The bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982, and is also a designated city landmark, ID #110347.

[6] In another respect, it remains among the busiest even today: due to its low vessel clearance of 30 feet (9.1 m),[7] the Fremont Bridge opens an average of 35 times a day, which makes it the most frequently opened drawbridge in the United States[8] and one of the busiest bascule bridges in the world.

[3] The bridge's blue and orange color was chosen by voters at a 1985 street fair.

[10] In 2006, the Fremont Bridge underwent a $41.9 million restoration project to replace the approaches and maintenance shop, as well as renovation of the mechanical and electrical systems that operate the bascule.

While that bridge was always intended as temporary, it proved even more so than planned, because early in the afternoon of March 12, 1914, the Fremont dam, which controlled the level of Lake Union, gave way.

Over the course of a day, the lake level lowered by nine feet, stranding vessels and floating homes, and rupturing the central portion of the second Fremont bridge.