TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: Wednesday watch; beware bridge mess

(WS bridge and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
6:59 AM: Nothing unusual reported on the routes through/from West Seattle so far this morning. So we start with transportation news you might have missed:

TUNNEL PIT ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION BEGINS: You’ll recall that the digging stopped last Thursday at the pit to access the Highway 99 tunnel machine’s broken cutter head, when a concentration of shells was found. The archaeological investigation of those shells has begun, WSDOT announced late Monday.

Also of note:

SEATTLE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OUT EARLY: Today is a two-hours-early-dismissal day for students district-wide.

7:39 AM: First commenter traffic report of the morning – Avalon backed up.

8:09 AM: “20 big blocks of wet concrete” reported as a traffic hazard on the eastbound bridge. No further location details heard via scanner – police are checking it out.

8:33 AM: Just got a phone call about this – whatever form it’s in, cars are driving through the concrete and the mess is getting worse. The caller pins the location from the Fauntleroy entrance to the bridge, down and around the curve and parallel with Nucor.

8:50 AM: We’re seeing what looks to be cleanup, under way on the eastbound bridge entrance – screengrab from the nearby traffic cam:

11:38 AM: If you haven’t seen this story – beware Fauntleroy/Oregon until the light’s fixed.

West Seattle since 1979 October 29, 2014 (7:31 am)

Traffic is backed up on Avalon Way.

WSB October 29, 2014 (7:38 am)

Thanks!

Kim October 29, 2014 (7:56 am)

Traffic is markedly worse this fall. My old mantra was, out of the house before 7 a.m. to beat the bridge traffic. Now it’s already backed up at 6:45. Could be density? Could also be the really low rate of unemployment — more people are back to work.

Eddie October 29, 2014 (8:13 am)

Scanner reports those as bags of concrete-which will turn I to blocks when they get wet. Unsecured load.

WSB October 29, 2014 (8:15 am)

Initial report was “blocks” which sounded a little unlikely. But then there was the report before THAT which mentioned possibly “dirt,” which sounded plausible given all the dump trucks hauling excavation spoils away. Added: Someone just called about this and whatever it is, it’s reported to be all over the lanes from 35th/Fauntleroy until about Nucor. We’re going to go see what we can see. – TR

squareeyes October 29, 2014 (9:21 am)

It looked like wet concrete when I went past them around 8:30am from Fauntleroy and down onto the bridge; I wondered if a cement truck had a little leakage problem.

Arin October 29, 2014 (4:45 pm)

I drove through it right after. Now have blue on my tires and concrete in my wheel wells. Anyone know how to get it off or the company of who’s trucks they were?

Sorry, comment time is over.