Alaskan Way Viaduct closing 2 of next 3 weekends

The state now says the Alaskan Way Viaduct/Highway 99 between the West Seattle Bridge and Battery St. Tunnel isn’t just closing this weekend, it has a second weekend closure agead. Just announced:

Crews will close the State Route 99 Alaskan Way Viaduct for two of the next three weekends to inspect the structure and reinforce a two-block section located above the path of the future SR 99 tunnel.
 
Both directions of SR 99 between the Battery Street Tunnel and the West Seattle Bridge will close from 6 a.m. Saturday, Marcoh 24, to 5 a.m. Monday, March 26. Crews will use the closure to inspect the viaduct and ensure it remains safe for drivers. WSDOT will release preliminary inspection results on Tuesday, April 10.
 
In addition to structural inspections and routine maintenance, crews building the SR 99 tunnel will begin reinforcing the viaduct between South Washington and Columbia streets in Pioneer Square. An additional full-weekend closure in April will be necessary to complete their work, which must occur before the world’s largest diameter tunnel boring machine passes beneath the structure in late 2013. 
 
Viaduct closure details
·         Both directions of SR 99 between the Battery Street Tunnel and the West Seattle Bridge will close from 6 a.m. Saturday, March 24, through 5 a.m. Monday, March 26.
·         Both directions of SR 99 between the Battery Street Tunnel and the West Seattle Bridge will close from 11 p.m. Friday, April 6, through 5 a.m. Monday, April 9.
 
Drivers should expect increased congestion in and near downtown Seattle during these closures and plan accordingly. WSDOT recommends leaving early, carpooling or taking transit. Drivers can check traffic conditions before they leave at www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic. Up-to-the-minute traffic information is also available via the voice-activated driver information line, 511.

5 Replies to "Alaskan Way Viaduct closing 2 of next 3 weekends"

  • Mike March 21, 2012 (8:30 am)

    That sucks! Tired of all this already and we have barely started. I hope the ones that voted for it take a bus and stay of the roads.

  • LWC March 21, 2012 (10:26 am)

    I like to view these little shut-downs as a preview of life once the tunnel project is finished, when neither the viaduct nor the tunnel will serve the needs of drivers or transit-users headed downtown!

  • ILoveWestSeattle March 21, 2012 (12:16 pm)

    Totally agree, LWC–I’ve said here before but will repeat–The Tunnel will come to epitomize the words fiasco/boondoggle/SNAFU/cluster****.
    Absolutely incredible that this project was allowed to go forward, it will haunt this region for decades to come.

  • metrognome March 21, 2012 (5:08 pm)

    y’all are funny. you complain about weekend closures, yet if we had torn the viaduct down and replaced it with another viaduct, Viadoom would have gone on for four years. Once the tunnel, the rebuild of Alaskan Way street level and the Mercer Mess (which coordinates at the north end of downtown with the first two projects) are down, there will be a completely different traffic distribution system in/through downtown.

  • LWC March 22, 2012 (11:07 am)

    @metrognome – All of that could have happened without spending $4 billion burrowing under the city in order to serve the needs of fewer cars than use Fauntleroy on a daily basis! No tunnel or replacement viaduct needed.

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