Rainbow Bridge will soon shine bright with lights every night

Despite an ongoing global pandemic, La Conner area residents can still look on the bright side.

The bright side of the Rainbow Bridge, that is.

This after the Town Council last week inked an interlocal pact with Skagit County officials allowing the north side of the visually striking and popular arched span above Swinomish Channel to once again be lit.

The long-sought town-county agreement is being hailed as a literal bright spot here during the virus crisis.

“This is (an example of) economic development,” said Mayor Ramon Hayes. “This is one of the things people come to the community for.”

The bridge, which opened in 1957 and is owned by Skagit County, has been lit previously but without official sanction, making significant liability concerns.

“For years,” Hayes explained, “the bridge was lit independently by individuals who will remain nameless. The county sent us a cease and desist order because of the liability issues.”

New technology, pressing economic conditions and town and county collaboration aligned to make possible a new round of bridge lighting – this time on an official basis.

Town Public Works Director Brian Lease said the bridge will be strung with 600 commercial grade LED bulbs secured by powerful magnets able to adhere to a surface that has borne numerous coats of paints over the past six decades.

“It was quite a trick to find the right magnet that would hold,” Lease told Town Councilmembers at their Oct. 13 video-conferenced meeting.

The magnets chosen for the project passed a test administered by Skagit County engineers, he said, and are designed to stand up to Pacific Northwest weather.

“It’s pretty amazing technology,” said Council member Bill Stokes. “It will be a great way to light the bridge. It will be something we’ll be looking at all winter as the days get shorter.”

Lease crunched numbers to bring the project price tag to about $10,000, one-third of which will be covered by the county. An initial bid for lighting the bridge was more than 10 times that amount.

Lease said the estimated cost is based on 40 hours of contracted work. Because of that, the Town could realize further savings.

“I don’t anticipate it (the work) taking that long,” said Lease.

Hayes said hours of behind the scenes research and planning will generate long-term visible dividends for the town.

“As public officials,” he told the Weekly News, “we want to make sure that we are utilizing our assets as best as possible. This does that in a very economical way and beautifies one of the state’s most iconic structures.”

He and Lease expressed appreciation for the county’s support.

“They were great to work with,” Lease said.

“I want to give a huge amount of credit to Commissioner (Ron) Wesen, who really pushed this forward at the county level,” said Hayes.

“We’re talking about quite a few lights,” he added, “that will light up the bridge beautifully.”