TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: Friday watch; weekend alerts; water break in Admiral

(SDOT MAP with travel times/video links; is the ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE)

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

6:39 AM: Good morning! One incident reported on an outbound route right now – at 4th and Lander in SODO, a crash is blocking one northbound lane.

WEEKEND REMINDER – LIMITED ACCESS TO HARBOR ISLAND: Ramps to Harbor Island will be closed this weekend because of railroad-crossing work – here again are the details.

WEEKEND LANE CLOSURES ON EB I-90, SB I-5: Road work will affect traffic on eastbound I-90 just east of I-5, and southbound I-5 in South King County – read the alerts if your weekend plans will take you onto either of those freeways.

WEEKEND EVENTS, CITYWIDE: Here’s the weekly SDOT look at major potentially traffic-affecting events, including Sunday’s Seahawks home game.

7:02 AM: SDOT says the 4th Avenue crash has cleared. But now there’s a northbound I-5 problem on this side of downtown – WSDOT says the right lane is partly blocked by a crash “just south of” Seneca. (Added a few minutes later – WSDOT now says there are TWO crashes in that same area.)

7:12 AM: Both NB I-5 crashes are now cleared, WSDOT now reports.

8:53 AM: It’s been incident-free since then, at least in our general area, but here’s a traffic note: We’re on the high bridge right now, on the way to an interview off-peninsula, and the bridge is stop-and-go … more stop than go.

9:01 AM: Two other notes – we’ve received multiple reports of a water problem on California SW by West Seattle High School – checking with Seattle Public Utilities to see what they know. Also, if you are headed for surface Spokane St. in SODO, there’s a fire-alarm call with multiple SFD units at an address that checks to just west of 1st Avenue South.

9:23 AM: We might have a separate story about it later, but for now, we’ve confirmed that SPU is aware of the break – it’s a “service line,” not an actual main line – and will have a repair crew out later.

9:42 AM: Our photographer reports the crew is actually there now. This is on California SW near the south entrance to WSHS:

Thanks again for the tips – there’s no outgoing center of information about SPU problems, unlike Seattle City Light, which has an outage map, so we appreciate tips when you see something happening. (As with crime, report it to the authorities first, then let us know – 206-293-6302 text or voice if it’s happening now!)

watertowerjoey September 9, 2016 (9:02 am)

Do people not know how to use their visors and/or wear sunglasses anymore?

It always amazes me this time of year that on a perfect weather day the EB bridge traffic in the morning is slow only because of sun in the eyes.

East Coast Cynic September 9, 2016 (10:02 am)

Tracy, isn’t stop and go pretty much the norm going eastbound during rush hours on the bridge nice sunny day or not?

Pops September 9, 2016 (11:42 am)

ECC yes, stop and go or worse, rain or shine :)

watertowerjoey September 9, 2016 (12:35 pm)

Not Fridays. Fridays are typically very light.

watertowerjoey September 9, 2016 (12:38 pm)

Another way to tell is to see what happens to traffic after the top of the bridge. Today, for example it was wide open, so nothing “beyond the top” creating the slow traffic. It was the sun.

WSB September 9, 2016 (12:44 pm)

Since we live and work on-peninsula, we don’t experience the morning crunch firsthand that often, unless we have a court hearing or some other story to cover off-peninsula – as was the case today – so we mentioned it. Last time we headed east late in the commute, it seemed to be pretty quick, so we only gave ourselves 20 minutes to get to Airport Way/Lander, and, figures, we were late.

Geoff September 9, 2016 (5:03 pm)

Any word on the evening slowdown?

Looked like the police were watching for someone on Southbound i5, but they were blocking the Northbound onramp from WA Bridge.

Six cars, three on SB i5 at the off ramp for the bridge and three parked facing east on the overpass.

WSB September 9, 2016 (5:05 pm)

Somebody texted about something on the “Columbia overpass” (according to co-publisher Patrick, who has the hotline with him at the moment, outside HQ) but I cannot find a mention of anything in that vicinity on traffic-related Twitter accounts or the 911 log … still looking. … wait, on rereading, now I get it – COLUMBIAN WAY overpass. As in east end of the bridge. Checking.
- WSB September 9, 2016 (5:17 pm)
  
  WSDOT would only describe it as “an incident” – and tells us now via Twitter that it has just cleared.
  - WSB September 9, 2016 (5:59 pm)
    
    …but then they were searching again, so we’ve published something separate.

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