Olympia, Washington – Congresswoman Marilyn Strickland (WA-10), Senator Maria Cantwell, and Governor Jay Inslee, and received a tour of the I-5 Nisqually River bridge project on Monday, April 11, 2022. The tour was hosted by the Nisqually Indian Tribe. Following the tour, Strickland, Cantwell, and Inslee joined a roundtable conversation with other local elected leaders to discuss the project and their shared priorities.
“The I-5 Nisqually bridge is crucial regional infrastructure that affects safety, national security, our economy, tribal treaty rights, and our environment,” said Strickland. “After numerous conversations with stakeholders, the surrounding community, and the Nisqually Tribe’s leadership, it is clear that this project must proactively be brought up to 21st century standards. I will continue working to ensure it remains a priority at the federal level.”
During the tour and subsequent roundtable discussion, the Nisqually Indian Tribe and other key stakeholders discussed the challenges the I-5 Nisqually Bridge poses to the surrounding area and communities due to increasing flood risks and other environmental and infrastructure issues. The group was joined by representatives of the Washington State Department of Transportation, South Sound Military & Community Partnership, and other local leaders.
Funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the 2022 Move Ahead Washington Package will advance project work in the corridor. In 2018, the state’s transportation budget included $2.25 million for a corridor planning study of I-5 between Tumwater and Mounts Road that recently noted capacity and throughput constraints as well as a USGS draft report noting increasing flood risks.
U.S. Representative Marilyn Strickland serves on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and is the only African-American woman who serves on the House Armed Services Committee. She is a member of the New Democrat Coalition, is one of the first Korean-American women elected to Congress, and is the first African-American elected to represent the Pacific Northwest at the federal level.
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