TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: Wednesday updates

(SCROLL DOWN for ongoing updates)

(East-facing camera on the West Seattle Bridge; see other cams on the WSB Traffic page)
6:34 AM: A crash on the West Seattle Bridge has closed the western end of the westbound direction; one texter tells us vehicles are being diverted off the bridge at the Admiral exit. And according to the scanner, the eastbound side will have to be closed for repairs to the barrier. We’ll continue to monitor.

6:40 AM UPDATE: Here’s the camera view of the west end of the bridge just east of 35th/Fauntleroy, no traffic either way right now, so you’ll have to enter the eastbound bridge from Avalon/Admiral or Delridge:

6:54 AM UPDATE: As you can see in the camera view, the west end of the bridge is now OPEN again.

8:10 AM UPDATE: A comment reminds us that cancellations of the Vashon Water Taxi affect buses headed this way, so just in case this affects you – the Vashon WT has been canceled all morning because of mechanical trouble with the Melissa Ann; no word yet about afternoon prospects.

DOWNTOWN BUS-STOP ALERT: For transit riders downtown who are headed this way:

The bus stop westbound on Columbia St just east of 2nd Av will be closed through Friday, 11/15, at all times, due to construction. During those times, board or exit the RapidRide C Line and Route 125 to Westwood Village, and routes 21 Express to Arbor Heights, 55 to the Admiral District, 56 to Alki, 57 to the Alaska Junction and 120 to Burien at the temporarily relocated stop southbound on 3rd Av just north of Columbia St. Once leaving the stop on 3rd Av at Columbia St, Viaduct buses will operate non-stop via their regular routing.

ADDED 1:10 PM: A traffic alert for the weekend:

If your Saturday plans include a trip to SODO, you can cross the State Route 99 ramps near the stadiums off your list of route options.

Crews working for contractors building the SR 99 tunnel and the South Atlantic Street overpass will close the on-ramp from South Royal Brougham Way and the off-ramp to South Atlantic Street for much of the weekend. The right lane of southbound SR 99 will also be closed south of downtown Seattle. The ramps and lane will reopen two hours before the kickoff of Sunday’s Seahawks game at CenturyLink Field.

Closure details

Friday, Nov. 15 – Sunday, Nov. 17
The right lane of southbound SR 99 between South King and South Atlantic streets, as well as the southbound off-ramp to South Atlantic Street, will be closed from 10 pm. Friday, Nov. 15 to 11 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 17.

During the lane and ramp closure, crews will remove steel and timber beams that supported construction of the new South Atlantic Street overpass. The overpass is scheduled to open by the end of 2013.

Saturday, Nov. 16 – Sunday, Nov. 17
The South Royal Brougham Way on-ramp to northbound SR 99 will be closed from 7 a.m. Saturday to 10 a.m. Sunday.
During the closure, crews will install drainage and move a power pole.

The overpass and tunnel ramp work are both part of the Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Program.

2:32 PM UPDATE: Vashon Water Taxi will be back in business this afternoon – with Clipper III replacing Melissa Ann, which is out for repairs.

16 Replies to "TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: Wednesday updates"

  • Tanej November 13, 2013 (6:39 am)

    Police cars just blocked the bridge entrance at 46th & Fauntleroy.

  • k November 13, 2013 (6:52 am)

    Sorry. It’s early and I’m confused. What is the best way to get on the bridge to head East at this point if you live in Admiral? Thanks for any help.

    • WSB November 13, 2013 (6:56 am)

      K, it’s open again, so “normal” approaches have resumed. I don’t have full details on the crash but it was apparently non-injury so did NOT require a long investigative closure.

  • Joe Szilagyi November 13, 2013 (6:54 am)

    Need a solution? Have you joined the West Seattle Transportation Coalition?
    .
    Website: http://www.westseattltc.org
    .
    On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/westseattletc
    .
    Have you seen the District 1 group? That’s where we all live. Equally important discussions: http://www.facebook.com/groups/seattledistrict1/
    .

  • Brian November 13, 2013 (6:58 am)

    I drive in at ~5:45 so thankfully I skated in before the bridge was closed.

    I saw two police cruisers lit up and blocking the inner-most lane on each side of the bridge. They also had an SUV stopped further up the bridge on the EB side with a third cruiser.

    The SUV looked to be in decent enough shape so I’m not sure if it was the one involved in the accident. I can’t imagine the car that caused the barricade to shift that far is still drivable, though. It was pushed a full 30 degrees out of alignment.

  • k November 13, 2013 (6:58 am)

    Thanks WSB! Just saw that on King 5. Phew.

    • WSB November 13, 2013 (7:02 am)

      Forgive the horn-blowing but the TV traffic reporters had no word of this until we had it and tweeted it thanks to a texter (whomever that was who texted around 6:35, THANKS, you never know when this is going to be a big multi-hour problem; luckily this was NOT) – it hadn’t hit traffic alerts yet, and since it was a non-injury crash, it wasn’t on 911.
      .
      (Standard caveat: don’t ever text or call until you are OFF the bridge/road/whatever, unless you are on the bus, or in a passenger seat.)
      .
      Brian – thanks for the added info; all we heard, once the scanner was on, was that police were looking for a hit-run driver related to this. Sounded like they might have had a plate, even.

  • JW November 13, 2013 (7:37 am)

    Buses coming Vashon are packed. Was there more than one sailing of passenger only ferry cancelled?

    • WSB November 13, 2013 (8:10 am)

      JW – yes, it’s been canceled for the entire morning now. Hadn’t thought of this before, but your comment makes me think we should mention in our roundup when the Vashon Water Taxi is canceled, because of the bus effect – ?

  • JayDee November 13, 2013 (7:43 am)

    On the 56X, I noticed a 120 crawling up Seneca hill so apparently not everyone read the memo. 90% of the 56 riders got off at Union and 3rd.

  • Twobottles November 13, 2013 (8:13 am)

    Glad I cross the bridge at 5:00 am :-)

  • Busrider November 13, 2013 (11:09 am)

    If going downtown on the c line they closed the stop at second and seneca and first stop is at 3rd and pike ugh!

    • WSB November 13, 2013 (11:13 am)

      I’ll find the alert on that and add it – thanks!

  • Sue November 13, 2013 (12:15 pm)

    Here’s the alert about the stop being closed on Seneca between 2nd/3rd. First I heard of it until the bus was rerouted, and I’m on a ton of notification email lists about Metro stuff. http://metro.kingcounty.gov/alerts/pdf/13-all-14_senecaclsdat2av_nov13-25.pdf
    .
    I’m wondering if the 55 driver was thrown as well, as he decided to stop and let passengers off on University, just west of 3rd (first stop should be around the corner at 3rd/Union).

  • Deb November 13, 2013 (3:18 pm)

    What’s with the 2 (commercial?) netting boats that are operating within the Fauntleroy-Vashon ferry route? The last westbound ferry had a huge reroute to accommodate.

Sorry, comment time is over.