West Seattle traffic alert: ‘Low bridge’ closing for 4 hours Friday night; Viaduct slowdowns Sunday morning

4:35 PM: Just announced by SDOT:

The Spokane Street Bridge to West Seattle will be closed to motor vehicles, bicyclists and pedestrians on Friday night, Jan. 31, from 8 p.m. to midnight. The closure will allow a contractor working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to dredge the channel where silt has accumulated. Drivers are advised to use the high-level West Seattle Bridge during this time.

The contractor will begin dredging tomorrow (Thursday) night, but will not need to close the bridge to motor vehicles until Friday night to finish the work. The channel will remain open for marine traffic.

ADDED 5 PM: Thanks to David and Bob for tipping us to this alert also just announced: “SPD will conduct rolling slowdowns on the SR 99 Alaskan Way Viaduct for filming operations. The rolling slowdowns will take place between the West Seattle Bridge and the Western Ave Exit from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on Sunday, February 2, 2014.”

ADDED THURSDAY: From an SDOT rep in response to the question of whether there will be any type of transportation to get people on foot/bikes around during the closure – since they can’t use the high-level bridge as an alternative – short answer: No. But the contractor might be able to take less time than the four-hour window. We’ll monitor the situation as best we’re able to on Friday night so we can publish an update when the bridge is back to regular operations.

10 Replies to "West Seattle traffic alert: 'Low bridge' closing for 4 hours Friday night; Viaduct slowdowns Sunday morning"

  • Kadoo January 29, 2014 (5:10 pm)

    What’s a rolling slowdown? I need to be on lower QA at that time and it’s my usual route. Open at all? Some lanes cl

  • Kadoo January 29, 2014 (5:12 pm)

    What’s a rolling shutdown? Any lanes open? I need to travel in that direction on Sunday morning and it’s my usual route.

  • Joe Szilagyi January 29, 2014 (5:18 pm)

    What’s the non-car alternative route to the low bridge? I never even thought of that.

  • I. Ponder January 29, 2014 (5:42 pm)

    Any idea if there will be a shuttle for bicycles that arrive at the bridge and are unable to cross?

  • Iggy January 29, 2014 (6:03 pm)

    Terrific. We have a weekend off from the I5 lane closures, and now we get 99 slowdown. Hard not to be paranoid here in West Seattle.

  • datamuse January 29, 2014 (6:19 pm)

    There’s a bridge crossing for bicycles at 1st Ave S, though it’s another three miles each away.

  • chelle January 29, 2014 (6:52 pm)

    Westbound bridge all lanes blocked after admiral exit.

  • NW January 29, 2014 (6:59 pm)

    Decades back when the lower bridge was being built we use to load out bikes onto a trailer equipped with bike racks and get into a van to be driven over the West Seattle bridge. I imagine the city or county provided the service. The pickup location was close to the Chelan Cafe under the West Seattle freeway.

  • dsa January 30, 2014 (12:30 am)

    Sunday 9-11 am slowdown, just use 1st ave through downtown if you think it will be too slow. That was the route before there ever was a viaduct. Of course there were two more lanes on 1st back then.

  • WSB January 30, 2014 (3:17 pm)

    Updating the story after hearing from SDOT – there is no plan to get foot/bicycle bridge users around during the closure. But they say the contractor also MIGHT be able to finish the work in less time than the four-hour window. – TR

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