TRAFFIC/TRANSIT: Friday watch, second week of West Seattle Bridge closure

5:44 AM: The high-rise West Seattle Bridge remains closed for the 11th consecutive morning.

The low bridge is reserved for transit, freight, emergency response, and Harbor Island access – SDOT told us in a Thursday interview, it’s working on an enforcement plan and better signage.

The main route across the Duwamish River is the 1st Avenue South Bridge (map) – that’s also how to get to I-5, cutting across Georgetown.

Or you can use the South Park Bridge (map).

Check the @SDOTBridges Twitter feed to see if a bridge is opening for marine traffic.

OTHER LINKS

SDOT’s traffic map
Our traffic-cams page
Metro‘s canceled trips as the Reduced Schedule continues
Sound Transit Route 560’s Reduced Schedule
West Seattle Water Taxi schedule

Let us know what you’re seeing on your alternate commute – comment, or text (not if you’re at the wheel!) 206-293-6302.

Stuie Loo April 3, 2020 (6:43 am)

It seems the water taxi is experiencing low ridership. I was wondering if the DART could be repurposed to run a shuttle from the downtown pier to first hill. This could be a strategy to support the medical workers living in west seattle.

Momkat April 3, 2020 (9:08 am)

Excellent idea!!
Lisa April 5, 2020 (12:07 am)

I agree!

Janelle April 3, 2020 (8:22 am)

I like your idea, was just having a similar thought…

What if there were some specific sailings for essential medical workers (all personnel that work at the major hospitals) that coordinated with shuttle busses on the other side that then drove to each of the major hospitals. I wonder if something like this could help essential workers getting to First Hill, UW, etc.

WS Transit Rider April 4, 2020 (8:58 am)

Not all essential workers are medical professionals. I am so tired of people saying this. What about grocery workers, bus drivers, postal workers, garbage truck drivers, electricians, plumbers, janitors, hotel workers, and social service professionals? It goes on and on and on. These people are also on the front lines risking their lives to provide essential services we take for granted. Not all heroes where scrubs.
- Janelle April 4, 2020 (11:35 am)
  
  I didn’t say that all essential workers are medical workers. I am very aware of that. This was just a suggestion specifically for this population.
  
  This suggestion specifically for medical workers was looking for just one of many solutions we will need for managing transportation for all essential workers. My logic was that hospitals being large facilities might have a higher percentage of essential workers right now and creating these routes might alleviate some traffic on the roadways for other essential workers.
  
  I’m sorry if my idea caused offense to other essential workers, it wasn’t intended to. I feel appreciation, gratitude, and respect for all of you essential workers holding things together out there! Especially those who are unrecognized or under appreciated.
  
  My suggestion wasn’t about having more appreciation for medical workers, it was just looking for a solution for a specific need.

Mj April 3, 2020 (8:41 am)

Not transit related, but with reduced traffic air quality has improved and is noticeable in the power being generated by my Solar panels. Anyone else with solar panels noticing this?

Chuck April 3, 2020 (11:42 am)

Glad to see someone has noticed! Yes, our wild skies are a result of the fact geoengineering (chemtrailing) has halted since the 17th of last month as far as I can tell (we had a lot of rainy days in that time). Deniers can deny all you want. Geoengineering is real, full or aerosols, coal ash, aluminum, barium and even lithium. It’s the dirtiest little secret of our own military, and has been going on for decades. Surely you have noticed some days are FILLED with these criss-cross bands of pollutants (just “ice crystals” you tell yourself), and other days are like this–not a single white slash across the sky. The fact we have had weeks of non-spray days has lifted my heart with hope. Why it has stopped during this crisis has to do with other wonderful things happening behind the scenes, but that’s enough “conspiracy” dropped on one day. I have found people don’t much care for the truth as it rightfully upsetting. But get ready, because we have a lot more in store and I’m here to tell you, it will be glorious. Any other “Q” followers here know exactly what I am talking about. Peace.
- WSJ April 3, 2020 (1:23 pm)
  
  Chemtrails and Q? Please seek professional help.
- KM April 3, 2020 (2:33 pm)
  
  oh my god
- Woke April 3, 2020 (3:42 pm)
  
  Your right about the chemtrails have noticed the difference since they stopped spraying. Not missing the lines in the sky and then the overcast days, nice to see blue sky and normal puffy clouds. As far as the Q stuff not buying Trump is our savior thats the best we got were are the dark days should be happening now nothing yet, no arrests lets see something happen
- Matt April 3, 2020 (3:56 pm)
  
  Yikes.. you’d think the home of Boeing could have taught you the proper science behind Contrails.. note I said contrails and not chemtrails. Please keep your conspiracies off the blog.. I thought it was safe from misinformation.
- Bucket 'o Beef April 3, 2020 (7:01 pm)
  
  Oh god, get real. There is no such thing as chemtrails or “geoengineering”. And if you want to sound somewhat intelligent, its called “climate engineering”. I’d love to hear your illuminati and voter-fraud conspiracy theories, but not here.
dsa April 3, 2020 (4:26 pm)

I’ve also noticed the days being longer.

Mike April 3, 2020 (10:59 am)

When some sense of normalcy returns, traffic in and out of West Seattle is gonna require major changes in our behavior and in the transportation services available. I hope that the option of increasing water taxi service and connecting transit on both sides of the water is pursued. Perhaps there is a way to provide other crossing methods as well – private ferries, for example. Maybe a fast shuttle across the low bridge. I have the luxury of needing cross-Bay access infrequently, and am considering Shank’s Mare across the low bridge and transit on the City side. Driving from the Admiral District down to the 1st South or South Park bridges is not gonna be a pleasant experience.

Scott Collins April 3, 2020 (12:16 pm)

My wife and I had an idea for post (whenever that may be…) Covid19 strategies. While I am a bicyclist…it is not practical in my normal worklife to make a bike my primary mode of transport. However, if I could park my car somewhere conveniently located on the other side of the lower bridge, I could make the 5 mile ride to my car and then launch my day from there. This would probably save me half hour a day or more AND make it easier for those folks who don’t see this as an option to make their way down West Marginal and to points beyond.To make this work, however, I would need a safe place to park my car overnight during the week and potentially a way to store my bike. Perhaps even a place to change into “work” clothes from my “play” clothes, so that I can look professional for the meetings I attend. I don’t know where this would be or how it would be run, but it might take some pressure off our very limited ingress/egress to WS.

Maria April 3, 2020 (3:20 pm)

As far as the bike portion, perhaps the City could work with JUMP/Uber to subsidize citizens’ cost of using their bikes that go through that zone around the bridge. It’s doable since they are GPS based.

Mj April 3, 2020 (12:43 pm)

Scott I agree the fear of bike theft is a deterrent to many people riding. For me I use an old beater bike that limits my range. If the City would aggressively catch and prosecute bike thieves it would facilitate more people making biking an option. Electric bikes can cost more than a used car and can make biking much more appealing, yet the theft issue is a deterrent. The City continues to encourage bike use but continues to fail on dealing with the theft issue!

KM April 3, 2020 (4:29 pm)

Is the rate of bike theft higher than the rate of auto theft? I’d much rather have my bike stolen, it’s worth much less than my car. The threat of either of them being stolen isn’t even a consideration for getting around.

Anne April 3, 2020 (1:51 pm)

Love all these ideas-please send them to Lisa Herbold- & any other official you can think of.Fingers crossed they’ll take input from public & really listen. That’s my optimistic side talking-my pessimistic side says-they don’t give a rats you know what about WS ( enough to think out of the box ) & we’re screwed.

Orwell April 3, 2020 (7:19 pm)

Not for feint of heart, but military can deploy foldable bridges in less than 30 minutes. US has means to send troop, tanks and trucks quickly over rivers. There are many sites and images. Such as:https://www.hexapolis.com/2016/06/16/this-foldable-bridge-allows-the-army-to-get-tanks-across-rivers/Out of the box, but perhaps there are places to deploy during high traffic periods and still un-deploy to allow river traffic.

Sorry, comment time is over.