Been waiting for the 1st Avenue South offramp on the eastbound Spokane Street Viaduct to reopen? Good news. It won’t stay closed until the end of September, after all. SDOT has just announced that the offramp will reopen Wednesday, September 19th. That’s also when 1st Avenue S. will be restored to two traffic lanes each way between the bridge and Horton and when eastbound lower Spokane St. will reopen between East Marginal Way S. and 1st Avenue S.
Great news.
Now, if we can just get them to get rid of that bus lane/choke point from the area just east of the 99 off-ramp to the 1st avenue exit. It will make traffic flow much, much better.
No, they need to keep the dedicated bus lane to keep the buses moving. This makes riding transit more convenient than driving for downtown commuters and reduces traffic on the bridge.
Thank you for this fabulous update WSB! Only three more commutes until things go back to normal for my Sodo-WS drive!
The real choke point is eastbound between 4th and 6th avenues, when the third lane disappears right before the southbound exit to I-5. Does anyone know why this was overlooked in the WSB project or if there is any possibility of getting this chokepoint fixed?
I agree — at this point there’s no need for an extra bus lane.
Also WSB can you help answer this? I have read the other articles and I still don’t understand – how am I supposed to get back into West Seattle from SODO? Last week I went to the Salvation Army to donate, used 4th Ave. S exit (great!!). However I thought I could get back the same way.. wrong. Then I tried 1st Ave S and couldn’t get back up either (is that what this post is about?)
I may sound like a noob but I just feel like we’re always talking about ways to get OFF the bridge, not back up into the area. Thanks.
Sara – the 1st Avenue onramp to the westbound bridge is on the north side of the bridge – it just opened last Friday morning. It is the west side of a new two-way ramp.
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https://westseattleblog.com/2012/08/new-westbound-spokane-street-viaduct-ramp-is-open
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On the eastbound side, 1st and 4th are offramps only. The 1st Av. offramp on that side has been closed for a few weeks for repaving, and today it was announced it’ll reopen on the 19th.
I see great risk for an accident on the WB segment – the far right lane that ultimately exits to 1st Ave NB – I’ve seen several drivers realize at the last minute what’s about to happen and then dangerously cut into the middle lane. There needs to be an “Exit only” lane warning much further east, near I-5, to warn drivers that the far right lane will end.
When are the “always ignored” 25 MPH speed limit signs going to come down, especially on the west bound segment that is effectively finished?
Thanks so much WSB :) Looking at the maps and deciphering the different pathways isn’t as easy for some.
Sorry, comment time is over.
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