Congestion on a section of SR 24 between I-82 and the east side of the Yakima River had worsened by the late 1990s and prompted the state government to consider a $35 million replacement and expansion project. The project was combined with a floodplain restoration plan proposed by the county government in response to a major flood in 1996 and originally considered building a second bridge upriver and realigning the highway. A revised plan placing the higher replacement bridge next to the existing crossing, saving costs and environmental mitigation for of wetlands, was adopted in 2002 and funded by the legislature's 2003 Nickel Program gas tax. Construction on the new bridge and the widened four-lane highway began in May 2005 and was dedicated on June 28, 2007, costing a total of $54.5 million. In 2008, the state government also built a series of passing lanes along SR 24 between Silver Dollar and Cold Creek in response to increased truck traffic.