Baffled by the bridge

A reader writes with a concern she wanted to put before all of WSB-land … discuss!

I’m just wondering, is there any discussion in city hall or the DOT about updating the entrance/interchange onto the West Seattle Bridge. In particular, the dangerous exit ramp to 4th Ave. S. and the closed entrance ramp onto the bridge. Having the entrance ramp closed over the past five years has been so frustrating for commuters stuck waiting for trains to pass. Isn’t it past time for these problem areas to be fixed?

Robert July 2, 2007 (8:39 am)

http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/spokanestreet.htm

It’s not very clear when “Phase IV” – is going to actually begin.

Jiggers July 2, 2007 (10:29 am)

Wasn’t that closed because if I remember correctly, someone died while trying to get on the WS Bridge from that on ramp. There may be no easy solution or if it would be safe enough to justify it being reopened. It was a very dangerous on ramp and I’m surprised that off ramp is still open. If your turning to get off there, cars behind whether or not you have a turn signal working, almost have no time to prepare a sudden move by you. Driver and accidents will always happen because no on ever follows the standard distance you need to be while behind another vehicle.

John M July 2, 2007 (11:12 am)

We live in West Seattle. Nothing ever gets fixed unless it is spelled California.

B July 2, 2007 (11:24 am)

That roadway is referred to as the Spokane Street Viaduct, not the West Seattle Bridge.

The closed onramp has been addressed in the Seattle Times’ and P-I’s weekly traffic Q&A columns. The most recent mention I can find is in the P-I’s “Getting There” on Dec. 20, 2004:

Sorry… but the closure of this ramp is permanent.

[SDOT’s Katherine] Casseday said the ramp was closed because of safety concerns and frequent collisions.

“The merging maneuvers required at this location, combined with the speed of vehicles on the facility and the geometry and poor sight angles, together made this a very difficult situation,” she said.

To make it worse, many large trucks move through this area on their way to and from Harbor Island.

The Fourth Avenue ramp will be removed as part of a project to widen the Spokane Street Viaduct. The project will include relocating westbound onramps and offramps to First, as well as widening lanes and new shoulders. The shoulders will allow disabled vehicles to move to the side of the road rather than block traffic.

As for the 4th Ave exit from the viaduct: if they ever do actually widen the Spokane St. Viaduct they will certainly include a deceleration lane for that exit or perhaps remove it entirely. Althought most people ignore it, the speed limit on the Spokane St. Viaduct is 35mph in both directions. If people obeyed the speed limit, the turn wouldn’t be any more dangerous than a turn off of any arterial.

Robert July 2, 2007 (11:53 am)

If anyone has $50(?) Million lying around, I’d love to see a “fly over” ramp from eastbound West Seattle Bridge to 99 Northbound. That crazy 270 degree loop we have now is a big source of the slowdowns on the eastbound commute in the morning. It is always quite lovely when a vehicle breaks down in that curve.

Gina July 2, 2007 (3:08 pm)

There was an accident almost every day with that on ramp, bad sightlines for mergers, and hard to see cars that were merging. Before the jersey barriers were put it, cars would ricochet into the oncoming lanes after being clipped. I think there were 15 or so fatalities in that area from the mid sixties on until they closed that ramp. Took about another 5 fatalities before it was decided that it WAS possible to put in jersey barriers.

flipjack July 2, 2007 (3:27 pm)

I have a solution. HALT all new development plans for shopping centers, condos and townhomes until most, if not all, traffic congestion/mass transit problems are given solutions and immediately acted upon. Imagine how encouraged developers and city officials would be to quickly come up with solutions!!

Todd in Westwood July 2, 2007 (4:52 pm)

Probably a good thing that ramp is still closed. Tried to merge onto the road in a ’62 Beetle, needless to say, I was almost taken out by an 18 wheeler headed to Harbor Island.

Jiggers July 2, 2007 (5:28 pm)

I also noticed that the speed you’re at when you drive by that on ramp is almost top speed. I was cruising at 45 mph just following the flow in front of me. Its hard to go from 0-60 in 3 seconds flat with no runway to help you get on the bridge unless you have a Ferrari..

Max July 2, 2007 (6:37 pm)

It was a fatality that closed the 4th Ave on-ramp. As I recall, a truck coming up the ramp failed to see a car on the viaduct, moved left, and pushed the car across the center line into a head-on crash. I think it was a mom and child who died. That’s when the speed limit was reduced and, after some time, the Jersey barriers went up. For a couple of years, folks even obeyed the new speed limit, perhaps because memory of the crash was still alive.

eric July 2, 2007 (10:26 pm)

Here’s a simple idea that nobody seems to ever discuss….

while rebuilding the Spokane St. viaduct, extend the bridge’s bus lane to 5th ave, where it can drop right onto the 5th ave. busway and straight into the bus tunnel.

Now that would be rapid transit for West Seattle and could be done relatively fast and relatively cheap (relative to anything ST or SMP could do).

missval July 3, 2007 (7:32 am)

Apparently SPD uses it for speed trapping. We were driving down below Sunday and there were at least 5 cars/motorcycles on that ramp with a guy and his radar tracking people. The cops were sent up one after the other to pull speeders over. we also saw a few coming back towards that ramp after ticketing to line up again. Just a heads up to all the WS speeders, I know we are out there, I see us on 35th all the time :)

Robert July 3, 2007 (7:56 am)

eric – Great idea. I wonder if between the new trains and the buses that will go back to using the tunnel if it effectively already maxed out during rush hour.

eric July 3, 2007 (10:02 am)

Robert, if that were the case, I suppose that the route could hop out of the busway close to town and then go down 4th Ave or something.

I would also love to see a reversable lane setup on the bridge using something like this.

The traffic on the bridge is very lopsided in the morning and afternoon.

GenHillOne July 4, 2007 (9:22 am)

Yes, Eric, I agree on the reversable lane. How about a reversable bus and HOV lane? It would encourage carpools and eliminate the ridiculous game of bob and weave with busses going eastbound.

Sorry, comment time is over.