Coast Guard October 21, 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Coast Guard is withdrawing its notice of proposed rulemaking concerning drawbridge operations for the Spokane Street Bridge across the Duwamish Waterway, mile 0.3, in Seattle, Washington. The proposed rule would have established two daily closed draw periods Monday through Friday to help alleviate road traffic, with the proviso that openings would be provided at any time for vessels of 5000 gross tons or more. The proposed rule is being withdrawn because Spokane Street Bridge draw records along with road traffic counts conducted after the notice of proposed rulemaking was published indicate that the number of draw openings and the amount of traffic using the Spokane Street Bridge are not sufficient to warrant the negative impact that the proposed rule would have on commercial maritime traffic using the waterway under the bridge.