Three and a half hours left till the South Park Bridge‘s permanent closure; we went down for a look, and found the barricades awaiting placement at 7 pm – also spotted (too quick for us to get a shot) people photographing the bridge, before its leaves open – and stay that way – till they are dismantled. As for how long they will sit in the upright position, we asked King County Department of Transportation, whose spokesperson Rochelle Ogershok says that right now, it looks like “late summer” before the drawbridge sections will be removed. (Demolition of the rest of the bridge is further into the future.) As noted in our preview earlier, South Park invites one and all to its wake – here’s the schedule of events. And even if you are driving in the area BEFORE 7 pm, note that some changes have taken effect – as Jim pointed out in a comment on our earlier story, “Watch your driving through the area. SDOT has already changed lane assignments as of Noon. You are going to be down one right turn lane off of E Marginal Way southbound. Also the right lane on Cloverdale is no longer a left turn lane, it is right turn only. This seems a little premature, and is bound to screw up the afternoon commute.”