West Seattle Bridge closure alert: Fauntleroy Expressway closed all day on Sunday, February 19th

>(Fauntleroy Expressway at top of page; aerial photo by Long B. Nguyen; expanded view here)
Just in from SDOT – they need to close the Fauntleroy Expressway, the southwest end of the West Seattle Bridge, for a full day on Sunday, February 19th, as the earthquake-safety project continues. The closure actually will start Saturday night, February 18th, and run as late as midnight Sunday night. Here’s the announcement, just in:

Fauntleroy Expressway and SW Avalon Way Closures, Feb. 13-19
Full closure from Saturday night through Sunday night

The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) will close the Fauntleroy Expressway (from 35th SW to the Delridge ramps at the west end of the West Seattle Bridge) during the night next week, February 13-17, as previously announced, and also during the weekend beginning Saturday, February 18, at 9:00 p.m. until 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, February 19.

During these closures the following detours will be in effect:

· Westbound motorists traveling to West Seattle via the West Seattle Bridge will be directed to use the Delridge Way SW off-ramp.

· Eastbound motorists on Fauntleroy Way SW will be detoured at 35th Avenue SW and will be directed to the West Seattle Bridge via SW Genesee Street and Delridge Way SW.

Additionally, northbound traffic on SW Avalon Way will be restricted February 13-19 during these dates and times:

· Monday, February 13, through Friday, February 17, from 9:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.
· Saturday, February 18, starting at 6:00 p.m. until Sunday, February 19, at 11:59 p.m.

During these times the following detour for SW Avalon Way will be in place:

· Northbound motorists traveling on SW Avalon Way will be detoured to eastbound SW Spokane Street. They will then be directed to perform a U-turn at 26th Avenue SW onto westbound SW Spokane Street and then north on Harbor Avenue SW. Northbound trucks and Metro buses traveling on SW Avalon Way will be flagged through the work zone.

These closures are required as part of the seismic retrofit of the Fauntleroy Expressway in order to make it more likely to withstand the force of a major earthquake. The work is funded by the “Bridging the Gap” transportation levy approved by Seattle voters in November 2006.

For more information and a map of the detour, visit SDOT’s project website.

Brian M. February 10, 2012 (1:01 pm)

The Sunday closure on the bridge sounds like a surprise to me.

WSB February 10, 2012 (1:10 pm)

It’s not THIS Sunday – one week from Sunday. Also not the same project that caused trouble weekend before last. This one won’t be pleasant either but it’s closing off basically the west fork at the end of the bridge as opposed to the entire last two-thirds of a mile …

Bill at Duwamish Head February 10, 2012 (1:49 pm)

So those of us who live on the waterfront, and usually use the on-ramp at harbor/avalon, need to go up California and work our way around to the Delridge onramp?
Am I reading this correctly?

SDOT_Construction_Coordinator February 10, 2012 (2:33 pm)

The eastbound on-ramp from Avalon/Harbor to lower SW Spokane St to the high bridge will be open. It will be slightly narrowed (and it may also be congested), but the roadway will be open.

sw February 10, 2012 (4:17 pm)

Thank you for the more direct advance notice, SDOT and WSB.

Mark February 10, 2012 (8:23 pm)

I say again, we need to have a community advisory board with the veto power over the SDOT. They have demonstrated an ability to willy-nilly close arterials when not needed. They have abused this authority and we need to have greater governance over them.