TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: Thursday watch; Viaduct, bridge offramp crashes

(SDOT MAP with travel times/video links; is the ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE)

6:10 AM: Thanks for the texts. We start with a crash, confirmed by SDOT, on the northbound Alaskan Way Viaduct at Seneca.

And wherever you are headed, watch out for slick roads. @WestSeaWx says “lots of drizzle out there thanks to a thick marine layer that moved in overnight.”

6:23 AM: WSDOT says the crash is blocking the 2 right lanes. Metro is warning of bus delays.

6:45 AM: SDOT says the Viaduct crash has cleared.

7:19 AM: Now there’s a “heavy rescue” response listed as westbound West Seattle Bridge at Delridge. The crash is on/at the offramp, not affecting eastbound traffic. We are off for a closer look.

8 AM: Took a long time to get within view from the north end of Delridge/west end of low bridge, but the scene is still mostly out of photographic range. A bus was on the ramp along with emergency-responder vehicles, but just as our photographer started walking that way across the intersection, the bus left. A car, pointed the wrong way, is partly in view.

SFD has cleared the scene. An SDOT crew is clearing debris.

newnative August 31, 2017 (6:48 am)

Sdot tweet says it has cleared up. Any confirmation on that? I am considering the water taxi.

WSB August 31, 2017 (7:33 am)

We updated at 6:45 that it had cleared.
- newnative August 31, 2017 (8:36 am)
  
  When I typed that the update didn’t appear. Oftentimes, even when I refresh my browser the updates don’t appear for a while. In this case, not only did the update not appear for about another 10 minutes but my question wasn’t published for at least 20 minutes. By that time, I had already taken a very long detour via the water taxi to get to work.
  - WSB August 31, 2017 (8:56 am)
    
    You probably did better anyway as the Viaduct continued to be backed up even after the crash scene was reported cleared. Just getting out of West Seattle on the surface was clogged … took us 40 minutes to get from here to Spokane/West Marginal/Delridge so we could try to get a view of the offramp crash. Tried to get to Spokane from Avalon, buses and other vehicles were backed up the hill; turned around, went down Yancy to Andover, sat through four light cycles …
    - newnative August 31, 2017 (9:07 am)
      
      Yeah, I take the 57/56 commuters from Admiral but I just didn’t want the stress of being in standstill traffic on a highway where I can’t exit. I also convinced a neighbor to take the water taxi. It makes for a long walk to work, but at least I have already walked 75% of my 10,000 steps today.

Aussieshed August 31, 2017 (10:53 am)

When I saw the crash scene at about 7:20, the car was facing the wrong direction on the ramp and looked like the bus had hit the front of the car as the hood was buckled up. Didn’t see any rear damage on the car. Not sure how that happened.

WSB August 31, 2017 (10:55 am)

Thank you. That ramp has had semi-frequent spinouts – we’ve covered a few others. The buckled hood would explain the initial “heavy rescue” callout – that’s the response when there’s concern that someone might have to be extricated from a vehicle.

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