Viaduct-to-tunnel: No date yet, but here’s what’s happening now

| Alaskan Way Viaduct | Highway 99 tunnel | West Seattle news

(WSDOT photo: Part of where Alaskan Way will run when the move is done)

WSDOT says today that there’s no date yet for closing the Alaskan Way Viaduct to begin the transition to the Highway 99 tunnel. But preparation work continues – including shifting the surface Alaskan Way out from under the Viaduct. Here’s the latest WSDOT update:

Last week marked the beginning of an important project that must be completed before the Alaskan Way Viaduct can be removed. Crews working for Kiewit Infrastructure West Co. have begun the traffic signal, striping and roadway signage work required to switch traffic on Alaskan Way from beneath the viaduct to just west of the viaduct. Alaskan Way’s travel lanes were detoured beneath the viaduct years ago to accommodate construction of the seawall project and the SR 99 tunnel, which could open as soon as this fall.

Crews will be working through late summer or early fall to restore street traffic to the west side of the viaduct. This switch will provide space under and around the viaduct for the removal work, while keeping Alaskan Way open during that construction. Implementing the traffic switch requires wiring intersections for traffic signals, installing roadway signage, and updating roadway and parking striping.

Crews are currently working on the west side of the viaduct, at the cross-street intersections from Yesler Way to Union Street. They are installing wooden traffic signal poles, trenching and adding underground conduits, and installing cables and traffic signals overhead.

This work will temporarily close some parking spaces and parts of the intersections to ensure the safety of crews and the travelling public. People walking, biking and driving along the waterfront will still be able to move through the area, and business loading zones will be preserved. Kiewit’s crews are minimizing their work areas where possible in order to limit these temporary parking disruptions.

This work will not disrupt the new, free Waterfront Shuttle. The pilot service is providing free hop-on, hop-off rides between Pioneer Square and the Space Needle, with stops along the waterfront. Part of WSDOT’s funding commitment to Seattle’s waterfront and Pioneer Square, the shuttle runs approximately every 25 minutes from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week, through October 1.

The switch of traffic from under the viaduct to west of the viaduct will happen before the three-week #realign99 closure of SR 99.

As explained in June, even after the tunnel opens, northbound traffic between the West Seattle Bridge and downtown will have about two additional weeks of detours while the new main pre-tunnel offramp is completed.

Elizagrace August 17, 2018 (10:18 am)

I vote we keep that shuttle going during the viaduct closure – I plan on taking the water taxi and walking to Lower Queen Anne, but the shuttle service would be a dream!

MJ August 17, 2018 (2:08 pm)

The State needs to set a date with some lead time so people can plan ahead, some people could get out of town on vacation.Seattle needs to have the 23rd Ave corridor open againAnd preferably do the closure while daylight savings time still is in play, aka making bike riding a more viable option for some people. Many riders simply do not like riding in the dark me included.

WSB August 17, 2018 (2:15 pm)

They reiterated that they hope to give a month’s warning of the Viaduct closure.

Babs August 17, 2018 (10:23 pm)

Traffice apocalypse is coming.

C August 17, 2018 (10:50 pm)

Is metro doing anything like adding extra busses to get people out of west sea at the time of closure? Busses are full as it is and near impossible to catch at peak times during weekdays- I imagine they’ll need more during these construction dates.

Ken M August 17, 2018 (11:03 pm)

There’s no way the viaduct will open until the state makes a final decision about Ligandese

Bob F Forrest August 18, 2018 (11:09 am)

It’s spilled milk now but it’s hard to watch how the citizenry has been led like sheep into this never-ending sr99 debacle. It’s s as if the politicos purposely planned each step to be the most difficult, expensive, time consuming operation possible in order to end up with fewer traffic lanes, a forever toll, and an geologically fragile waterfront. Insanity. Any UW grad student could draw up a plan that would have the venerable viaduct permanently rehabilitated within a year with little disruption and at a tenth of the cost. They do this with tall buildings in San Francisco all the time. This tunnel to nowhere will continue to be a fiscal drain on the city until the next earthquake renders it unusable and we have to start all over again.