Might you be in the mood for a feel-good story about a bridge? Perhaps a warm and fuzzy yarn about a bridge built ahead of schedule and under budget? Impossible, you say?Well, if you read last Thursday’s Columbian, it was right there on Page C1, with a color photo of important people sitting in folding chairs on an interchange ramp, listening to even-more-important people talk about cutting a ribbon.

They had plenty of reasons to be happy about the fancy new interchange in central Vancouver, where a new bridge carries St. Johns Boulevard over state Highway 500.

We suspect the first words exclaimed by many motorists passing by in recent days have been: “What? Already?” Indeed, the $48 million interchange was finished three months ahead of schedule, thanks to the finer talents and teamwork of the Washington State Department of Transportation and lead contractor Tapani Underground Inc.

And project engineer Leon Winger of WSDOT told us Friday afternoon that the new intersection will come in under budget, although by how much won’t be precisely known for a few weeks.

Chief beneficiaries of the new interchange are the 65,000 or so motorists that pass through daily. About a decade ago, the 3-mile stretch of Highway 500 between Interstate 5 and Andresen Road was designated the most dangerous road in seven Southwest Washington counties.