VIADUCT CLOSURE, DAY 8: Friday PM traffic, transit, tunneling

(SDOT MAP with camera/incident links; OFFICIAL #99CLOSURE INFOSITE; ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE)

(Click any view for a close-up; more cameras on the WSB Traffic page)

4:18 PM: A bit late to the party, sorry.

4:25 PM: Take a look at the camera – the eastbound bridge looks as bad as the morning commute. Westbound, not so bad so far.

4:40 PM-5:05 PM: The “low bridge” has just reopened after a 25-minute closure.

5:11 PM: And SDOT has tweeted that the “low bridge” is closing to surface traffic again right now, for a maritime-traffic opening, just a few minutes after the previous one.

5:16 PM: Speaking of SDOT, looks like they’re optimistic the Viaduct closure will end after about two weeks, as expected. They’ve announced the new date for the start of the Fauntleroy Expressway seismic-cushion-re-replacement closures: May 15th. If you recall our original reports earlier this year, this project will involve dozens of overnight closures of the west end of the bridge. It originally was set to start April 27th, as announced hours before the state set April 29th for the start of the Viaduct closure; questions about the potential misery index caused by that confluence led SDOT to push it back to mid-May, and now we have a date.

5:24 PM: SDOT just tweeted that the low bridge is back open to non-maritime traffic.

5:32 PM: Just heard a mutual-aid call for SFD’s Highland Park-based Engine 11 to head to 8th SW and SW 100th in Greenbridge (White Center), just a few blocks south of the city limits. Don’t know what the incident is but we’ll head over for a look. 8th is an arterial in the area so this serves as a potential traffic alert.

5:50 PM: Our crew arriving there says it was a crash, not affecting traffic and a tow truck has already arrived, but deputies say paramedics were needed and not available from North Highline FD so they called for SFD.

wc100th

Meantime, back on this side of the city/county line, we have multiple reports that surface traffic, especially downtown, is bollixed.

6:21 PM: We’ll continue tracking bridge closures until about 7 pm – South Park Bridge just went up for a maritime opening. And remember that the Water Taxi runs into the evening since it’s Friday. Paul Nicholson sent this photo of the 4:15 pm line:

watertaxi415paul

Find the schedule and other info here.

6:27 PM: The South Park Bridge is back open to surface traffic again.

6:36 PM: And now the low bridge (Spokane Street Swing Bridge) has closed to surface traffic for the third time this pm commute.

6:50 PM: The low bridge has reopened to surface traffic.

7:04 PM … and it’s closed again.

7:12 PM: Open again. We’re moving on now – if there are any major incidents for the rest of the night, and over the weekend, we’ll report them individually.

8:52 PM: One more update – 234 of the 385 under-the-Viaduct feet now for the tunneling machine, as of the final progress report of the night:

Bertha_progress_ring35
See the full update (including a stern warning!) here.

8 Replies to "VIADUCT CLOSURE, DAY 8: Friday PM traffic, transit, tunneling"

  • newnative May 6, 2016 (4:54 pm)

    the SDOT map showed Denny as clear and once more, I am stuck on a bus on Denny.  

    • WSB May 6, 2016 (4:56 pm)

      It seems that during all this, the travel times and how-far-away-is-the-bus apps and such things are all over the map, so to speak.

  • Elton May 6, 2016 (5:11 pm)

    6:15 water taxi line is out almost to Alaskan way. Doubt it’ll sell out 

  • Elton May 6, 2016 (5:11 pm)

    I meant 5:15 :) 

    • WSB May 6, 2016 (5:22 pm)

      For bicycle riders in particular, this might be a good choice, given we’ve had two low-bridge closures so far in the past hour. Hard to tell if any others are on the way, as even MarineTraffic.com doesn’t show everything that’s on the move. – TR

  • Denise May 6, 2016 (5:37 pm)

     Traffic is a nightmare the waterfront first Avenue all gridlocked 

  • tim May 6, 2016 (6:03 pm)

    Caught the C Line at 3:30 ish at Columbia and Third and no problem getting to West Seattle Junction. Of course I had to stand. 

  • kjb May 6, 2016 (8:38 pm)

    took me an hour from North Queen Anne to North Delridge. Let at 5 got home at 6.

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