PORT OF SEATTLE 
MEMORANDUM 
COMMISSION AGENDA                   Item No.               5b 
Date of Meeting              7/13/2010 

DATE:      July 07, 2010 
TO:       Tay Yoshitani, Chief Executive Officer 
FROM:     Joe McWilliams, Managing Director, Real Estate Division 
SUBJECT:   Easement on Certain Port Property for South Park Bridge Replacement
Project 
Estimated Value of this easement: $534,132         Source of Funds: In-kind 
ACTION REQUESTED:
Request authorization for the Chief Executive Officer to execute required real estate
documents with King County in connection with the South Park Bridge Replacement
Project, including a permanent aquatic easement in favor of King County over certain
Port of Seattle property with an estimated value at $534,132. 
SYNOPSIS:
King County has requested a permanent easement across certain Port of Seattle property
for re-construction of the South Park Bridge abutments and required structural supports. 
King County is applying for, and expects to receive, TIGER II discretionary grant
funding (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery, American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act) for the project, and must certify to the Federal Highway
Administration that it has assembled the required right-of-way for the project by mid-July
or no later than August 1, 2010. 
BACKGROUND: 
The South Park Bridge is a 78-year old facility, and in very poor condition. It is also a
critical segment in our region's multimodal freight transportation system and provides
important freight access over the Duwamish Waterway. The South Park Bridge is one of
three crossings of the Duwamish Waterway and is an important route for freight transport 
in the Duwamish industrial area, linking to the south King County surface transportation
network. Because the bridge is important for transportation mobility and access to the
South Park community and plays a role in the industrial freight transportation system in
South King County, as well as ensuring effective marine transportation in the Duwamish

COMMISSION AGENDA 
Tay Yoshitani, Chief Executive Officer 
July 7, 2010 
Page 2 of 3 
Waterway, a majority of Commissioners expressed their intention to commit five million
dollars toward the bridge's restoration, at the Commission's June 22, 2010 meeting, as
requested by King County Executive Dow Constantine. Several Commissioners also
expressed the view that the Port should assist the communities affected by the bridge
closure (South Park, Georgetown, SODO) because they are the Port's neighbors and have
worked with the Port to resolve other problems, and "communities take care of each
other." 
King County closed the span on June 30, 2010, while seeking to secure funding for a
replacement. Without this connection across the Duwamish Waterway, traffic congestion
will increase on regional and interstate facilities serving the Port of Seattle I-5, I-90, SR-
509), the Duwamish industrial area, and the South Park and Georgetown communities. 
One of the Port's primary goals is to create jobs and economic growth in an
environmentally responsible way. Maintaining a transportation system that supports
freight mobility, expands international trade, and keeps our state and country competitive
in the global marketplace is a key priority. The South Park Bridge plays an important
role in the regional transportation system, and the loss of the bridge threatens jobs in the
industrial sector, results in increased traffic congestion and vehicle emissions and limits
mobility in a disadvantaged community. 
The Port owns certain property needed for the bridge footings. In response to a request
from King County, the Port of Seattle committed in the third quarter of 2009 to making
the required property available to King County through a permanent aquatic easement
and established a value of $534,132 based upon a requirement of 60,698 square feet of
land at $8.80 per foot. 
Subsequent to the 2009 request for a permanent aquatic easement, in June 2010, King
County further requested a $5 million capital contribution from the Port of Seattle
towards the project re-construction fund. The Commission discussed this request on June
22, 2010, in public session, and, at the end of the discussion, President Bryant stated that
it was the "general intent" of the Commission to commit $5 million to the South Park
Bridge re-construction, subject to the Port's budget process later this year. While the
Commission has not voted on this issue, there is a sense of the Commission that the
easement is part of the $5 million contribution rather than a donation as originally
envisioned. 
In addition to obtaining easement use of the area in the Duwamish Waterway for
replacement of the over-water portions of the South Park Bridge, King County also
requires access to Port-controlled shoreline area for improvement of aquatic natural
resources required by state and federal agencies as environmental compensation for the
negative effects of the bridge replacement project. In exchange for providing the County
with shoreline area for habitat restoration, the Port is seeking access to comparable
shoreline areas from the County. Replacement shoreline areas made available to the Port

COMMISSION AGENDA 
Tay Yoshitani, Chief Executive Officer 
July 7, 2010 
Page 3 of 3 
would be used for future, Port-sponsored fish and wildlife habitat restoration. The
valuation of the off-setting parcels will not be determined through standard land valuation
methods, but through their capability to produce credits that can be used to offset
negative effects due to future Port development actions and for liability resulting from 
pending CERCLA (Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and
Liability Act) determinations in the Duwamish Waterway basin. 
DOCUMENTS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS REQUEST: 
Aquatic Easement; Temporary Restoration Easement; Temporary Construction
Easement. 
Map showing location of the Easement 
ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS: 
Alternative 1: Deny the request from King County, recognizing, however, that the
County does possess appropriate condemnation authority to acquire the property. Given
the need for the project, the public benefit of the project and earlier favorable support for
the project, this is not the recommended alternative.
Alternative 2: Approve the request as outlined herein. This is the recommended
alternative.