Video: Viaduct to reopen early – at ‘midday’ tomorrow

ADDED FRIDAY EVENING: Our video of WSDOT‘s Matt Preedy briefing the media two hours after the big news that The Viaduct will open early. Among his remarks and replies – news that they’ve noticed some problems with the travel times on the lit-up signboards and will work on those; also, they did the semi-annual Viaduct inspection during this closure, so the next one won’t be till spring. The actual reopening time won’t be known till tomorrow – depends on how much work gets done tonight.

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ORIGINAL 12:08 PM REPORT: Just in from WSDOT:

Alaskan Way Viaduct to reopen midday Saturday

Demolition mostly complete; new SODO off-ramp to open Monday morning

SEATTLE – Great progress by demolition and construction crews means the Alaskan Way Viaduct is expected to reopen midday Saturday between the West Seattle Bridge and the Battery Street Tunnel, a move expected to help relieve recent regional traffic congestion on Interstates 5 and 405 and local streets.

Starting this weekend, drivers will travel on a new, temporary construction bypass that will allow an estimated 110,000 vehicles a day to keep moving while construction on a replacement State Route 99 tunnel continues through the end of 2015.

Quick work by demolition crews allowed them to beat the scheduled Monday reopening of the viaduct by nearly two days.

“This project is six months ahead of schedule and today we’re again ahead of schedule,” Gov. Chris Gregoire said. “Thank you to the hard workers on this project, and the people of the region who were patient, found alternate routes and adjusted their schedules. Everyone showed a great spirit of cooperation.”

“Commuters made the difference by doing their part to find other ways and times to travel, which allowed our crews to close this key route for an intense period of work,” state Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond said. “Our crews worked aggressively to accomplish a massive amount of demolition during the longest closure we’ve ever attempted on a major state highway.”

The clock began ticking Oct. 21 when crews working for the Washington State Department of Transportation closed the highway and launched their effort to aggressively demolish the southern mile of the seismically vulnerable viaduct. In about eight days, a 2,825-foot-long stretch of double-decked highway was reduced to thousands of tons of concrete rubble and steel rebar.

“Through the week, construction crews made rapid progress on demolition and debris removal, and had good weather for things like roadway striping,” said Matt Preedy, WSDOT Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement program deputy administrator. “Thanks to our contractor’s thoughtful planning and approach, we are able to reopen the roadway early and give it back to drivers.”

SR 99 reopening details

·         Northbound and southbound SR 99 are expected to open midday Saturday from the Battery Street Tunnel to the West Seattle Bridge.
·         The on-ramp to northbound SR 99 from South Royal Brougham Way is expected to close at 6 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 29 and reopen once crews finalize roadway connections.
·         The southbound SR 99 off-ramp to South Atlantic Street will remain closed until 5 a.m. Monday, Oct. 31.
·         Drivers can expect a slower, 40 mph speed limit on much of the viaduct between the Battery Street Tunnel and the West Seattle Bridge.
·         Drivers can expect a recommended 25 mph construction zone speed limit through the curving bypass in the SODO area.
·         Metro Transit’s 11 bus routes that travel on SR 99 will begin using the new bypass at the start of service on Sunday morning, Oct. 30.

Friday evening commute

Until the viaduct reopens, drivers will face heavy regional congestion that this week was focused on I-5 and I-405 and parts of the downtown Seattle street grid. Commuters are encouraged to plan ahead and consider alternate routes.

ADDED 12:54 PM: Metro says its Viaduct routing will resume Sunday morning. Read on for full details of their plans:

With the Alaskan Way Viaduct planned to re-open this weekend, King County Metro Transit is preparing to move its 11 viaduct bus routes back to State Route 99 at the start of service Sunday morning, Oct. 30.

The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is completing demolition of the southern mile of the viaduct and will open the new construction bypass midday on Saturday. Metro viaduct service will operate on the reroutes that have been used during the closure for the entire day on Saturday, then move to the new bypass on Sunday morning.

The Metro routes that will use the bypass are: 21 Express, 37 southbound, 54, 54 Express, 55, 56 Express, 113, 120, 121, 122, and 125. Bus riders should note that due to narrower lanes and lower speed limits on the bypass, bus travel times on these routes may be longer than before the viaduct was demolished.

Prior to the viaduct closure, Metro increased bus service on the SR 99 corridor. That service will remain in effect to help with anticipated construction disruptions over the next several years.

clark5080 October 28, 2011 (12:29 pm)

Great news the commute was getting worse as the week went on

Valerie October 28, 2011 (12:52 pm)

SW-EEET!

RobNessly October 28, 2011 (12:55 pm)

Still wish they could do something about those people who cheat and wait till the last minute to get in the exit only lane for West Seattle on southbound I-5 Annoying as heck.

lindynw October 28, 2011 (12:58 pm)

I am confused by some of these statements. NB and SB 99 are to open midday Saturday from the Battery Street Tunnel to the West Seattle Bridge…The NB on ramp at Royal Brougham is to close at 6 am Saturday; if this is closed, how can we get to the Battery Street Tunnel from the West Seattle Bridge? Is it expected for this ramp to be open by “midday Saturday”?…The SB off ramp to Atlantic street is closed until 5 am Monday; if this is closed, how can we get from the Battery Steet Tunnel to the West Seattle Bridge? Should we really be talking about being able to use the new surface streets that can take us from West Seattle into downtown and back again?

cmc October 28, 2011 (1:08 pm)

There will always be a few bad apples out there who will always “cut” in line. Thankfully most people out there understand there is a procedure and respect basic etiquette and are considerate.

I often wonder if those who complain about it are middle children — ie., “it’s just not fair”….”marsha, marsha, marsha”. :)

Margaret Evans October 28, 2011 (1:16 pm)

still planning on riding my bicycle on Sunday to work. It’s always crazy to leave work just as the Seahawks game gets over.

sophista-tiki October 28, 2011 (1:20 pm)

Just tried to get to work, spent 2 hours trapped between 2 non moving trains trains . I normally take the low bridge because it leads me to where I need to be. So I expect trains but now it seems like they’re just sitting on the tracks on purpose just to screw up traffic even more.

Gina October 28, 2011 (1:42 pm)

Something needs to be done about that southbound 1-5 exit to WS Bridge in general. All the cars trying to cut over after the Downtown entrance make for traffic snarls and lots of close calls. I normally have to exit further south and take the 1st ave bridge because I don’t want to lose my life trying to get over before the end of the line begins, and I don’t want to be a DB and cut in. It is dangerous, period.

chet October 28, 2011 (2:12 pm)

Well said Gina, cmc, and Rob.

WS Steve October 28, 2011 (2:20 pm)

The main issue with the I-5 southbound exit to the WSB is the fact that traffic slows way down at the bottom of the ramp, right as it gets onto the Spokane Street viaduct. Once the SS viaduct has been expanded, I’m hoping traffic will flow smoothly there, and thus won’t back up onto I-5. If so, then merging into the exit lane on I-5 won’t be a problem. Fingers crossed.

In any case, congrats to our friends at WSDOT for getting this done ahead of schedule! In fact the whole viaduct replacement is ahead of schedule significantly. Let’s all hope that continues once the tunnel digging begins!

jno October 28, 2011 (2:22 pm)

Hey cmc, be nice! They call it Middle Child Syndrome for a reason. :P
.
Back on topic: yay!

CandrewB October 28, 2011 (2:30 pm)

There is something they can do, switch the YIELD sign to the Columbia entrance instead of the I5 entrance (which gets 20x the volume of cars). That ramp has always been bad, but it has been much, much worse since that sign went up.

AJP October 28, 2011 (2:34 pm)

I thought government projects were always late?

cmc October 28, 2011 (2:51 pm)

Jno: oops forgot to mention that I am a middle child!!

Ash October 28, 2011 (3:09 pm)

I never know what to do. That line is dead stopped trying to get on the bridge in the exit only lane while the lane next to it is moving at a good pace. I hate having to stop in the moving lane when trying to get in, but there is no choice. I’ve already been honked at a couple times this week and I know its dangerous. I’m glad this week is over! :)

J October 28, 2011 (3:24 pm)

If everyone would leave adequate merging distance between their vehicle and the one in front of them, the late merging could happen without fuss. It really doesn’t make a whole lot of difference to your ultimate arrival time if you are a few cars behind.

chet October 28, 2011 (3:47 pm)

Could not agree more CandrewB!!

old timer October 28, 2011 (3:56 pm)

@ cmc
I am no middle child, I was first.

I will complain about rule breakers until I die.

Kel October 28, 2011 (4:55 pm)

J makes an excellent point too. It wouldn’t kill people to leave a couple of car lengths between the car in front of them so that people can merge easily into the exit only lane. Either that or get mad at them for “cutting in line” cause there isn’t anywhere to merge further back. They’re gonna get over either way! :)

Sorry, comment time is over.