TRAFFIC ALERT: ‘Technical malfunction’ puts low bridge out of service for almost 2 hours; 2nd breakdown in 5 days

5:48 PM: Just one of those days. Almost every major route has had something go wrong. Right now, the low bridge:

The Lower Spokane St Bridge is currently closed due to a technical malfunction. Use alternate routes. pic.twitter.com/QbyktMGZqb

— seattledot (@seattledot) May 8, 2015

The low bridge, officially known as the Spokane Street Swing Bridge, also suffered a “technical malfunction” on Sunday that made it unusable to surface traffic for an hour and a half. Here’s the “live” webcam that looks at the low bridge:

More as we get it; no ETA on a fix so far.

6:33 PM: As of the latest update from SDOT a minute ago via Twitter, still out of commission.

7:40 PM: After almost two hours, it’s working again. No explanation of the malfunction – we’ll be following up tomorrow.

WestSide45 May 7, 2015 (7:58 pm)

These are not the same people that run the passenger ferry from West Seattle to downtown, are they? That would be too much a coincidence.

WSB May 7, 2015 (8:07 pm)

WS45, that’s county, the bridge is city.

Veloguy May 7, 2015 (8:03 pm)

After waiting 30+ minutes (5:50 to 6:25ish) and not seeing anything out of the ordinary with the swinging bridge, a few of us “rebels” rode our bikes across the bridge while it was in crapped out status on the ro@d and went over/under the swingarms. Personally, I saw no issues with the bridge, but maybe others saw the actual issue. I’d love to hear the official report. It would have been helpful if the bridge operator communicated there was an issue over the loudspeaker, but instead they chose radio silence. Thanks to the blog for the real time updates.

keven May 7, 2015 (8:26 pm)

That bridge is ridiculous. I’m so tired of it opening during the commute.

QC May 7, 2015 (8:32 pm)

I was also part of the group of cyclists who last patience and went through the barriers. It was more than a few. I’d estimate it as somewhere between 40 and 60 people. The bridge was in the fully closed position – there’s absolutely no reason those barriers should have been down!

But more importantly, what are they doing opening this thing during rush hour? This is the only connection for hundreds of bike commuters. At least motor vehicle operators can make a u-turn and take the high bridge. People on bikes are stuck missing dinner with our families.

RS May 7, 2015 (8:43 pm)

Yes, this is very hard on bike commuters…I really appreciate WSB posting it when this happens. The alternative routes are all very poor if you’re too late for the water taxi…

dsa May 7, 2015 (9:31 pm)

Thank a long ago city council for picking this stupid swing bridge design over the tried and true leaf span type.

mjc May 7, 2015 (10:24 pm)

I rolled up, waited for about 5 minutes, heard the news about the bridge problems and just rode around. Only an extra 15-20 minutes. It is inconvenient but not “hard” especially on a beautiful day.

This is not the only connection for bikes. Yes, they should fix it and yes, they should avoid usage of the swing bridge at peak hours, but be glad it wasn’t 35 degrees and rainy. That would be considered “hard.”

One question for me is if it is stuck closed, why isn’t it operational?

wetone May 7, 2015 (11:20 pm)

Interesting what happens when city wants almost a billion dollars for improvements. Also interesting is bridge worked just fine for three more openings/closing’s tonight after earlier problem, as I watched from my boat.

bolo May 7, 2015 (11:37 pm)

Early ’90s the bridge rehab still wasn’t finished yet. How did the bicyclists get across? Well they had a shuttle van pulling a flatbed trailer that had bike racks on it. Van ran back and forth over the high bridge during work week days. You waited, the van showed up, you fastened your bike on the trailer and got in the van with a dozen other sweaty guys and the van took you up and over to the other side.

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One time the van went AWOL during a cold winter evening. Started snowing. We waited and waited, growing in number. We were going to freeze waiting there so we rode up over the high bridge. Never again! We all made it but it was too nerve wracking.

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BTW 1st Ave So. bridge at that time was also bicycle-unfriendly.

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Finally when the new swing bridge was finished, it suffered almost weekly non-operational outages, often lasting several hours. You’d get up there, gate was closed lights flashing. Look up at the tower, they would never say anything, could be a few minutes, could be several hours, cold and windy. Nowadays much more reliable but looks like it could be slipping…

LWC May 8, 2015 (8:40 am)

@mjc – curious what your route to 1st ave bridge is. I’ve done this several times as well, but none of the SODO routes feel all that comfortable to me on a bike.

Perhaps the community could advocate for a signed (and improved) detour route as part of the Mayor’s Move Seattle plan.

Chad May 8, 2015 (10:43 am)

I agree with LWC, it would be nice if the alternate route over the 1st Ave bridge was signed better. There were a lot of people asking what way to go to detour. Personally, I take this route.

http://ridewithgps.com/routes/7813377

I know other people will go down 99, traversing parking lots and such, but I find that route to be less comfortable than 1st Ave and 1st Ave isn’t exactly bicycle friendly.

A fair number of people detour to the water taxi as well.

Sorry, comment time is over.