itself been the successor to State Road 14, traveled northeast from Shelton to Gorst and south to Gig Harbor.
context_section_description: The Tacoma Narrows Bridge, which carries SR 16 across the Tacoma Narrows between Tacoma and the Kitsap Peninsula, was first proposed by locals during the late 19th century and credited to local rancher John G. Shindler while traveling through the Narrows by steamboat in 1888. The Northern Pacific Railway planned to build a trestle bridge over the Narrows to connect its western terminus in Tacoma to the proposed Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Port Orchard. The Washington State Legislature, after extensive lobbying by local auto groups and businesses, authorized the construction of a road bridge over the Narrows in February 1929. The Washington Toll Bridge Authority was created in March 1937 to construct and maintain toll bridges throughout the state, beginning with the Tacoma Narrows Bridge from Tacoma to Gig Harbor and the Lake Washington Floating Bridge from Seattle to Mercer Island.
  The bridge, designed by American suspension bridge engineer Leon Moisseiff, began construction on November 23, 1938, by the Pacific-General-Columbia Company, a partnership between three companies that received a $2.88 million grant from the Public Works Administration and a $3.52 million loan from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, to be repaid through tolls. The Tacoma Narrows Bridge opened on July 1, 1940, and included ceremonies attended by an estimated 10,000 people, including Governor of Washington Clarence D. Martin. The 2,800-foot-long (850 m) bridge, christened the name "Galloping Gertie" by its construction workers, cost $6.4 million to build and became the third longest suspension span in the world after its completion. The following day, the art deco MV Kalakala was chosen to make the commemorative final ferry crossing of the Tacoma Narrows. The original toll for the bridge cost 55 cents per car, 15 cents per extra passenger, and 15 cents for pedestrians. The bridge, which was prone to movement during windstorms, collapsed at approximately 11:00 am on November 7, 1940, because of winds in excess of 42 miles per hour (68 km/h). The only fatality during the collapse was a dog trapped in a car belonging to local reporter Leonard Coatsworth of Tacoma.
  A second, 5,979-foot-long (1,822 m) Tacoma Narrows Bridge was constructed between 1948 and 1951, officially opening to traffic on October 14, 1950. The bridge was designed to let wind pass through the structure with perforated girders and open grating in the deck. Traffic on the four-lane bridge began increasing from 6,000 vehicles in 1960 to nearly 67,000 vehicles by 1990, according to WSDOT AADT data. The increased traffic prompted the Washington State Legislature to approve the construction of a tolled eastbound bridge in 1999, to be finished during the early 2000s. The 5,400-foot-long (1,600 m) eastbound bridge was constructed between 2002 and 2007, opening on July 15, 2007, during ceremonies attended by 60,000 people, including Governor Christine Gregoire. The newer eastbound bridge provided the debut for the Good to Go RFID pass from WSDOT, which allows frequent users to bypass the toll booths by way of a prepaid transponder placed on the inside of the windshield and reducing the toll.
caption: The original Tacoma Narrows Bridge, also known by its nickname of "Galloping Gertie", during its opening on July 1, 1940.
exif: {}