The new Hood Canal Bridge connecting the Olympic Peninsula to the greater part of Washington State has opened back up after the replacement of the new east truss. While it was only supposed to be a six week closure and even ended up opening to the public early, it’s a pretty big deal for those that live on the west side of the bridge, which I wrote a little bit about in an earlier post because it can feel like being cut off.

The greatest thing that the Washington State Department of Transportation did during this process was take advantage of every avenue available when it came to keeping the public up to date on the project. There was a dedicated website with links to a constantly updated and interactive blog, video cameras, a flickr photostream and they were even tweeting. But they didn’t simply inform, they entertained…the blog was actually funny! The public followed along because it was interesting, they felt like they were part of something and more than anything, they greatly appreciated the effort put forth by those who kept everyone up to date minute by minute as the project progressed. Instead of being angry and upset about the inconvenience, people were thankful and following along with the construction. Comments poured into the blog with overwhelming positive responses and thank you’s.

Following along with the construction work and looking through the photos really made me appreciate all the forms of communication we have available to us these days. And also that we have a way to put a human (and humorous) face on agencies that the public typically gets frustrated with simply because they don’t feel well informed.

images via WSDOT

And now, I’m off for a few days to head up to the Olympic Peninsula via the newly opened bridge for an extended weekend of super fun camping at my favorite spot of all time up on the Straight of Juan de Fuca.

image via Lisa Town