West Seattle Bridge I-5 ramps to reopen by 3 pm Monday

(“Live” traffic cam for east end of WS Bridge; see more cameras @ WSB Traffic page)
WSDOT says the ramp work at the east end of the West Seattle Bridge will be done early – but not before the morning commute, so this advisory includes information you need for tomorrow morning:

The ramps from the West Seattle Bridge to Interstate 5 will open much sooner than expected, but Monday morning commuters will still need to add an extra 15 minutes to their drive.

Contractor crews working for the Washington State Department of Transportation are making excellent progress and will reopen all of the ramps to I-5 from the Spokane Street Viaduct and lower Spokane Street by 3 p.m. Monday, Feb. 18.

The closure began on Friday, Feb. 15 and was scheduled to last until 5 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 19. Crews have worked around the clock to remove and replace aging expansion joints and also jacked sections of the ramp to repair slabs of concrete.

While President’s Day is Monday, not everyone has the day off work. In anticipation of heavy traffic on the detour route, the City of Seattle has retimed the light at 4th Avenue South and a trooper from the Washington State Patrol will flag traffic during the Monday morning drive.

Until the ramps reopen, 4th Avenue S. is where you’ll have to get off the eastbound bridge if you haven’t already exited at 1st or to NB 99.

P.S. The next scheduled closure in the I-5 Spokane St. Interchange Special Bridge Repair Project is Friday night 3/1 until Monday morning 3/4 and will only affect the ramp to southbound I-5 from the east end of the bridge.

West Seattle Hipster February 17, 2013 (10:03 pm)

WSDOT RULES!

I wish SDOT was as efficient…….

frustrated February 17, 2013 (10:50 pm)

Who runs the construction management for SDOT? Closing a route during the day that is the only viable connection to an entire area is just stupid. If, and I say that with much doubt, this construction closure was completely necessary during the day, you’d think that SDOT would at least put a condition in the contract that the contractor pay for some police officers to direct traffic at the costco off-ramp and/or change the timing of the light. Does anyone care about this stuff? Just a little forethought would save thousands of people an extra 10-15min.

WSB February 17, 2013 (10:53 pm)

This is a WSDOT project (state). There should be contacts on the link in the update (see project name in first line or so). I don’t know exactly where the line is that demarcates city structure (WS Bridge) and state structure (ramps). Do note that the copy DOES mention a flagger and signal-timing change. – TR

frustrated February 17, 2013 (11:05 pm)

I must have crossed the bridge this weekend at the wrong time. Saturday mid-day I had no such luck on have a re-timed light and/or a Washington State Trooper. Perhaps enough people contacted the right WSDOT personel to make this happen.

frustrated February 17, 2013 (11:10 pm)

Now, as for the ‘new’ West Seattle SDOT bridge, maybe we should put in a petition to have SDOT call the contractor so that it is at least as smooth as the aging bridge before it. I’ve driven on brick roads smoother than that. Did they have any specifications on the level of finish on that roadway? Craziness. :/ The ancient Romans would be rolling in their graves if they knew of the quality of craftsmanship that goes into roads a couple of thousand years later. :P

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