West Seattle Bridge traffic alert: WB Spokane Street Viaduct backup

4:30 PM: Avoid the westbound Spokane Street Viaduct – truck trouble has backed it up to I-5. We’re trying to find out if it’s the same truck we tweeted about while stuck in traffic in the same spot two hours ago. Anyway, bottom line, avoid the I-5-to-99 section of the bridge TFN.

4:41 PM: Thanks to those who are sending photos, including Brad, whose pic we just added. Looks like the same spot where a truck was stuck in the 2 pm hour.

On Twitter, one driver says it’s truly a dead stop … and some people are out of their cars (as seen in the photo tweeted by Rob, added above).

4:56 PM: WSDOT says via Twitter that the stuck semi is FINALLY being towed off the Spokane Street Viaduct – still will take the backup a while to clear, though. The truck apparently lost a wheel (we had noticed a flat while passing it in 2 pm hour). Thanks to Ashley for the photo above showing the truck (and tow crew).

6:13 PM: Sounds like all’s getting back to normal – let us know if you’re experiencing otherwise. Meantime, just added the photo above this paragraph, taken by Danny McMillin – note the skateboarders on the new construction alongside the jammed-up road. (Click to see a larger version.)

Alki Resident July 11, 2011 (4:40 pm)

Either the truck lost its axel or its container,there are three tow type trucks there helping with the situation.

Barb July 11, 2011 (4:44 pm)

Wow…my Mom has been stuck for almost two hours on the off ramp from I-5, no cops there to help and people are backing up the on-ramp from Columbia way to get off on 6th Ave. Where are the cops? What is taking so long?

shane July 11, 2011 (4:44 pm)

My wife just called and said the reader board on SB I5 just north of town says the West Seattle Bridge is closed.

WSB July 11, 2011 (4:53 pm)

Shane – from I-5, the Spokane Street Viaduct section is closed. The section west of the ALASKAN WAY Viaduct is not.

Neeb July 11, 2011 (4:44 pm)

Couldve used that update 2 hours ago! Moved about a quarter mile in the past 2 hours.

WSB July 11, 2011 (4:53 pm)

Honestly, until people started e-mailing this hour, had NO idea that semi hadn’t cleared. It took me about 20 minutes to get from I-5 to 99 at 2 pm. And a tow truck, or tow-type flatbed, was with it when I passed it – I didn’t even take a picture because it appeared to be clearing soon – really surprised it’s taken all this time. – TR

Layne July 11, 2011 (4:45 pm)

Anybody know if westbound is closed as well? It’ll be interesting getting to beacon hill, otherwise. :)

homesweethome July 11, 2011 (4:45 pm)

just heard from husband who is trying to come home via I-5 — 5 is now backed up solid to 145th

Elizabeth July 11, 2011 (4:48 pm)

just passed this going eastbound it and was at a dead stop…

NinjaRider July 11, 2011 (4:48 pm)

hoo boy, sure glad I’m on Harbor Island. Getting home will be a breeze.

MB July 11, 2011 (4:52 pm)

Oh joy…and I’m just about to head that way ;( Guess it’s time to strategize my alternate way home…I seem to be doing that a lot lately. My boss just called and said she was stuck in I5 traffic because of it.

Going north July 11, 2011 (5:00 pm)

Southbound 99 is a crawl. I don’t look forward to my return in 90 min ………………….x why do short messages no go? 5th try.

seattle dad July 11, 2011 (5:00 pm)

Feel bad for the Kids stuck on the schoolbus coming back from day camp…would have been nice to get a phone call from the YMCA camp councelers…

Mikey July 11, 2011 (5:01 pm)

The backup is also effecting those who are trying to get to I5 from I90. That’s my regular route and @ 3:45 traffic to I5 was backed up into the tunnel. Needless to say all my backup routes were clogged as well.
PS. I love the new site. Fist time I’ve been here in a awhile :)

mama mia July 11, 2011 (5:15 pm)

how is eastbopund traffic heading to Beacon Hill?

Seattle Mom July 11, 2011 (5:17 pm)

I second Seattle Dad. YMCA really dropped the ball on this one. Disappointed to say the least!

Ross July 11, 2011 (5:17 pm)

The water taxi is a *lot* busier than normal!

foy boy July 11, 2011 (5:19 pm)

Two and a half hours to move a truck? Almost three hours now. Just hook it up and drag the sob far enough to let traffic through. The thing is already broken what gives?

denbol July 11, 2011 (5:26 pm)

5:25 update? Is it getting any better?

WSB July 11, 2011 (5:36 pm)

Den, Twitter indicates it is loosening up. We have a “free at last” comment or two there. – TR

a neighbor July 11, 2011 (5:26 pm)

seriously? 3 hours to clear a broken down truck? seriously? one truck?

Jsv July 11, 2011 (5:27 pm)

If you think going south on 4th and cutting over is better think again. Crawling down 4th starting at Stadiums. Just sat through 3 lights.

Pie July 11, 2011 (5:32 pm)

Take I-5 to Michigan. Michigan to 509. Get off at White Center and come back through Roxbury. Made it home in 20 minutes from Mercer. (although carpool lane helped)

tina July 11, 2011 (5:36 pm)

not sure how to post a new thread… does anyone have information on the suicide late friday night/ early saturday morning? a woman jumped to her death

WSB July 11, 2011 (5:49 pm)

Tina, this is an editor-run news site so there’s no “new thread” posting, except in the WSB Forums … otherwise, everything here on the main page is published by us as a new story. People generally send us news tips via e-mail, Facebook, etc. If you have any more information such as location or time, you are welcome to contact us https://westseattleblog.com/contact – I hadn’t heard of that but it would generally only come to our attention if it happened in a public place … TR

Colleen July 11, 2011 (5:56 pm)

Thinking of attempting 90 to beacon hill – is traffic on Spokane Street Viaduct moving now and its just the 5 backup?

Mike July 11, 2011 (6:05 pm)

wow… my 40 minute commute took over 1hr 45min tonight. I went to Michigan and that was backed up by the time I got there. i cut over to East Marginal, hopped on the bridge south to 509, hopped off to get on West Marginal, waited 15 minutes for the light under the West Seattle bridge by Chelan Cafe (backup there) then finally got on Admiral Way where it’s all clear.
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Crazy that this occured at 2PM and it took them that long to clear it (if they have yet). Good thing is it didn’t cause the truck to flip and hurt anyone. Poor execution for extracting a semi off the bridge, but seems like everyone is safe.

Monosyllabic Girl July 11, 2011 (6:15 pm)

Well that was 2 hours of my life right there.

They must have been letting one lane through for a while and then it completely stopped.

Bob Loblaw July 11, 2011 (6:35 pm)

1 hour 15 minutes from downtown Seattle to West Seattle via surface streets. Left at 5 p.m. Hard to believe one truck could have caused all of this. But, stranger things have happened …

karl July 11, 2011 (6:38 pm)

If I had a kid in “Y” daycamp and you knew there route was on Spokane st. and you hear of an ongoing back up, why would you not think that maybe the bus was stuct in the same traffic mess you were.

There always has to be a goat.
as a parent I would go with no news is good news
unless you get a call.

Keep up the good work you do YMCA

richard July 11, 2011 (6:53 pm)

The next time there maybe even more time to wait because of the possibility of reducing bus services thru out the metro. It will increase the use of even more auto transit.

MercyMoi July 11, 2011 (7:02 pm)

Haven’t been stuck in the traffic (in fact my #54 must have just missed the traffic from 99 to the Bridge) but wanted to comment on the skateboarder photo that there have been a few traffic jams I’ve sat in where I’ve wished there was a Port-a-potty right next to my stationary car!

Jiggers July 11, 2011 (7:09 pm)

Ahhhh…. The monorail would have went right over that mess. Summer traffic seems to always get bad.

metrognome July 11, 2011 (8:05 pm)

actually, the monorail would have made it worse since it would have wiped out at least one travel lane in each direction … and probably wouldn’t have gone from where you wanted to start to where you were going without bus transfers at either end …

Meedy July 11, 2011 (8:07 pm)

What made this experience even more miserable was all the inconsiderate people who would wait until the last minute to cut in the west Seattle exit lane on I-5 :-/ it took me 1 hour and 45 minutes just to get to west Seattle bridge exit from I-90. Where were the cops directing the traffic away from a CLOSED bridge? Where were the tow trucks? Why 3 hours to tow? This is a problem, mayor mcGinn, another fundamental failure.

austin July 11, 2011 (8:10 pm)

I wonder how many people stuck in traffic today were alone in their cars.

Mike July 11, 2011 (8:25 pm)

People fail to realize that the container involved more then likely has 55,000lbs inside and the container and chassis adds another 30,000lbs and if you want to include the truck thats another 20,000lbs. You cant just drag it out of the way and expect there not to be more damages. So for those of you who are impatient please understand that’s its better to wait then to cause more of an issue.
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I passed on the EB side to 1st and see what had happened at 1630. I got lucky and took my instinct and got off at the stadiums then cut down Alaska to T18. I run containers here over this bridge every day, and I also use to drive a C class tow truck which is the 2 bigger ones that are hooking up to clean up the situation. So I do know how hard it is to clean up a mess like this.
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In my opinion from my experiences here in Seattle and on this bridge, the driver probably had to lock up his breaks cause of some dumb-ass in a car, or truck. When this happens all the weight shifts and push’s forward, which in return broke the pins holding the slider in place and when that happened the tandems(4axle) slid right out from behind the container.
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But hey at-least nobody slammed into the tandems and killed there self.

WSB July 11, 2011 (8:28 pm)

Thanks, Mike! That helps. Next time I see a breakdown like that, I will think of the info you’ve provided and consider it a potentially long-running situation. Here’s a Q for you – I was coming back from the eastside when I passed it in the 2 pm hour, and on my way out, seemed like many trucks on the bridge and I-5 and I-90. Is Monday a busier day for trucking than others?

Adam July 11, 2011 (8:27 pm)

We were stuck in the traffic on the West Seattle bridge for over an hour before it cleared, and then we were the jerks whose battery died and we blocked one lane of traffic for 5 more minutes until someone jumped our car. Huge thanks to the two ladies in the Honda Element (license plate 770 WCM. You are saints!) who jumped our car and cleared the second lane of traffic. All the complaints about the bad people are valid, but I wanted to put in some thanks for the helpful folks who took a few minutes out of their time (after being stuck themselves for over an hour) to help us and everyone else who was backed up behind us.

Kjb July 11, 2011 (9:07 pm)

Kudos to the YMCA camp counselor’s who kept a bus load of kids stuck in traffic entertained…you are appreciated – it couldn’t have been easy!

Mike July 11, 2011 (9:13 pm)

Monday is always a busy day for the ports, cause there closed on the weekend, Tuesdays are usually just as bad and its a toss up for Wednesday and Thursday, but as for Friday nobody likes to work :)
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There is always alot of traffic in the port area, blame it on the longshoreman.

ScottA July 11, 2011 (9:22 pm)

That’s a great photo of the porta-potty and skateboarders – made me laugh. Technically probably very unsafe to be playing in a construction site so I wouldn’t be surprised to see some kind of barrier/fencing put up along here.

WSB July 11, 2011 (9:25 pm)

I would imagine they never thought they’d have a problem like that … but with our traffic around here, it was inevitable.

Como siempre July 11, 2011 (9:25 pm)

Like the YMCA “counselers” had a crystal ball to know exactly how long a traffic jam at 2:30pm in the West Seattle bridge caused by a semi truck would take to clear. The kids (mine included) came out of the bus happy and safe. That is all that matters to me.
Parents with the “it is all about me” attitude make me sick… just get over yourselves people.

bolo July 11, 2011 (9:43 pm)

Great explanation from Mike. It agrees with what I saw: much worse than a “lost wheel.” The container had indeed come off its trailer chassis and the whole thing had dragged/scraped along the roadway. Not so easy to get all that rearranged to be able to tow it away. Excessive delay? Don’t forget that the (XXL) tow trucks have to come thru the same stopped-up traffic to get to the scene as everyone else did!

Seattle Mom July 11, 2011 (10:01 pm)

Wow Como. Simmer down. Never said “it was all about me”. I was extremely concerned about my child upon hearing that she was stuck on a bus for 2 hours. And no, I also do not expect the counselors to have a crystal ball. What I do expect is a clear form of communication as to my child’s whereabouts. With today’s technology, I do not understand how it is that I am unable to find my child when they are not in their expected location without having to talk to 3 different people within the YMCA organization. That is unacceptable.

Mike July 11, 2011 (10:02 pm)

btw didnt realize another mike was posting also, yea im driver mike dont get me confused with him :)

Como siempre July 11, 2011 (10:47 pm)

There were 44 kids stuck on that bus. I am glad the counselors chose to keep the kids entertained, singing songs instead of “debriefing” me on my children’s “whereabouts” (IN the bus, On the WS bridge) every five minutes.
Me! Me! Me!

Been There July 11, 2011 (11:01 pm)

Thanks Mike for your take on what may have happened and why it wasn’t likely a quick and easy tow.
–
I really got a kick out of the nicely stationed and convenient Honey Bucket and the skateboarders doing there thing passing away the time.

Mike July 11, 2011 (11:30 pm)

I’m commuter Mike. Noticed that trucker Mike posted “In my opinion from my experiences here in Seattle and on this bridge, the driver probably had to lock up his breaks cause of some dumb-ass in a car, or truck.”
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Guess the police report will reveal what happened eh?

WSB July 11, 2011 (11:35 pm)

It wasn’t a crash. I don’t think there will be a police report.

Trucker_Mike July 11, 2011 (11:47 pm)

There will be reports filed because it involved a commercial vehicle and im pretty sure there gonna have to be sent to insurance company even though nobody else was involved. I cant say if the D.O.T. (commercial truck enforcement) got involved or not, but they probably will sooner or later.

Road Samaritan July 11, 2011 (11:54 pm)

I was one of the tow company’s on scene. The trailer had all three rear axle’s ripped out of it and was resting on the ground. It was loaded with 70,000 lbs of frozen herring and there wasn’t enough space on the bridge to lift it and re-position the axles under the trailer. Believe me, we tried. In the end we were forced to drag the truck/trailer down onto Spokane street where we used two trucks to lift it and position the wheels underneath. We finished at 10:30pm. A total of 7 tow trucks were used from GT Towing, Gary’s Westside Towing, Hubie’s Towing, and Road Samaritan Towing.

WSB July 12, 2011 (12:04 am)

Road Samaritan – that explains, I’m guessing, a lot of flashing lights seen on the lower roadway, maybe around 9 pm? My husband and son were heading home from the downtown area and reported seeing a lot of activity down by the low bridge – which led to some momentary confusion here when we then started getting reports of a problem back on the I-5 ramp to the westbound bridge. We’ve watched a lot of crazy truck tows and know how much painstaking work you guys usually have to go to. If anyone has any photos, we’d be interested in a breakout story mentioning the 7 tow trucks – wow! – TR (editor@westseattleblog.com)

Trucker_Mike July 12, 2011 (12:18 am)

I wasn’t to far off, but everything I stated just come from opinion from being in the trucking industry for the past 10years. Stuff like this makes me miss the tow industry.

Mike July 12, 2011 (12:32 am)

Knowing now that it’s not just a wheel that fell off, I’ll take back the part of my first comment where I stated “Poor execution for extracting a semi off the bridge”.

WSB July 12, 2011 (1:04 am)

I did get some photos in e-mail just now! Will be publishing them overnight, so (unless you too will be up for many hours to come) look for ’em in the morning.

the_real_lb July 12, 2011 (9:24 am)

Tried to avoid this by going on the 1st Ave S bridge via S Michigan. There was a disabled Port-a-Potty truck blocking the right lane on the ramp that leads up to the bridge. It caused backups for several blocks. Guess it was just one of those days.

Jeff July 12, 2011 (10:00 am)

I was a Day Camp Director for 15 years and dealt with this kind of thing a few times. sounds like the counselors did the right thing and kept the kids happy, entertained and safe. They probably figured that this was such a big event that people would have heard about it on the news.

Also, I imagine a call to the actual camp admin staff would have alleviated any fears. I do know it can be scary waiting for a bus that doesn’t show up though.

Como siempre July 12, 2011 (11:21 am)

Jeff,
The counselors on the bus called the counselors at Lincoln Park (some kids went to Volunteer Park on a field trip, the rest stayed at Lincoln Park) around 2:30 saying “we are stuck in traffic”. I was informed as soon as I came to pick up my kids… the YMCA staff did a great job keeping the kids safe and happy and parents informed.

cmc July 12, 2011 (12:05 pm)

Como, It’s great that you were satisfied with the way things were handled for your child(ren). That doesn’t mean, however, that Seattle Mom isn’t justified in feeling concerned/worried for her child. Every child is different and some children and parents would react differently to this situation than you and yours. Stop passing judgment.

clark July 12, 2011 (12:12 pm)

I was the driver of this truck. It broke and lost 3 axles from under trailer. It did not help when the tow truck broke as well. finally got the tow trucks to listen and we hooked 2 trucks together and powered vthe trailer out of the way. I apologise for all inconveniences and hope it did not totally ruin any plans for any of you.

JW July 12, 2011 (12:35 pm)

I second the comments regarding the adept handling of the YMCA kids on the bus. The kids were entertained and all parents at the pick-up site were promptly informed. My son was unfazed by the experience– I think the majority of kids can handle that kind of disruption. And if not, then the experience was probably a nice lesson in learning to handle new situations! No one was in danger… except perhaps the bus seats (kid bladders and all…).

Como siempre July 12, 2011 (1:20 pm)

I guess I am raising my kids to be tolerant, flexible and good natured in a world that is far from perfect and where things happen beyond our control.
Man, I should get a medal…