The Washington State Toll Bridge Authority was created in 1937 by the Washington State Legislature, with a mandate to finance, construct and operate toll bridges in the state of Washington.[1]
The first act of the Toll Bridge Authority was to purchase the Manette Bridge, previously a privately owned toll bridge;[2] it was made a toll-free crossing in January 1939.[3] The agency then constructed several new bridges in the Puget Sound region that were intended to become toll-free crossings once their construction bonds had been retired. These included the Lake Washington Floating Bridge, which was tolled from 1940 to 1943; and the original Tacoma Narrows Bridge, which opened in July 1940 and collapsed on November 7 during a windstorm.[1] [4]
The Toll Bridge Authority began operating public ferries on June 1, 1951, when Washington State Ferries was created to take over the private Black Ball Line routes.[5] The agency was dissolved in 1977 and absorbed into the new Washington State Department of Transportation, which also took over the duties of the Department of Highways.[6]