West Seattle Blog…

Update: Last stretch of lower Spokane Street roadway now open

October 25, 2012 at 5:46 pm | In Spokane St. Viaduct project, West Seattle news | 10 Comments

5:46 PM: According to the Construction Look Ahead that SDOT updates every Thursday – see it here – westbound lower Spokane Street will be open all the way from 6th Avenue S. to East Marginal Way by 6 am tomorrow. That’s the last major piece of the four-year project to widen the elevated roadway, add an eastbound offramp at 4th Avenue South, and consolidated westbound on/offramps at 1st Avenue, among other components.

9:50 PM UPDATE: Just checked while coming home from an errand downtown – and the entirety of lower westbound Spokane Street is now OPEN. Photo to come. (For a trip down Memory Lane, here’s our first in-depth story before the Spokane Street Viaduct Widening Project started construction 4+ years ago. There’s also a project timeline at the bottom of the SSVWP city home page.)

10:50 PM NOTE: If you’re wondering about the designs on the columns – it’s art commissioned for the project.

10 Comments

1. the SSV widening project ends not with a bang, but a whimper.
   .
   congratulations, west seattle. we survived.

   Comment by redblack — 9:21 pm October 25, 2012 #

2. It’s open now! We just drove it after an errand downtown.

   Comment by WSB — 9:48 pm October 25, 2012 #

3. The art, by the way, reminds me of being in downtown Chicago in what I refer to as the “underrated” – not bad but all it does is remind one that you are in a hostile environment. Kinda like the ugly treatment on Ravenna under I-5 or Jackson under I-5 – the art doesn’t detract from the ugliness of putting humans underneath a massive superstructure.

   Comment by chas redmond — 11:29 pm October 25, 2012 #

4. To celebrate, we should close it one more time and have a party on top!

   Comment by Rumbles — 4:18 am October 26, 2012 #

5. I dig the art! Noticed it the other day while on the bus…

   Comment by SudsyMaggie — 4:59 am October 26, 2012 #

6. Can you access westbound west seattle bridge from lower Spokane St? Or do you need to veer off and use the 1st Ave S on-ramp?

   Comment by Nitro — 8:48 am October 26, 2012 #

7. You can get to the westbound LOW bridge – which is how we drove it last night – but to get to the high bridge, you need to go use the 1st Avenue South ramp.

   Comment by WSB — 8:57 am October 26, 2012 #

8. Can you turn left coming from Costco to Spokane street to try and get back to WS?

   Comment by Wallace — 9:07 am October 26, 2012 #

9. I don’t understand, is this real? The road’s been closed for so long I didn’t even associate it with a construction project. I just figured it would be closed forever.
   .
   You’re saying we’re allowed to drive our cars on the road under the viaduct now? Like the whole way?

   Comment by Robot — 11:12 am October 26, 2012 #

10. As they finish up construction has anyone else noticed the sign over the eastbound southern most lane on the 99 overpass is still covered up with black plastic and tape? I assume it says 1st Ave Exit Only, but don’t know. Did they perhaps forget to uncover it?

    Comment by GRG — 2:52 pm October 26, 2012 #

Sorry, comment time is over.