21 Replies to "Yet more road work: East Marginal Way Grade Separation to start"

• hopey January 13, 2010 (5:14 pm)

  I hadn’t heard of this closure before… how, exactly, am I supposed to get to Costco from the Admiral area once these closures go into effect?

• JEM January 13, 2010 (5:36 pm)

  Get off bridge at 1st Ave, turn left. Take a right at next light (Horton). Proceed to 4th, turn right. Arrive Costco.

• Mrs L January 13, 2010 (6:13 pm)

  Finally! Hopefully when it’s finished, commuting to work will be easier and less bumpy (no more potholes!). But until then, the commute could be brutal.

• Fancy Nan January 13, 2010 (7:50 pm)

  I beleive the real question is, “how will I get home from Costco between May 2010 and December 2010” when there will be no on-ramps open onto the westbound West Seattle Bridge. The only way on for this year and one-half will be from I-5 and the Viaduct. :(

• bicyclist January 13, 2010 (9:22 pm)

  I sure hope they install bike lanes. That is a main route to Georgetown from West Seattle. The area now is amazingly potholed. The picture is not clear enough to show sidewalks and bike lanes. All new street projects should include access for bikes, pedestrians, wheelchairs, etc, nto just cars.

• Molly January 13, 2010 (9:47 pm)

  Would someone be able to explain why I’m not supposed to be taking a right onto 1st Ave off of the WS Bridge exit ramp? The conflicting section of S Spokane St is closed and it would at least make life a little easier (at least to get to Georgetown). I know it wouldn’t be a permanent traffic pattern, but sheesh, it’s a mess out there and it’s not getting any prettier for a while.

• Al January 13, 2010 (10:26 pm)

  bicyclist – they are planning bike routes in this area, but I haven’t heard of any at the planning meetings I’ve been to about south of Spokane Street…are you referring to Spokane Street eastbound or 1st Ave southbound? You may want to give walkandbike@seattle.gov and SDOT an email with your questions. http://www.seattle.gov/Transportation/spokanestreet.htm contact LeAnne.Nelson@seattle.gov

  Post here if/when you get an answer (don’t stop until you do!)

• celeste17 January 13, 2010 (10:37 pm)

  To get home from Costco go to the 1st Ave Bridge and take the first exit. Circle around to West Marginal and take West Marginal to under the bridge and then swing up to Admiral.

• dsa January 13, 2010 (11:14 pm)

  Molly, that rt turn to 1st ave would be a temp construction detour. SDOT does not understand the concept of useful detours. In this case I believe they are more concerned about drivers developing a habit of turning rt from that lane and continuing to do so after construction is completed when it would not be safe to do so.

• Dano January 13, 2010 (11:23 pm)

  So…. Did they give any thought to paving Alaskan Way BEFORE all of this starts?….. That roadway is going to see a huge increase in use (to get to the lower bridge…) and anyone who travels that route now will tell you that it is in poor shape…. and deadly for motorcycles, scooters, and cyclists… especially at night.

• Ken January 14, 2010 (5:42 am)

  Can we get a bit more detail? A link?
  Google shows this.
  http://www.abam.com/news/newsletter/index.cfm?id=218

  Is that all the info?

  It appears to be the total destruction of one of the few remaining routes from mid-WS to south 99.

  I realize the port management is insane and SDOT sadistic, but is anyone concerned that this will force those with a current 7 min commute into adding to already bizarre detours.

  • WSB January 14, 2010 (8:51 am)

    Ken, I’ve heard of the project before – the graphic is from a story we ran last year – but I couldn’t find a basic info link or I would have included it, as we do with as many of our stories as possible. I’m going to have to check with the Port to see if they can provide me with an overview, since it’s their project – TR

• hopey January 14, 2010 (7:24 am)

  I believe the 1st Ave ramp is going to close also, thus why I asked the question. As far as I can tell, there will be no easy route to that area, including via the lower bridge, once this construction starts and the 1st Ave ramp closes.

  I realize there are much more serious things to get upset about, but this is sure going to be a big annoying headache.

• sa January 14, 2010 (7:33 am)

  Since all this work has begun, I have had to drive back to Admiral from Costco by driving all the way south across the 1st Ave South Bridge, and coming back via West Marginal the long way home. Get used to it. There may be shorter detours but they are unpredictable, congested frequently, and generally poorly thought out.

  There is no coordination among all the major projects going on which is the main problem.

• JEM January 14, 2010 (9:58 am)

  The 1st Ave ON Ramp will be closing in May, so that does affect the return trip. The off ramp to 1st Ave will remain open. Return trip (as of May) will be as suggested earlier – 1st Ave bridge to West Marginal, then up to Admiral. Yes, low bridge access is going to be super fun come summertime!

• JEM January 14, 2010 (10:01 am)

  Slightly off topic, when looking into more details of this project, turns out there is a project planned (on hold due to funding) to make Lander an overpass between 1st and 3rd, so traffic would go over the tracks. It would have a bike lane and pedestrian walkway as well. How I long for the day that will ever happen.

• flynlo January 14, 2010 (11:33 am)

  Learn to love the low level bridge! Even after this project is completed, access to the viaduct west bound from north bound 4th (i.e. Costco) will be difficult, unless you like to wait for trains between 1st and 4th! Consider the fun of accessing the viaduct from 1st ave north bound (say from Daniel Smiths or Cross Cut hardwoods) i.e. you’ll have to make a U turn? on 1st to access the on ramp to West Seattle – What a mess – as a friend said years ago about the freeway design – They certainly didn’t let experience stand in their way!!

• detoured again January 14, 2010 (4:35 pm)

  I live in West Seattle and work in Sodo.

  The current closures of East And West bound Spokane St (until 2013), the long backups on 1st Ave S and closures along the Harbor island brige ramps make access to Sodo from West Seattle difficult and at times dangerous.

  Semi trucks headed to and from Harbor island average about 40 MPH on surface streets and regard yield signs and stoplight as mere suggestions.
  I’ve been run into curbs and completely off the road several times by truckers obviously annoyed with the detours at hand. Not on a bike mind you a 2 ton truck and they still run me off the road.

  From the looks of this picture they want to close access from the Harbor island bridge to Spokane St?
  Has anyone ever counted how many hundreds maybe thousands of large semi trucks a day travel that route to I-5?
  Well they did, now they drive pissed and fast all over Sodo seaching for I-5.
  Do you really want all those road raged truckers doing 60 on curved ramps to and from the West Seattle Bridge a 1,000 times a day?
  Seriously, it looks like a ton of jack-knife pile ups and death waiting to happen to me.

• Dano January 14, 2010 (8:05 pm)

  I have to agree with the comment by detoured again- This will be dangerous. It is time for some comment from the DOT. Think we’ll get it?….. Before someone gets hurt or killed?

• Kathleen January 17, 2010 (10:45 am)

  Now they’re talking about starting the seawall repair project. Will somebody explain to me how how we will have access to the waterfront at all? Who is supposed to be coordinating all these projects?

  • WSB January 17, 2010 (12:57 pm)

    Kathleen – we have a followup coming later today on the seawall proposal, though it won’t answer that question. The mayor didn’t want to speak specifically to such aspects when announcing the ballot measure the other day – TR

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