102 Replies to "West Seattle Bridge traffic alert: Eastbound Spokane St. Viaduct closure all weekend"

• add January 28, 2012 (8:27 am)

  Does anyone know if there is clearly marked detour signage? I have someone coming over to WS from out of the area who may not know how to navigate the lower bridge/Spokane Street!

• Tanya January 28, 2012 (8:44 am)

  We were just stuck in traffic to get to First Ave south & it looks like you have to get off at First, they have Fouth closed off.

• Robert January 28, 2012 (8:53 am)

  I was expecting backups around 10 but was surprised when I saw the webcam at 7:50 or so and there was already a backup.

• rick January 28, 2012 (8:58 am)

  Very poor signage. I am glad I am familiar with how to get on I-5…many would not be so fortunate. C’mon, transportation…supply some directional signs.

• DMB January 28, 2012 (9:00 am)

  Terrible signage!

• kumalavula January 28, 2012 (9:17 am)

  ack!!!! stuck in it right now! trying to get to i5 south and it’s pretty backed up all the way almost to the delridge exit so plan ahead

• Thugbee January 28, 2012 (9:43 am)

  How’s the lower bridge for an alternate? Which cam shows the traffic there?

  • WSB January 28, 2012 (9:45 am)

    Sadly, there is no camera dedicated to low-bridge traffic. Sometimes the one permalinked atop the sidebar, at right, is swung over that way. – TR

• Tuwanda January 28, 2012 (9:58 am)

  Wow. What a mess. Don’t leave west Seattle this weekend!

• J January 28, 2012 (10:11 am)

  Left my house at 930… Just passing the 99 on-ramp. So…painful!

• drek January 28, 2012 (10:21 am)

  No information what so ever on traffic sign this morning at 6 am, there was already a frikin traffic jam and as always nobody was working on the bridge. we are second class citizen but we pay the same taxe : this is a getho and nobody says nothing – USA is part of the third world

• lulu January 28, 2012 (10:30 am)

  Very poor signage.

• ed January 28, 2012 (10:32 am)

  Ugh. didn’t know about this and i’m on fauntleroy to bridge. how do i get to i5 south? hate this.

• mightymo January 28, 2012 (10:35 am)

  Was this a surprise schedule change by DOT or was the whole-weekend daytime closure announced in advance? It’s sort of an essential artery to close unexpectedly.

• Marc January 28, 2012 (10:37 am)

  This work isn’t even posted on the SDOT site, horrible signage we were stuck in it for 45 minutes before we jumped onto 99. Signage says work to be done at night 9 pm to 5 am

• Marc January 28, 2012 (10:47 am)

  WTF this isn’t even on the SDOT site. Stuck in it for 45 minutes until we jumped off to 99. The signage is horrible

  • WSB January 28, 2012 (10:49 am)

    The signage is actually for the Fauntleroy Expressway closures, which are separate. This is the Spokane Street Viaduct Widening Project work, and this is the first time they’ve had a weekend-long closure, fwiw …

• ed January 28, 2012 (10:49 am)

  This the dumbest f*cking thing. how do i get on i5?

• ed January 28, 2012 (10:57 am)

  Took 99 as well. They frickin hate us in west seattle don’t they. ugh, what a mess.

• GF January 28, 2012 (11:01 am)

  I read the West Seattle Blog everyday and I missed this information. I drive the West Seattle Freeway every week day and I missed this information. Just got a call from my 16 year old on his way to a swim meet who said he is complete stopped on the bridge. I would have had him leave earlier if I had known. And it does not seem that I was the only West Seattle citizen in the dark on this closure. Are we just to assume we are stuck on the peninsula?

  • WSB January 28, 2012 (11:17 am)

    GF – the first word of the weekend closure was two weeks ago:
    https://westseattleblog.com/2012/01/new-bridge-closure-alerts-including-eb-spokane-st-viaduct
    .
    then we had a few reminders this week, including this one:
    https://westseattleblog.com/2012/01/west-seattle-traffic-alert-eastbound-bridge-closure-tonight
    .
    We do our best to keep upcoming major traffic alert reminders like this one atop the BIG STORIES sidebar headlines list here on the site. But I think one big “missing” here – out of our control – would have been having signage along the bridge entrances warning CLOSURE THIS WEEKEND.
    .
    To that point, I e-mailed our contacts in SDOT in case any of them were monitoring e-mail this weekend, and did get a reply that they are working to see what they can do about the signage lack.
    .
    TR

• tk January 28, 2012 (11:09 am)

  I can see the whole mess from our neighborhood. If you want to go on 99 (which, surprisingly is moving nicely northbound), don’t try to go down from either Fauntleroy or Admiral Way (use Delridge entrance instead to 99) because ALL of the traffic trying to get to either I-5 or downtown has backed up into a solid parking lot on the 2 left lanes east over the bridge (currently they ALL are having to exit at 1st Ave!). To make matters worse, cars are still not “allowed” to use the bus lane (from Admiral Way/Spokane up to the Delridge merge) so cars that want to get over to 99 are stuck in the mess & not moving. Another option- use the lower bridge which is also moving OK, but the only way to access it without a backup is from Delridge.
  It is worse than I’ve ever seen!

• monosyllabic girl January 28, 2012 (11:12 am)

  30 minutes late for work this morning. And here I was thinking it was just another Saturday commute. Sigh. Oh well.

• Flipjack January 28, 2012 (11:17 am)

  Time for a class action lawsuit?

• Mike Lindblom January 28, 2012 (11:22 am)

  I just wasted 30 minutes in this mess, and if it surprised me, you can’t blame other motorists for being cheesed off about a lack of signs, warnings, etc.

• steve January 28, 2012 (11:24 am)

  It’s hell ..the mayor blew this one…

• East Coast Cynic January 28, 2012 (11:32 am)

  Flipjack, I like those words:) Financial Damages or Light Rail:)

• mightymo January 28, 2012 (11:32 am)

  In all those stories, on WSB and in the press releases I found on the SDOT website, the weekend-long closure was buried under the lede of the overnight closures. It seems like the weekend closure would have a greater impact (and seems to be having one) and it’s just too bad it wasn’t given top billing. I guess it doesn’t pay to skim the West Seattle Blog! :) It’s just such a firehose of news, I’m not sure how many people have time to read closely all the time.

• sw January 28, 2012 (11:43 am)

  Wow – I agree with GF. I read the blog multiple times a day and drive this route to work and I had no idea this was going on. I figure I glossed over the news item since there are so many stories about SSV closures – but the majority of those are at night. Something this impactful might have warranted a more prominent mention.

  I’m way more upset about the lack of signage by SDOT. My wife is currently stuck on the high bridge and she said there was NOTHING posted about the closure on the reader board on 35th near the golf course. In the past when we’ve had something this scale which affects a major roadway, there have been portable signs posted at all entrances to the street so you can’t miss it. Very disappointed in SDOT on this one.

  As always, I appreciate all that Tracy, Patrick, Jr. Member and all the contributors do for us folks here on The Rock.

• Admiral Janeway January 28, 2012 (11:51 am)

  All morning long KOMO radio has been reporting the back up as a blocking accident. They need to read the WSB!

• bb January 28, 2012 (11:52 am)

  I’m stuck in this mess with a car full of kids
  …i hate sdot with every fiber of my being right now!!!!!!!

• Kevin January 28, 2012 (11:52 am)

  Thanks SDOT….for nothing

• sw January 28, 2012 (12:01 pm)

  I just paid a visit to the SDOT website. There IS a mention about the weekend closure. They posted a notice on 1/25 about the continuing weeknight SSV closures – and in the SECOND paragraph they said “in addition, the Eastbound lanes of the SSV will be closed all weekend.”

  Thanks for making it so clear, SDOT. A daytime closure of any sort would seem to warrant the pixels necessary to create a separate notice on your website.

• alison January 28, 2012 (12:11 pm)

  Pure torture. It took a solid hour to get across the bridge and I did not realize until the bitter end that it was completely closed after the 1st Ave offramp. My WSDOT app has no notification of this closure. What is the protocol for communicating these closures? And why can’t the reader board communicate the actual time delay? It read “20 minutes to 99” which was seriously wrong. Miserable Stay away if you can.

• Bill Hager January 28, 2012 (12:12 pm)

  Call Mayor McGuinn’s office-the Mayor is holding an open house today, so someone is there answering the phones. The number is: 206-684-4000.

• Chivahn January 28, 2012 (12:30 pm)

  I’m on Harbor and have never taken the lower bridge before..is it pretty easy to navigate?…I’m off at 5 and need to get on N 99 to get home to Fremont :/

• sam-c January 28, 2012 (12:31 pm)

  somehow missed the advance notice on this too. wasn’t paying attention- oops. headed to group health around 9:15- the back up was pretty bad then, but didn’t take too long to get on 99 N. wove thru downtown to get to cap hill and it wasn’t too bad. if you can get where you’re going via 99 N that is a good option. if you are going south.. get there via highland park way to 509 or 599.

  coming back, going westbound, we did see about a half dozen workers on the bridge, but must have passed them during their break time, smokin and laughin. that was around 10:15.

  I agree the signage is not good. I only saw signage going eastbound regarding the work ‘from 9pm to 5 am’ and had assumed they didn’t get done by 5 am.

• jennifer wells January 28, 2012 (12:37 pm)

  this is so confusing. Why can’t we say a section of the West Seattle bridge is closed. Many of us are confused by the wording ” Spokane Street Viaduct” which makes us think of the lower spokane street. Thanks, Jen

• RenaissanceRed January 28, 2012 (12:41 pm)

  Took me an hour to reach the off ramp to Spokane St. and I got on at 35th & Fauntleroy…

  Don’t even think of going this way, it’s backed up even farther when I finally got back home Also, they don’t let you know the lane is closed until almost past midspan.

  The reader board is totally wrong saying the work is overnight, not sure what the mixup is there.

  Go White Center/South Park or some other way.

• Pete January 28, 2012 (12:41 pm)

  And we actually pay taxes for such an inept DOT? This is abject stupidity. Total and complete failure of responsibility. Heads should roll over this. Literally thousands of cars stuck for upwards of an hour – once you are on the bridge its a long ride until you can get off. Fun with a sick kid. Fing incompetence in display.

• Robert2715 January 28, 2012 (12:43 pm)

  What a fiasco – people should get fired over this. (But they won’t)

• Gina January 28, 2012 (12:48 pm)

  The further south you can go before heading to I-5, the better. Went to Southcenter via West Marginal with ease this morning. When I came back, looked like slow going on the 1st Ave S bridge, and the lower bridge traffic was slowing access to West Marginal going east. I’d say use Highland Park Way at this point.

• Pete January 28, 2012 (12:51 pm)

  Hey WSB – can you find out who in particular was responsible for this failure and lack of signage? A name? Title? Office? This is inexcusable.

• jennifer wells January 28, 2012 (1:01 pm)

  TK or anyone: I hear that if I use Delridge to 99, I will have to make u turn on Delridge? Then I hear that I can use delridge to lower bridge. Where does that Lead me? To 1st? then to 99 or 5 at Safeco? Thanks, I don’t know the roads.

• FD January 28, 2012 (1:07 pm)

  Wow, what a mess. At least if anybody asks what I did this weekend, I can tell them that I was staring at the back end of a Toyota Highlander for the majority of it.

• OP January 28, 2012 (1:07 pm)

  Bridge is bad, I was on it by accident (I forgot about the closure.) this morning. But come on, folks, it’s called GPS or a map. There are multiple ways to get on I-5 or 99 other than the WS Bridge.

• newnative January 28, 2012 (1:08 pm)

  Looks bad but didn’t take too long on the 55. There were lots of cars cutting us off in the BUS ONLY lane however.

• Chivahn January 28, 2012 (1:18 pm)

  Is there a map anywhere of the lower bridge? Google isn’t finding me one.

• islewrite January 28, 2012 (1:20 pm)

  Headed to nb 99? Do this: lower bridge to new exit to sb e.marginal way. At bottom, stay to right (do not take the marked detour). You will be parallel to the end of 99 . Take the 1st right at the Habitat for Humanity drive , and go left thru the parking lot. There’s a light. Turn left at the light and voila! You’re on 99 north.

• SKB January 28, 2012 (1:20 pm)

  Ditto on lack of effing signage as well as no direction at crest of bridge, it was bumper cars

• elma January 28, 2012 (1:22 pm)

  Definitely call the 206 684 4000 number to complain. The person answering the phone said many calls had been received. And, the number of calls received about this issue would be conveyed to the mayor.

• Wendall January 28, 2012 (1:25 pm)

  I drive the bridge every day to work and would have thought that a day time closure of this magnitude would warrent better more explicit signage. This was a big miss on DOT’s part. They could have staved off part of the mess by allowing people to know overtly that they should plan another route. Like most of us we got on the bridge and were trapped. Wendall of West Seattle

• jennifer wells January 28, 2012 (1:27 pm)

  OP: I know about maps and GPS, but they don’t take into account closures. Thanks. :)

• Steve January 28, 2012 (1:35 pm)

  Took 99n to Seneca then back down 4th to get to Costco then 4th south to tukwila and north on 99 because 1st ave s bridge was up then up the hill to west Seattle. Don’t go anywhere but vashon or burien if possible!

• mrsB January 28, 2012 (1:37 pm)

  This weekend-long closure has indeed been well publicized by WSB for a couple of weeks; we knew about it and planned ahead to take the lower bridge this morning. It’s all for West Seattle’s benefit in the long run and a couple of days inconvenience will soon be forgotten when we have a much-improved Spokane Street Viaduct.

• Andrew January 28, 2012 (1:45 pm)

  Holy Hell Batman.

• Natalie January 28, 2012 (1:55 pm)

  Is this the ONLY place I might have found out about the closure? Nothing on the radio. No signs before the bridge. Only sign was ON the bridge after sitting in 25 min backup. I spent 90 mintues trying to get across. Finally got off on 99 and came home. There’s 100 people in Redmond having a birthday for a lovely 92 yo lady with no sweet rolls today. If the other 900 cars all impacted 100 people at $100 (modestly) – this was an amazing WASTE of resources ($10M). What city genius in DOT made the decision to close the bridge without telling anyone on radio? I just want to know so I can at least vote for someone else next time.

  • WSB January 28, 2012 (2:05 pm)

    Natalie – all news organizations get the SDOT notices. But you’re generally not going to hear about them from a newspaper, radio station, or TV station that has 22 counties to cover (that’s the official metro area that citywide/regional media serve). If you rely on any other particular news sources, though, certainly I would suggest asking them why they didn’t mention this. I wasn’t up early enough today to know if it was pointed out on weekend morning TV news, for example. – TR

• me on 28th Ave SW January 28, 2012 (2:08 pm)

  It is totally my fault that I didn’t read closely on WSB about the closure despite being on the here at least four times a day. However DOT should be using their fancy electric signs and regular signs to convey what is going on. The sign on 35th stated “9 minutes to 99” but no mention of construction. Once on the bridge there was a sign that said “closure, 9PM-5AM”. This was at around 10AM. After seeing the signs we were thinking 1. accident or 2. delayed end to overnight construction. It was worrisome to watch how long it took a fire engine, lights and siren blaring, to get across and through the 1st Ave exit. There was nowhere for cars to pull over….

• teachergreg January 28, 2012 (2:08 pm)

  I’ve never voted republican before, but at this point I’m voting for anyone other than mcginn. This is the last straw from this guy.

• Delridge Denizen January 28, 2012 (2:18 pm)

  I mostly feel cheated out of another _doom or _pocalypse phrase for this one.

• sam-c January 28, 2012 (2:23 pm)

  question-
  were there police officers on the lower spokane street to help with the traffic flow, and getting people to I-5 via the detour ? ie, allowing people to travel eastbound against red lights, and holding the traffic on the cross streets? if there weren’t then that is a big oversight, IMO.

  in our trip over to cap hill this morning, we saw 5 police officers directing traffic at the intersection of Denny and Stewart, presumably due to the mercer street on and off ramp closure this weekend.
  hopefully there were at least some police officers deployed to assist with the west seattle bridge detour as well, otherwise, SDOT and the city were asleep at the wheel.

  (I took 99N so didn’t see what was going on with the I-5 detours from the west seattle bridge)

• DMB January 28, 2012 (2:25 pm)

  The “city” wants thousands of cars to detour down 1st ave and weave your way over to i5. Really?? Wsb I think our local news groups could handle covering a closer of the spokane st viaduct. I think those people trapped on the WS freeway would have planned thier travel differently had they known of the closer. Thanks for nothing sdot.

• Rumbles January 28, 2012 (2:28 pm)

  I am trying to be patient with all of this construction, but I must now vent! We are customers of SDOT, and I am NOT SATISFIED!! You are telling me that it is too much trouble to program your $200K VMS signs to say the words “BRIDGE CLOSED”??!! I mean really, what in the he** are those signs FOR?!? How about a few Detour signs, especially on a weekend when many out-of-towners would be visiting?!?

  Further, you would think a closure of this magnitude would warrant other signs around te area that remind us creatures of habit to STAY AWAY! In advance!!!!

  I suggest everyone give the SDOT hotline as we as the Mayors office a call. I’m not sure if the WSB is in favor of posting that here or not.

  I think SDOT and the mayor should hear from all of us!

• Rumbles January 28, 2012 (2:31 pm)

  How long has this SSV construction been going on, isn’t it at 1 1/2 years? For heavens sake they built the AWV in 3 years and it’s longer and double decked!!!

• Jiggers January 28, 2012 (2:35 pm)

  Passed by on the bus this morning. Repaved roads looks good.

• Greg January 28, 2012 (2:39 pm)

  Left for work at noon,
  Taco time to North 99,
  forty nine minutes, yuk.

  Haiku! Thank you!

• sw January 28, 2012 (2:42 pm)

  With all due respect, there are so many street closures these days that I think we tend to gloss them over, especially since they are usually at night. Something like this during the daytime warrants more in-your-face coverage.

• Christy January 28, 2012 (2:43 pm)

  Ugh! I need a drink!

• Rumbles January 28, 2012 (2:43 pm)

  “City must do a better job”

  Someone should be fired for this mess!!

• sw January 28, 2012 (2:44 pm)

  Also, feel free to comment to SDOT at 684-ROAD.

• LK January 28, 2012 (2:52 pm)

  We were on the bridge around 12:00 today, total disaster. Why was there not signage on Admiral Way, we could have changed course.
  I agree, McGinn blew another one!

• ohthehorror January 28, 2012 (2:52 pm)

  I wish they would turn The Hole and Huling Bros. lots into a (tasteful) office park and lure a major employer to WS. It’s not going to happen but it would be lovely to walk to work. It’s taking twice as long to get to Fremont as it did to the Eastside a few years ago.

• datamuse January 28, 2012 (2:53 pm)

  Today’s a good day to live in Highland Park.

  • WSB January 28, 2012 (3:04 pm)

    Just got a tweet from SDOT: Work completed early, roadway now being opened for full use.

• Theresa January 28, 2012 (3:09 pm)

  It’s looking clear now! And open all the way to I5.

• John January 28, 2012 (3:09 pm)

  Well, well, well…Just moved from the East Coast and living in West Seattle is almost as low a quality of life as living back East. The entire reason: the sorry transportation system and unexplained bridge closures.

  Folks, we need a real mayor and a real city council member. Until that happens, Seattle will be a city that leaves so much potential untapped. It’s a great great city, but it could be so much better. Folks like Tom Rasmussen need to go.

  It’s this simple: no notice of what amounts to a complete shutdown of the bridge is utterly unacceptable.

• Rumbles January 28, 2012 (3:13 pm)

  So SDOT is now done, and the bridge is open for the rest of the weekend?

• Marc January 28, 2012 (3:16 pm)

  I have a dollar and a beer bet that Rasmussen doesn’t do anything about this closure or future ones. SDOT got us all

• me on 28th Ave SW January 28, 2012 (3:26 pm)

  @SamC: Yes, there were two Seattle police officers holding back the traffic on First Ave so that the cars pouring off the bridge could get across. After the fire engine mess, one of them walked over and started moving barrels himself out of the left most (closed) lane so that there were two lanes open on lower Spokane street.

• Pete January 28, 2012 (3:30 pm)

  FYI – the sign in the picture is 2/3 of the way up the rIse of the bridge. In other words, well after you are already stuck (about 45 minutes deep for me). Useless.

• Diane January 28, 2012 (3:32 pm)

  anyone else find it ironic that city council and mayor were hosting an open house at city hall during this whole traffic nightmare?
  ~
  if only you could have gotten down there, you could have told them in person
  ~
  I would highly suggest copying this whole thread to everyone at city hall and sdot

• East Coast Cynic January 28, 2012 (3:32 pm)

  Marc, I would bet $100 and a 6 pack that Rasmussen does nothing:). But I can count on him doing one of those WS meetups to give us a chance to vent in the absence of doing nothing for us.

  John, its a good city that would be a great city with a decent public transportation system.

• KT January 28, 2012 (3:49 pm)

  “It’s all for West Seattle’s benefit in the long run and a couple of days inconvenience will soon be forgotten when we have a much-improved Spokane Street Viaduct.” Please, and when exactly will that be? Enough is enough. Start electing City Councilors by geographic area and maybe someone will look out for the interests of West Seattle. If you can finish this by 3pm on Saturday you could have done it overnight during the week. DOT’s job is not just road building but traffic management and they do none of the latter.

• sw January 28, 2012 (3:57 pm)

  Couldn’t agree more, KT. +1.

• dreck January 28, 2012 (5:08 pm)

  this a total lie, I was on the bridge at 6am, no work were done today on the bridge as there were no workers. they just closed the bridge by mistake or to remind us how powerful they are.

• C. Knudsen January 28, 2012 (5:24 pm)

  Used to live in W. Seattle, hadn’t been in long time. Spent over an hour going nowhere on bridge eastbound at noon today. Won’t return for another ten years. What a bloody mess.

• Xena's Mom January 28, 2012 (5:27 pm)

  The unbelievable thing about the east bound closure back up earlier today (in addition to the terrible communication/signage) is that they were diverting everyone down the 1st Ave offramp … and only had ONE lane of the offramp open. AND Spokane Street also had lanes closed … bottlenecking all of the traffic down to one lane that was being stopped by stoplights. Who is the brain trust behind these alternative routes and (severe lack of) communication? It took one and a half hours to get to I5 via the bridge today at 1:00. Amazing.

• Sea3006 January 28, 2012 (7:11 pm)

  Did anybody see any road work going on with this closure? Seriously, somebody’s head needs to roll for this disaster.

• dm January 28, 2012 (7:55 pm)

  Just wait till we get the tunnel. The mess from people trying to avoid the $4 toll will clog 1st and 4th so much, our bridges will be a nightmare. And the buses cannot take the tunnel, no downtown exits – they will be stuck waiting for 1st or 4th street exits. We are screwed, thanks Seattle for screwing up the monorail and now voting in this tunnel, forcing the people unfortunate enough now to call West Seattle their home into a sad situation, and unfortunate situation for the long term.

• Natalie January 28, 2012 (8:53 pm)

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

• Mark January 28, 2012 (9:34 pm)

  I drove westbound around 10 am and saw no work going in at all in the closed lanes. Leave it to our totally inept city transportation folks…. Can we recall this mayor?

• OrwellianProphet January 29, 2012 (1:19 pm)

  Comment by dm is so accurately prophetic of what will surely become one of the biggest civic engineering boondoggles in history. Tunnel opponents warned of all these pitfalls and still Seattle is going ahead with a project that will go over budget (time & money) and forever cripple our city. Unbelievable.

• Nick January 29, 2012 (3:02 pm)

  It’s taken me 20 to 40 minutes extra every morning this week to from West Seattle to Downtown. It gives me a lot of time to contemplate how poorly the politicians I’ve elected have served my needs.

  In addition to signs that clearly delineate the detour, would it be too much to put some legible lane markings on the I-5 off ramp through the bridge. You have to figure out what’s a hollow island marking and where the lane diagonally crosses old lane markings at Harbor Island exit.
  It’s a mess.

• M. January 29, 2012 (3:06 pm)

  No experience here with this closure, however the lack of clear lane markings and even basic detour signs regarding the tunnel area detours are ridiculous. I do not travel that area but every other month, and cannot find clear directions of the detours. This frustrates me to no end, all this money spent. and the simplest and important things are overlooked.
  And please replace and relocate the 45 speed limit sign removed from the E-bound lanes at 99. With it gone, are we to continue to drive 25mph until the next sign indicates 45? That next one is near the bridge peak. And please SLOW DOWN, 25mph is not a suggestion people.

  • WSB January 29, 2012 (3:10 pm)

    I’m writing a separate story a bit later but … one WSB’er who e-mailed various SDOT people yesterday got a reply directly from the director of SDOT saying they’ll be reviewing this whole situation and better “outreach” tomorrow. – TR

• diane January 29, 2012 (4:27 pm)

  First of all I’m going to have a melt down if this city cannot effectively communicate that a major route out of this god forsaken island is non-functioning. Second, what kind of city cannot seem to communicate with so much tecnology out there that a road will be down? How about a sign people at the begininng of the road so one can decide to take an alternate route-yeah like there are a lot of those. Once on that West Seattle freeway one is stuck. 45 minutes just siiting not knowing. KOMO radio unsure. First they say it’s an accident then they say later oh, there is construction-sorry! Try the low bridge. Stuck, can’t take the low bridge. How about a freeway video monitor that shows that you can take hwy 99 today and there is no traffic jam before you’re stuck? Yes, who is responsible as they should be fired!

• Sea3006 January 30, 2012 (6:41 am)

  Has M-F WS Bridge traffic gotten a lot worse over the past few months? I am lucky to only have to go East bound in the AM three or four times a month. But it seems congestion is much worse than before…

• sw January 30, 2012 (9:53 am)

  Sea3006 – it’s not your imagination. Traffic has gotten steadily worse and even more so since tolling began on 520. The backup to Eastbound I-90 affects the flow of Eastbound Spokane Street Viaduct traffic onto Northbound I-5.

• jc January 30, 2012 (1:11 pm)

  Disappointment, disgust and outrage can only begin to describe the emotions that came up on Saturday as I was sitting in that mess, which would have been totally avoided with better communication from SDOT!!! This city boggles my mind the way they deal or don’t! with transportation issues…which is why I won’t be living here much longer… I just called the Mayor’s office to complain, and they were very apologetic, but that is not the point. They told me they have only gotten 7 calls. I think we should bombard them with complaints, everyone who blogged on this site should call the office and voice your opinion…that might get their attention!!

• jc January 30, 2012 (3:23 pm)

  The Mayor’s number is 206-684-4000.

• MOJO February 1, 2012 (2:22 pm)

  You guys are almost all clueless.
  1. Concrete takes days to harden…you don’t just drive on it after it is poured. So the bridge stays closed till it is.
  2. LOOK UP…if the light plants were turned off when no work was going on, you would complain about driving in the dark.
  3. There is more than one project going on at the same time, so PAY ATTENTION, get off the cell phone, the blog, the internet, and quit blaming others. Look before you leave home.
  4. SDOT has invested a TON of money for our benefit on that viaduct and bridge, it doesn’t happen overnight.
  5. SLOW DOWN so you can actually read the messages and signs.
  6. You chose to live on the “God Foresaken Island”…so get over it or move. Every other corner of the metro area is in the same boat. 7. None of these projects or jobs would be in process if it wasn’t for the so called “bale out” of jobs called ARRA funding. SDOT would not have given you any improvements without it. So be areful how you want to spend tohers money.
  8. Why don’t you complain the the media, the ones who’s jobs are to get information to the public. Why do you want to spend MORE tax payor dollars on City bureaucrats and Law Enforcement officers to make up for your lack of attention. For every Law Enforcement officer tied up directing traffic, that is one less to protect you from crime..and these guys are spread way too thin already. Most traffic control officers for construction projects are paid at PREMIUM time rates so you can find other reasons to complain.

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