Bridge collapse could cost Washington state millions, jobs

[Heddi]

23. Traffic levels will NOT decrease

People still have to go to work and to school and to do the things they always do. Truck traffic to and from Seattle and Tacoma to and from Vancouver will not stop. Summertime traffic to and from Vancouver will not stop.

Perhaps since you're familiar with I-5 back when it was a dirt road traveled by horse and carriage, you're not familiar with the current state of I-5 and traffic in Western Washington and how absolutely HORRIBLE it is, day or night, weekend or weekday, and how this "inconvenience," as you so glibly put it, is only going to make what is already a parking lot even more of a parking lot.

Perhaps you're not familiar with the fact that the hospitals in Bellingham, Island County, Mt Vernon, Arlington, Mill Creek, etc, transfer a very large number of patients, very sick and critically ill patients, to the larger, more well equipped hospitals in Seattle. And perhaps you're not aware that while the map may show a distance of, say, 45 miles, the time distance is greater than 45 minutes. A distance of 45 miles can often be a drive of an hour and a half or two, even for an ambulance with full sirens going. So adding to that travel time increased delays will be detrimental to many people for many reasons.

I'm really super glad that your wonderful community was able to overcome an 'inconvenience' of a bridge collapse. I know that Washingtonians will, too, but it will be more than an "inconvenience," and it will be more devastating than you refuse to acknowledge for some reason. Small communities that rely on summertime traffic will be impacted, because many people who normally would have made a trip north (or south) won't, or will take an alternative trip than they normally do because they don't want to deal with the traffic and the hassle. Economy won't come to a standstill, but the small, independent shops and tourist-based businesses that rely on summer visitors will.

Perhaps you should forward them your address so that you can properly tell them how they're not being economically impacted, and can impart some of your timeless wisdom on those dumb country folks who cannot "adapt." You can delight them with your tales of your "experience with detours on Interstate highways"