A package of federal government funding bills passed last week made headlines for many reasons. Locally, one of those bills included federal funding for work on the county’s crumbling Ceres Hill bridge west of Chehalis and Adna.
Late last month, U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Washington, announced $75 million in federal funding for projects in the state of Washington in a transportation department funding bill passed by the Senate.
The money from the bill is spread all across the state. Notably for the Lewis County area, it includes $3.35 million in funding for the Washington state Department of Transportation to fund work on the Ceres Hill bridge over the Chehalis River.
That funding is now certain after President Donald Trump signed five funding bills into law on Tuesday, Feb. 3, which included the transportation bill passed by the Senate roughly a week earlier that includes the Ceres Hill bridge funding.
According to the announcement from Cantwell’s team, the transportation funding includes approximately $75 million in funding for 50 transportation, infrastructure and social services projects across Washington state.
The Ceres Hill bridge has been a local concern for many years after scouring and erosion around the bridge's piers, or support pillars, began compromising the integrity of the bridge. It is now subject to significant weight restrictions and in need of replacement entirely.
In the announcement from Cantwell and her team, they describe the situation similarly and warn that without funding and attention, the bridge will likely need to be closed.
“The bridge has been posted for a 15-ton maximum load restriction since an inspection in 2022,” reads the statement. “This load restriction limits many public safety vehicles from crossing the Chehalis River to several residential homes and farms. Further, after recent bridge inspections it was determined that without rehabilitation soon, the bridge will need to be closed.”
As the statement suggests, the weight restriction currently imposed on the bridge requires some emergency vehicles to take detours and also forces local semi-trucks to reroute.
