(SDOT MAP with camera/incident links; OFFICIAL #99CLOSURE INFOSITE; ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE)

(Click any view for a close-up; more cameras on the WSB Traffic page)

5:10 AM: Good morning – we’re starting the second week of the Alaskan Way Viaduct’s closure. The early-morning progress report for under-Viaduct tunneling: 208 of 385 feet.

5:29 AM: Bridges and streets on the outbound routes are looking OK – no early incidents. The truck backup from yesterday should not be replicated today – the Port told us Terminal 46’s operator would be opening at 3 am, something it did not do yesterday.

5:47 AM: We’re about to head to the Water Taxi dock to check in on today’s runs – looks like a great day to sail. A commenter asked about the shuttles from Pier 2 – which hasn’t maxed out its parking spots yet – and whether their “continuous” operation had changed. No, said the WT’s Greg Lerner, but: “The one thing we’ve learned is that the shuttle needs to leave from Pier 2 about 11 minutes before departure to ensure riders have the time when they get to Seacrest Park to buy tickets (if needed) and walk down to the boat. Knowing this, we will not send a shuttle prior to this time (between sailings) if we don’t feel it can make it back to depart again by 11 minutes before the next sailing. We’re hoping riders are attentive to our closure brochures that suggest riders arrive at Pier 2 about 20 minutes prior to their departure.”

6:07 AM: Beautiful sunrise. Meantime, the high bridge, is of course, starting to get busy. We’re approaching Seacrest – still lots of street parking on Harbor.

6:21 AM: Check out that view of the eastbound bridge – filling up. Meantime at Seacrest, just for posterity’s sake, we recorded the boarding for the first run of the day:

That’s county Marine Division director Paul Brodeur checking in with the crew toward the start. The count: 78.

6:37 AM: While the high bridge is busy, it’s not yet backed up to the 35th/Fauntleroy entrance, so that’s a good sign. Since it’s Friday, we should look ahead to weekend events likely to affect getting around:

*Sounders FC play San Jose at CenturyLink Field, 7 pm Saturday
*Opening Day of boating season on Saturday – if you’re U-District-bound, note that Montlake Bridge will be open for marine traffic much of the day
*Lung Force Walk on Saturday and The Color Run on Sunday, both downtown

SDOT’s roundup has details on those and more.

6:54 AM: 110 for the second Water Taxi run of the day, down from 137 yesterday. The dock has a soundtrack all its own … sea lions barking from the barge buoys, Canada geese honking as they fly by, jets overhead (saw a KAL 747 earlier this hour), and of course the maritime traffic – Doc Maynard’s Vashon counterpart Sally Fox was visible in the semi-distance earlier as it headed toward downtown.

7:19 AM: Crash reported on the eastbound bridge near the 1st Avenue exit.

7:23 AM: Thanks to the texter who tells us, from a bus, what’s happening at the crash scene: “2-car collision, east end of WS Bridge, where the lanes coming up from the low bridge merge. Fire truck blocking bus lane and part of the right all-vehicle lane… Drivers still in their cars talking with police [when texter’s bus passed], didn’t *appear* to be serious injury.” Meantime, 7:15 am Water Taxi tally was 198. (Added: Our video from that boarding:)

We’re leaving the dock now, headed to see what the Avalon/Manning situation by Luna Park is looking like after yesterday’s troubles.

7:34 AM: That helicopter over the bridge is TV checking out traffic because of the crash.

Meantime, another bus passenger sent a photo (added above) saying it looks like the crash is clearing. (Added) And seconds after we typed that, SDOT verified via Twitter that ****the crash has cleared.****

7:41 AM: Checking out Avalon at Harbor/bridge onramp/Manning/etc. intersection, all is well – 21X and 116 just went by on the way to the bridge.

8:03 AM: Spent a few minutes observing at Avalon/Manning.

No left turning, no backups. (Did everybody divert today, or lots of people with three-day weekends, maybe?) Next, we’re heading to check out the bicycle commute under the bridge.

8:38 AM: From our stop on the path/trail by West Marginal Place:

Steady stream of riders going by. Low bridge has not opened for maritime traffic so far this morning, by the way.

9:02 AM: Just dispatched, Seattle Fire crash response to 9th/Barton.

9:25 AM: Haven’t heard any further details on that – the SFD response has closed, so here’s hoping that’s a good sign. By all accounts, today’s morning commute hasn’t been too bad. If you have any new questions about traffic or tunneling, please comment (or e-mail us at editor@westseattleblog.com) since as usual we will be on the media conference call, happening around 11:30 am. And we’ll have afternoon/evening coverage again, starting around 4 pm. (Inbetween, if there are any significant incidents affecting major corridors such as one of the bridges, we would publish a standalone report, as always.)

(SDOT MAP with camera/incident links; OFFICIAL #99CLOSURE INFOSITE; ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE)

(Click any view for a close-up; more cameras on the WSB Traffic page)

4:09 PM: Our afternoon/evening commute watch is under way. First – if you haven’t seen it yet, we followed up on this morning’s big issues during today’s media conference call. We’ve also just updated the resulting story with new information from the Port.

30th/Avalon/Yancy project update – we just went by and while the flashing-beacon signs are in, the crosswalk was chalked, not striped. So we’re checking with SDOT on that.

We also just talked by phone with a local resident who asked us to share a plea for people cutting through residential side streets to get around clogged arterials: PLEASE, PLEASE DRIVE SLOWLY AND CAREFULLY. She’s in Highland Park but the plea could be from anywhere. The frustrated drivers using cut-throughs have almost hit at least two people on her street. Let’s at least get through all this without sending people (or pets) to the hospital … or the grave.

4:48 PM: Police are diverting from their previously planned traffic-management posts downtown to an unannounced protest march southbound on 5th, approaching Cherry at last report. SDOT is updating on Twitter.

5:12 PM: The downtown protest – which is about the shooting death of Che Taylor and other deaths – has closed Cherry east of 4th, according to SDOT (that’s between City Hall and SPD HQ).

5:23 PM: Just got word from KCDOT’s Jeff Switzer – who also sent the photo – that the need for more bike parking for Water Taxi users led SDOT to install a temp corral at Seacrest:

5:56 PM: “It’s gridlock right now downtown,” and not just because of the aforementioned protest, we just heard SPD say via scanner.

6:31 PM: Buses are still running late – someone just texted us a screenshot of a list of how far behind many are. Also, see comments. (And thank you yet again for the commute reports.)

8:21 PM: It’s official – the tunneling machine is now more than halfway along its path of digging beneath the Viaduct – 195 of the 385 feet, as of less than an hour ago.

(SDOT MAP with camera/incident links; OFFICIAL #99CLOSURE INFOSITE; ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE)

(Click any view for a close-up; more cameras on the WSB Traffic page)

5:04 AM: Good morning! Welcome to the last day of the first week of the Viaduct closure. Since last Friday, the tunneling machine has dug 175 feet of the 385-foot distance it needs to go to be clear of the Viaduct’s underside – that’s the total as of about an hour ago.

5:19 AM: We’ve looked all around and so far this morning, no crashes or incidents. The big theme at yesterday’s briefing with city, county, and state traffic/transit reps was “don’t go back to your old ways” (as well as, thanks for what you’ve been doing to ease things so far).

5:40 AM: Still wide open out there. We’ll have someone out at Seacrest again this morning to see how the Water Taxi runs are going – usage has remained well above previous levels but with room for more. Here’s the schedule.

6:01 AM: The high bridge is starting to look busy. (Added) So does KING 5’s helicopter view of I-5 NB, just north of the West Seattle Bridge.

6:12 AM: Reminder if you didn’t catch our update last night – sometime today, between peak periods, SDOT will stripe the new crosswalk at Avalon/Yancy.

6:22 AM: Sunshine at the Water Taxi dock (and tomorrow’s forecast is even sunnier):

Our photo shows part of the line for the first sailing of the day, which we’re told had 100 on board, up from 95 yesterday. Meantime, scanner mentions some backup at Spokane/East Marginal Way (checking on whether that’s truck traffic for the port terminals). And thanks to Paul for today’s first commute report.

6:33 AM: The bridge backup is really kicking in.

6:56 AM: The 6:45 West Seattle Water Taxi run is down from the past few days, 137 passengers, just about half the capacity. On the bridge, it’s busy but not backed up to the Fauntleroy end yet.

7:02 AM: Heard a little more (via scanner) about Spokane/Marginal – it’s trucks backed up waiting to get into Terminal 46. Here’s the live camera view; here’s a screengrab from a moment ago:

Police are on scene making sure the intersection’s not blocked and monitoring for safety issues (busy bicycle route, among other things).

7:13 AM: Remember our discussion here the other day about cars cutting under the bridge and turning left onto Avalon just before the bridge ramp? Just heard a dispatch for SPD to check it out.

7:24 AM: 198 on the 7:15 am Water Taxi run, down about ten percent from yesterday. If you are heading out on land – the bridge is now in full backup mode.

7:30 AM: Via Twitter, Jeff reports, “Admiral backup back to Monday-Tuesday level. To the Stevens staircase.” Meantime, the low bridge is looking pretty busy – haven’t had a maritime opening since 5 am, but likely some high-bridge diversion. (The “live” view is atop this story.)

7:44 AM: Michael tweets, “Lower Spokane is the worst it has been during the closure.”

7:53 AM: 160 on the Water Taxi a few minutes ago, up one passenger from yesterday. Our crew at the dock says there are reports of shuttles getting caught in traffic (more than usual) so dropoff, bike, driving (free parking at Pier 2) might be better ways to go if you’re headed to Seacrest before the last morning-rush run at 9:15. Also, we’re continuing to get texts from people saying the truck backup on East Marginal is still affecting other surface vehicle traffic.

8 AM: Another Twitter report on the surface trip – from @aussieshed, “From south Delridge Way SW to east side of lower Spokane Bridge – 45 minutes…so far.”

8:35 AM: Like the traffic, the commute reports in comments pick up as the morning goes on, and Avalon is getting panned today. Our crew headed back from the Water Taxi dock about 15 minutes ago experienced it too. We’ll be on today’s conference call with WSDOT and SDOT to talk about tunneling and traffic, and will be asking about Avalon enforcement as well as about the truck backup on East Marginal.

8:42 AM: South Park Bridge has closed to surface traffic/opened for maritime traffic. Live camera’s here; screengrab for posterity’s sake:

8:50 AM: South Park Bridge is open to surface traffic again.

9:04 AM: Here’s the ongoing truck situation – live pic of E. Marginal/Hanford:

9:28 AM: Paul sent this photo of the bicycles on the 8:15 am Water Taxi:

And **now** it looks like the East Marginal truck backup is finally easing … at least a bit.

Heads up for tomorrow: The last major component of the 30th/Yancy/Avalon/Andover safety project is scheduled for tomorrow, NOT Friday as previously reported: SDOT says the crosswalk striping across Avalon will happen on Thursday, outside peak hours, the contractor promised the city. Pushbuttons for the flashing crossing beacons on both sides of Avalon are scheduled for installation tomorrow, too. The work at this multi-point intersection has been under way for more than a month.

(SDOT MAP with camera/incident links; OFFICIAL #99CLOSURE INFOSITE; ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE)

(Click any view for a close-up; more cameras on the WSB Traffic page)

4:05 PM: No incidents so far but we’re committed to having traffic/transit watch atop the page during peak commute times as the Viaduct closure continues, so here we go for Wednesday afternoon.

5:08 PM: Crash on the 1st Avenue South Bridge – Seattle Fire and Washington State Patrol are on the way. Don’t know which side yet. (Update – here’s the camera view.)

5:24 PM: If you haven’t seen it yet, we did cover today’s multi-department media briefing on how traffic’s going. (Have finally added the video, too.) Bottom line, they’re still urging you to continue whatever changes you’ve made, because they’re helping. And if you take the Water Taxi – consider shifting earlier or later so passenger loads are more spread out. Speaking of which, thanks to Ashley for this photo of the line for the 5:15 from downtown:

5:52 PM: Just in from Jeff Switzer at KCDOT, Water Taxi numbers:

199 riders at 4:45 pm, 221 riders at 5:15 pm

5:58 PM: The “low bridge” has just closed to surface traffic.

6:11 PM: And the bridge has reopened.

7:50 PM: Another tunneling update tonight from WSDOT – 162.5 feet along the under-Viaduct way, getting closer to the halfway mark. Here’s the full evening update, including an overview of pm traffic and transit.