For your planning:

TIMBER BRIDGE: The project on Highway 99 just south of the West Seattle Bridge is now scheduled to get going in the first week of February, according to WSDOT‘s Broch Bender. Midmountain Contractors was the winning bidder at $9.2 million, another update since last time we wrote about this project.

I-5/SPOKANE INTERCHANGE BRIDGE REPAIR: The ramp-closure plan for this weekend (10 pm Friday-5 am Monday) has changed, also per Bender, who says crews will “work further east than we thought and therefore will not have to close the ramp from S. Columbian Way to southbound I-5.” Here’s what they WILL do:

Crews will now close the ramps from S. Columbian Way to the West Seattle Bridge and Sixth Avenue South. Drivers will be detoured via I-5 [here’s the new map]. The closures are from 10 p.m. Friday through 5 a.m. Monday; all ramps to and from northbound and southbound I-5 will remain open all weekend. As a reminder, pulling out and replacing hulking steel expansion joints is a noisy job, and folks living on N. Beacon Hill near the interchange may hear a steady stream of concrete chippers, saws and generator noise. Residents can call 206-440-4DOT (4368) to receive a free pair of earplugs, or they can pick up a pair in person at the Jefferson Community Center through Saturday.

She adds, “(The following) weekend (Jan 18-21) crews will work further west on the S. Columbian Way ramp and will need to close three out of four westbound ramps: S. Columbian Way to southbound I-5, 6th Ave. S, and West Seattle Bridge.” So for the next two weekends, the project will only affect those getting to the WS Bridge from Beacon Hill.