Followup: Eastbound West Seattle Bridge/Spokane St. Viaduct reopens

3:08 PM: After hours of weekday-magnitude backups (discussed here) on the eastbound West Seattle Bridge because of what was supposed to be a weekend-long closure of the EB Spokane Street Viaduct section – it’s done early, SDOT just announced. They say that section of the bridge is now reopening for full use. There will be one more closure before the weekend is out – 12:01 am to 5 am Monday morning.

3:58 PM: SDOT’s news release, e-mailed, confirming the reopening:

Completing required work early, a contractor for the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) has now reopened the eastbound lanes of the Spokane Street Viaduct.

The next eastbound Spokane Street Viaduct full closure will occur Monday, January 30, from approximately 12:01 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. Motorists heading eastbound will be detoured off the viaduct at either the First Ave S or Fourth Ave S exits, and will be able to use the lower Spokane Street roadway to reach I-5.

21 Replies to "Followup: Eastbound West Seattle Bridge/Spokane St. Viaduct reopens"

  • A January 28, 2012 (3:10 pm)

    Did they finish or just stop working due to traffic back ups? If they stopped due to complaints, BIG thanks to all of those who took the time to make a call today on behalf of us all.

  • Rumbles January 28, 2012 (3:16 pm)

    They must have sensed the channeled frustration of 10,000 suprised, angry WS drivers….

  • jay January 28, 2012 (3:21 pm)

    I’m not sure if that’s hilarious…or insulting. If they really only had that much work to do, couldn’t it have been scheduled for nighttime only?

    • WSB January 28, 2012 (3:34 pm)

      Jay – WSDOT (NOT the agency handling this project, this is SDOT) has had a few past Viaduct closures that ended early … though usually on Sunday instead of Monday … not sure if I’ve ever seen a “closed till 5 am Monday” end at 3 pm Saturday. But do note, one other addition, they will close it again midnight-5 am Monday morning. This is all per Twitter, by the way, from the official SDOT account http://twitter.com/seattledot … TR
      .
      (edit – they also just sent a news release, which says the same thing the tweets said.)

  • sw January 28, 2012 (3:58 pm)

    Unbelievable.

  • OP January 28, 2012 (4:31 pm)

    This is welcome news—particularly since we’re heading downtown for a function tonight! I do so love the WS Blog!

  • Snow Wimp January 28, 2012 (4:42 pm)

    Wow. I hope it snows, or something. Don’t know what I will do without hearing/reading the whining.

  • a January 28, 2012 (5:06 pm)

    Complete cluster f*ck on the bridge today. Ridiculous that this work couldn’t have been done at night.

  • coffee January 28, 2012 (5:24 pm)

    Why can’t people drive the new posted speed? Since when is it ok to go 40 or more in the west bound construction zone. It would sure be nice to see the agressive unit posted there they could make a bundle!

  • The Stig January 28, 2012 (6:47 pm)

    This should have been done on Sunday or nights. It took almost 45 minutes to get to the 1st ave exit!

  • Sea3006 January 28, 2012 (7:06 pm)

    I drove past it a couple times today and did not see any work going on. I wonder what the real story is … maybe the work crew all called in sick and it just took them a day to figure it out. What a mess that was.

  • Snow Wimp January 28, 2012 (8:02 pm)

    Cry me a river…

  • Natalie January 28, 2012 (8:14 pm)

    Did anybody figure out who the genius in charge of SDOT is that made the decision?

  • Natalie January 28, 2012 (8:51 pm)

    There is a ‘Contact Us’ opportunity on the SDOT website. I encourage everyone who was held hostage on the bridge today to use it.

  • JN January 28, 2012 (9:23 pm)

    Boo-stinking-hoo, one day of traffic trouble and West Seattle drivers collectively have a seizure.

  • angelescrest January 28, 2012 (10:21 pm)

    I have never spent 45 minutes sitting on the bridge as I did today heading west @2:00 p.m. Stalled car didn’t help. Was there a special OK for drivers to use the bus lane today? With the “drip, drip, drip” of cars off the bridge to I5 N., that highway felt like a free and clear autobahn!

  • datamuse January 29, 2012 (12:30 am)

    It reopens early and y’all still complain? Wow.

  • Jasperblu January 29, 2012 (1:32 am)

    For those of us who sit in 45+ min traffic just to cross the bridge Mon – Fri, having to do it on a Sat or Sun just adds insult to injury. For those who rarely experience this kind of traffic on the WS Bridge because they are “lucky” enough to not need to leave or commute during peak travel times, WELCOME TO OUR NIGHTMARE. And maybe, it’s good that this happened. I sometimes wonder if as many folks SHOULD know just how bad traffic is, really know. Folks, it’s really really bad. Every day. Every day. And I just don’t think the City of Seattle gives a rats patootie.
    .
    Bummer I am required to be downtown for an 8am sharp appt on Monday, guess I’ll be leaving at 5am to make it there in time. Yay.

  • Moose January 29, 2012 (2:19 pm)

    To the guy (note gentleman not mentioned) I am truly sorry I was your source of a complete melt down. In that particular stretch of the bridge on Thursday there was no white dotted line indicating two lanes and in my size truck there simply wasn’t enough room for the two of us. Not sure why you needed so badly to pass but I WAS going with the speed of traffic and would have been happy to let you by but there were other large vehicles and I was more concerned about your need to run me into the side wall (and lord knows what happens if a car is disabled – no one gets by). So it was two lanes and my bad. I wasnt trying to be a jerk. Promise. I will say the more agitated you got became down right sad. I also thought it was two lanes until I came to another truck… Right or wrong I did what I thought best. So chill. It’s silly to get that worked up.

  • Avalon way January 29, 2012 (2:28 pm)

    The problem for me was I read the posting closed fri-mon 9pm to 5 am not fri at 9pm thru mon at 5am. This mistake made me 45 minutes late to my mom’s birthday party. I cant begin to explain how much trouble that got me in.

  • Matt January 30, 2012 (10:14 am)

    My question is, why wasn’t there a message on the traffic alert digital sign as we approached the bridge from Fauntleroy? Had it suggested any kind of backup, I would have used a detour and never even approached the bridge.

Sorry, comment time is over.