VIADUCT CLOSURE GETS CLOSER: Starting with ramp shutdowns, Metro reroutes at 10 pm Thursday

| Alaskan Way Viaduct | Highway 99 tunnel | West Seattle news

With just one day left until the two-weeks-or-so Alaskan Way Viaduct closure starts, a precautionary closure while the tunneling machine goes under the structure, a few points to mention/reiterate tonight:

*WSDOT says the onramps will “start closing” at 10 pm Thursday night. Having driven on The Viaduct to and from a meeting north of downtown in the past few hours, we can confirm that the signage we saw at ramps tonight all carried that message, as does the official infopage at 99closure.org.

*10 pm Thursday night is also when Metro says its rerouting will begin. (See the maps here.)

*The closure is expected to be in full effect by midnight Thursday night. (Some messaging says 11:59 pm Thursday, some says 12:01 am Friday, but basically, it’s midnight tomorrow night.)

*Surface streets/sidewalks/paths under The Viaduct are expected to remain open.

*WSDOT says it’s expecting to update its “tunneling progress” webpage around 11 am and 8 pm weekdays, 2:30 pm weekends, during the closure. Its contractor plans to tunnel 24/7 while going under The Viaduct. But, as photojournalists were told during Monday’s tunnel photo-op, it’ll be slow going at the start.

*If you still have a question, it might be answered on WSDOT’s FAQ page. If not, please comment, and we’ll chase down an answer (reps of every agency involved, and then some, are having another megabriefing tomorrow morning).

AmandaKH April 27, 2016 (10:49 pm)

I heard that the C Line routing, which includes the 120 and 125 will have a stop at Lander St and 4th Ave to connect with Link light rail. Which is really exciting and makes a lot of sense for people moving further north of downtown. Don’t worry West Seattle! We’ve got this.

A-Red April 28, 2016 (8:13 am)

I will be riding my bike most weekdays to SODO. If anyone new to cycling wants a guide who will show you the way and talk you through safety fundamentals, I am happy to meet up with you. Reply here and we’ll figure out how to connect from there…

NiceBoots! April 28, 2016 (8:47 am)

I gotta say the WSDOT maps for bus re-routes are not very good. It shows the overall route, but I cannot tell if any of the SB stops are changing from downtown. It looks like there is one closure, but does that mean all the others will remain the same? Also, it’s amazing there’s not one sign on the 120 bus I take everyday alerting people about the closure. What about the people who are not glued to their phone or have a computer. It doesn’t look like the Seattle Commuter or other trip planner sites are updated to reflect the re-routing.

jrr April 28, 2016 (9:23 am)

I’m planning to run some of my commutes. Wave and say hi! We’ve got this, west seattle.

Chris Hoffman April 28, 2016 (12:09 pm)

jrr… I run to/from Belltown from Highland Park so I’ll look for you on the road. It’s a great way to start or end the day!

sunshine April 28, 2016 (9:39 am)

Amandka – that’s a really good point about the busses re-routing through SODO and the option to switch over to Light Rail. I have a feeling those trains are going to be really packed, though.

Sue April 28, 2016 (9:48 am)

Niceboots, I was on a bus the other day, and someone asked the driver where the bus was being rerouted during the closure, and he said “I’m not sure – they haven’t told us yet.” If that’s true, less than a week before the reroutes, I’m even more frightened.

JayDee April 28, 2016 (9:56 am)

My 56 afternoon driver said that both the NB and SB routes, though they are not shown, will be the same…meaning you can catch the 56 at stops north of the SB line going home, and get off at the “normal” stops going to work.
I was hoping for a temporary bus-only lane both on 4th and then Airport way…

miws April 28, 2016 (10:00 am)

Niceboots, this schedule page for the 120 from Metro’s site, will give you more details on stop(s) missed, and substitute stops for the 120 and other affected routes.

Just click on the exclamation mark in the triangle icon toward the upper right corner for the PDF.

Mike

Delridge's Lil' Homie April 28, 2016 (4:17 pm)

It’s the end of the world as we know it.. there are routine near 10 mile backups with the 99. With this closure and the last weekend of the tulip festival, anyone trying to head anyway except south is going to get a taste of downtown NYC traffic..

Sorry, comment time is over.