Currently three projects are proposed for this area: the development of Peninsula Park (by the Tacoma Yacht Club), a link between Peninsula Park and Point Defiance, and construction of a boardwalk alongside an estuary restoration project. If funded, these projects will allow public access to the waterside, link the park from the city’s downtown and restore marine habitat.

I grew up in Tacoma and now reside with my family in Ruston. I have great childhood memories of Point Defiance and now take my children there often to enjoy the South Sound’s best family destination.

We have all dreamed about the completion of these projects for decades; and with a Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program (WWRP) grant, this can all become a reality. In fact, a WWRP grant may be the only way the public can realize everything Point Defiance has to offer.

But we must act now before we lose this unique opportunity. Support from our legislators in the upcoming biennium will be imperative to securing funding for these projects. Please join me in urging our local delegation to support WWRP funding for public access projects at Point Defiance.

(Hedrick is a member of the Ruston Town Council.)

That opportunity has passed, but another awaits: the Meridian Street Bridge (Highway 167) in Puyallup. The state Department of Transportation has fast-tracked replacement of this 1925 bridge, once the longest and biggest single-riveted span in the state, in the next five years.

As the last Turner-class bridge in America, it is deserving of a fate better than that of the tunnel, buried as a footnote in history.

The opportunity is there to connect a missing section of the cross-county bicycle trail across the Puyallup River. The Meridian Street Bridge could do just that at a new location, perhaps moved downriver near the old weigh station. This would be a win for all involved: historians, motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians.