TRAFFIC ALERT: Bridge closures, week 2; different detour

(Photo from last week, by Laura James)

The second week of overnight West Seattle Bridge closures is under way for the Fauntleroy Expressway seismic-safety-cushion re-replacement project, and if you’ll be heading eastbound before 5 am, you should be aware of a change in the detour plan, in case you missed our reminder this morning. The best way to get to the bridge tonight, and likely Monday night too, is via Delridge, because the onramp from Avalon is closed, with traffic being detoured to the next onramp, by Fire Station 36. That’s made for slow going on eastbound Spokane under the bridge again tonight, and some backup on bridge-bound Avalon. We asked SDOT’s Paul Elliott at week’s end about the change, since previously, only the 35th/Fauntleroy onramp was announced for closure, and he explained that the contractor decided to accelerate work to re-replace the earthquake-safety cushions under the ramp as well as the main section of the bridge. So tonight and tomorrow overnight:

-35th/Fauntleroy, Avalon-to-Spokane ramps closed – Delridge is best bet to get on EB bridge
-If headed westbound, you’ll have to exit at Delridge

Closures will continue TFN Sunday through Thursday nights, 9 pm-5 am unless there’s a major stadium event, in which case (as happened last Wednesday when Beyoncé was at CenturyLink Field) the closure won’t start until after 11 pm.

dsa May 23, 2016 (1:48 am)

Prestressed concrete girder bridges like this have bearing pads regardless of where they are built.
SDOT is calling these “girder bearing pads” by another name: “earthquake safety cushions” It’s hard to tell, but looking at Laura’s photo there may be a reason they do that since it looks like they are much more substantial than most pads. Tracy, you might want to ask SDOT if “our” bridge is special.

Shebarue May 24, 2016 (8:11 pm)

The permanent electronic reader boards now say that the closures will continue through 7/29. Did I miss something? I thought this was happening for 2-3 weeks, not months.

WSB May 24, 2016 (8:18 pm)

No, it’s always been months, not just a few weeks. Potentially up to 50 closures, which if all done in five-night bursts would be 10 weeks – I’d have to look back at the 2011-2012 work to recall how long that lasted.

https://westseattleblog.com/2016/01/fauntleroy-expressway-closures-ahead-as-project-to-re-replace-pads-gets-ready-to-start-one-year-later-than-planned/

Sorry, comment time is over.