Traffic alert: Westbound Spokane St. Viaduct closure ahead

(SDOT photo of Spokane Street Viaduct Widening Project work, taken and provided last week)
Early warning just in from SDOT:

The contractor working for the Seattle Department of Transportation to widen the Spokane Street Viaduct (the raised roadway that connects I-5 to the West Seattle Bridge) tentatively plans to close the westbound lanes of the viaduct on Wednesday night.

Crews plan to work from 10 p.m. on Wednesday, October 27 to 5 a.m. on Thursday, October 28 to stripe the roadway and install a temporary barrier in preparation for widening the easternmost portion of the Spokane Street Viaduct.

During this work, traffic from southbound I-5 that would otherwise take the Spokane Street Viaduct will instead be directed to the Forest Street exit to access surface streets. Traffic from northbound I-5 and westbound traffic from Columbian Way will be detoured to surface streets at Sixth Avenue South.

At yesterday’s Alaskan Way Viaduct project-related South Portal Working Group meeting, SDOT reiterated that the Spokane Street Viaduct project is on schedule. The next key component to open will be the new 1st Avenue South on-/off-ramp on the westbound side, expected to be done by next fall.

Eddie October 21, 2010 (4:06 pm)

“…traffic will be directed to surface streets.” Good freakin’ luck with that one. Good thing it’s during the middle of the night and doesn’t affect a ton of people.

Try to imagine your route home to West Seattle if you got dumped on either Forest street or 6th ave. It involves finding your way through all the construction to east marginal and the low bridge, or all the way into town and the columbia onramp to the viaduct. Or somehow getting over to 4th and then all the way down to the first south bridge and doubling back to come up highland park way.

WSB October 21, 2010 (4:12 pm)

I was going to actually try to map that before the next closure. Someone e-mailed us after the last one wondering if it was happening again because their spouse didn’t see the advance warning and wound up in exactly that situation, trying desperately to figure out how to wind their way home … TR

rw October 21, 2010 (5:48 pm)

My question is whether the lane restriping and temporary barrier will result in a longer term impact on westbound traffic flow on the viaduct. In other words, after the overnight closure itself is past, will they be restricting westbound traffic to a single lane for a period of weeks, similar to when the Fourth Ave exit was being prepared for opening? I mean, the westbound lanes are already very tight — exactly what is the purpose of this temporary barrier that they mention? Also, what exactly does “in preparation for widening the easternmost portion of the Spokane Street Viaduct” mean? Does it mean that the eastern portion of the westbound viaduct will be three lanes and then narrow to two lanes (until the western portion has been widened)? Not to be a whiner, but gymnastic traffic detours are a likely fact of life for West Seattle residents and visitors for years to come.

Dawson October 21, 2010 (9:03 pm)

Um coming off Forrest isn’t that tough. Hang a left and head down 6th to the high tension power lines. You can either make a right there to 4th and get your Costco on, on your way home, or a left and head to airport way and visit Georgetown on your way to Michigan St. Either way pretty quick to the 1st south bridge and the relative safety of our happy little burg on the peninsula. Or get lost in SODO and discover that there’s more there than you thought in a good way