Transportation alerts: Bike-to-Work Day; Alaskan Way Viaduct closure; Alki ‘car-free day’; Spokane Street Viaduct

BIKE-TO-WORK DAY TOMORROW: For participating bicyclists, there’s the “commute station” by the west end of the “low bridge” plus, if you’re coming from White Center, or heading through there, two WC stops, Caffé Delia and Dubsea Coffee, all detailed in the preview we published earlier this week.

ALASKAN WAY VIADUCT WEEKEND CLOSURE REMINDER: 11 pm Friday to 5 am Monday, so WSDOT can keep working on reinforcing the section of The Viaduct that the tunnel will go beneath.

SUNDAY CLOSURES/CHANGES ON ALKI: Sunday starts with the West Seattle 5K (co-sponsored by WSB) benefit run/walk at 9 am, and at 11 am, Seattle Summer Streets (aka “car-free day”) – here are the Alki traffic changes you can expect as a result – note that even though the car-free events are on a limited section of the street, the rest of it is ONLY open to residents. Here’s how SDOT explains the plan:

•From 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.: Alki Avenue SW will be fully closed from 63rd Avenue SW to the Don Armeni Boat Launch Ramp for the West Seattle 5K Run/Walk. All parking will be restricted from 63rd to 56th and along the waterside from 56th to the boat ramp.

•From 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.: Alki Avenue SW will be fully closed from 63rd to 56th Avenue SW for the Summer Streets event. Parking will be restricted on both sides of the street during this time.

Access exceptions will be made for emergency vehicles and people with disabilities. After 11 a.m. local access to condos will be allowed from 56th Avenue SW to the Don Armeni Boat Launch Ramp. As in the past, SPD will detour those who do not live in the vicinity from Alki on to California Ave SW until 5 p.m.

(Added Friday morning: The citywide weekend event alerts, here.)

NEXT WEEK AND BEYOND, SPOKANE STREET VIADUCT PLANS: A roundup of what’s ahead for the Spokane Street Viaduct section of the West Seattle Bridge includes two notes looking past next week, before next week’s closure schedule – the switch from eastbound 1st ramp open to eastbound 4th ramp open is not going to happen next week after all; plus, in early June there will be a full=weekend closure of the westbound SSV – read on for complete details from SDOT:

The eastbound off-ramp at Fourth Avenue S has been closed since mid-April, when eastbound traffic was temporarily shifted onto the new viaduct structure in order to make room for repairs and repaving of the bridge deck on the old structure. It had previously been reported that the Fourth Avenue off-ramp would reopen next week (May 22 or 23), however, this has now been delayed. SDOT now expects the Fourth Avenue off-ramp to be open for the morning commute on Wednesday, May 30, at which point the eastbound off-ramp at First Avenue S will close. The First Avenue off-ramp is expected to remain closed for about four weeks.

Looking ahead, all westbound lanes of the Spokane Street Viaduct from I-5 to SR 99 will be closed from 6 p.m. Saturday, June 9 until 5 a.m. Monday, June 11.

Other Upcoming Project Roadway Closures:

Thursday, May 17

· The westbound lanes of the Spokane Street Viaduct between I-5 and SR 99 will be closed overnight from 10 p.m. until 5 a.m. on Friday morning. The SR 99 southbound off-ramp to West Seattle will remain open, providing the opportunity to avoid the closure.

· Eastbound traffic on the Spokane Street Viaduct will be reduced to one lane overnight from
9 p.m. until 5 a.m. on Friday morning.

· The intersection of Sixth Avenue S & S Spokane Street will be restricted to one lane in each direction, both for north/south and east/west traffic, from 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. on Friday morning.

Monday, May 21 – Tuesday, May 22

· The westbound lanes of the Spokane Street Viaduct between I-5 and SR 99 will be closed nightly from 10 p.m. until 5 a.m. the following morning. The SR 99 southbound off-ramp to West Seattle will remain open, providing the opportunity to avoid the closure.

· Eastbound traffic on the Spokane Street Viaduct will be reduced to one lane nightly from
9 p.m. until 5 a.m. the following morning.

Monday, May 21 – Wednesday, May 23

· Southbound traffic on East Marginal Way S at S Spokane Street will be detoured to the west nightly from 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. the following morning.

Monday, May 21 – Friday, May 25

· The intersection of Sixth Avenue S & S Spokane Street will be restricted to one lane in each direction nightly, both for north/south and east/west traffic. On the nights of May 21, 22, 24, & 25, the southbound lane restrictions will run from 11 p.m. until 5 a.m. the following morning. On Wednesday, May 23, the southbound lane restriction will run from 10 p.m. until 5 a.m. Thursday morning. The northbound lane restriction will begin at 9 p.m. each night and end at 5 a.m. the following morning.

Thursday, May 24

· Fourth Avenue S at S Spokane Street will be reduced to one lane in each direction overnight from 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. Friday morning.

Thursday, May 24 – Friday, May 25

· Northbound traffic on East Marginal Way S at S Spokane Street will be detoured to the east frontage roadway under SR 99 nightly from 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. the following morning. Northbound traffic wishing to turn west at S Spokane Street will execute a U-turn at S Horton Street.

Friday, May 25

· First Avenue S at S Spokane Street will be reduced to one lane in each direction. The northbound restriction will run from 9 p.m. Friday until 5 a.m. Saturday. In order to accommodate Mariners fans leaving Safeco Field, the southbound lane restriction will not begin until 11 p.m. (and will continue until 5 a.m. Saturday morning).

Saturday, June 9 – Monday, June 11

· Westbound lanes of the Spokane Street Viaduct between I-5 and SR 99 will be closed from 6 p.m. Saturday, June 9 until 5 a.m. the morning of Monday, June 11. (The closure time is delayed until early evening on Saturday due to events at the stadiums in SODO earlier that day.)

9 Replies to "Transportation alerts: Bike-to-Work Day; Alaskan Way Viaduct closure; Alki 'car-free day'; Spokane Street Viaduct"

  • Lovemybike May 17, 2012 (7:35 pm)

    Woo hoo!! See everyone at the WS lower bridge commute station. Great way to start the day, and based on all the construction closures this weekend, a fantastic weekend to jump on your bicycle instead of sitting in your car.

  • AlkiAnne May 17, 2012 (9:06 pm)

    Anyone else overwhelmed by the list of closures and detours? Think I’ll just stick to West Seattle for the next year to avoid the confusion of complicated advance route planning.

    • WSB May 17, 2012 (9:16 pm)

      AA, the Spokane Street Viaduct program is *supposed* to be done in about four months, so then it’ll really only be the Alaskan Way Viaduct. For a while, anyway!

  • AJP May 17, 2012 (9:09 pm)

    Bike to work! Bike to work!!! Hooray!!! I don’t have to work tomorrow but I’ll be biking in with my husband, with my kid in the baby seat!

  • G May 18, 2012 (9:34 am)

    A Summer Streets event on Alki? Don’t we already have a nice bike path and pedestrian walk?

    Don’t get it.

  • Dizzle May 18, 2012 (5:41 pm)

    I hope police will be out in force to ensure ONLY W. Sea residents are at Alki on Sunday. We sure wouldn’t want anyone else enjoying the events.

  • Nancy F. May 22, 2012 (12:35 pm)

    I’m trying to find out if 99 will be closed May 26th-27th, but the WSDOT page is still from last week. Does anyone know if no news means it’s open? Or is the announcement just late-ish?

    • WSB May 22, 2012 (1:07 pm)

      They update the closures page every Thursday. There is NO Viaduct/99 closure scheduled that I know of beyond the one last weekend – certainly there will be more but one for this weekend DEFINITELY would have been announced by now if it were happening. Did you hear someone say there was supposed to be one? – TR

  • Nancy F. May 22, 2012 (4:28 pm)

    No, I hadn’t heard of one, but I wanted to plan an errand N. of Seattle this weekend and so was looking…and confused. Thanks for the info.

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