Another West Seattle bridge project: SW Andover overpass seismic retrofit

| Transportation | West Seattle news

It’s a bridge that tens of thousands previously drove or rode under every day, but unless you’ve walked, run, rolled, or bicycled over it, or live near it, you probably haven’t seen the SW Andover overpass in almost three months. It’s not out of sight/out of mind for the city, though. A long-planned project to retrofit the overpass for earthquake resistance is getting closer, according to this update emailed by SDOT this week:

Earthquakes could have a significant detrimental effect on Seattle’s infrastructure. To address seismic risks to city infrastructure, the City of Seattle established the bridge seismic retrofit (BSR) program.

As part of the BSR program, we’ll seismically retrofit the SW Andover St Pedestrian and Bicycle Bridge, a vital pedestrian connection between the Youngstown and Genesee neighborhoods. The bridge was built in 1961, prior to the modernization of the seismic design code.

The planned retrofits to the SW Andover St Pedestrian and Bicycle Bridge will strengthen key bridge components to better withstand seismic events.

What’s happening now?

We are currently in the final stages of design and expect to complete design this summer. Construction is anticipated to begin in late 2020 and last approximately 2-3 months.

What to expect during construction

To complete this work safely and efficiently, the bridge will be fully closed for the duration of construction. Detours will be in place for those walking and biking. The detour route will be confirmed closer to the start of construction.

We’ll inform residents, nearby businesses, and people traveling through the area of the closure schedule and timing of construction throughout the project. This project will not interfere with, nor be impacted by, the West Seattle Bridge closure.

This will be funded by the Move Seattle levy and was on its original project list, which included both Admiral Way bridges as well as the Delridge pedestrian/bicycle overpass (as well as some non-bridge projects that were later delayed indefinitely). The project website is here.

Chris June 14, 2020 (5:39 pm)

That’s great. I’m glad you’re doing that. I just happened to be at 35th and Fontleroy. Now that there is no traffic going on the bridge or coming off the bridge they need to adjust the timing of the light. You should be able to zip across fontleroy to get to the admiral district pretty easily. Kind of frustrating watching traffic back up as we sit there for a traffic light that affects nobody. SDOT, please adjust lights at key intersections that are now affected by the bridge closure.

AD June 14, 2020 (6:25 pm)

Agreed, the light could definitely use adjustment.I just watched the northbound 35th Ave traffic back up to Avalon and beyond for zero reason. The light still has you wait for southbound cars to turn onto the bridge. And of course there is very little traffic in the eastbound/westbound direction. Also, there seems to be no reason not to allow left turns off of Fauntleroy at 35th. There is even a small “right turn only” sign on the corner to reiterate the no left turn that now seems unnecessary with zero traffic coming off the bridge. Sorry WSB. I Never know who to send these matters to, but always hope someone is listening that is in the know.
- WSB June 14, 2020 (6:25 pm)
  
  Always SDOT. If you have a signal timing problem
  206-684-ROAD
- heartless June 14, 2020 (7:54 pm)
  
  Chris and AD– Yes! It’s like an eery ghost town in that area (at least compared to before), but the signals haven’t cottoned on to that yet. I’ll call SDOT as well (thanks WSB) and add my voice to yours–no reason the signals can’t be adjusted.

Mj June 14, 2020 (6:29 pm)

This is sad that SDoT did not fix this from day one, Traffic Engineering 101. Also while there at it the 35th at Avalon signal seams to stay green way to long NB and SB.

BBILL June 14, 2020 (7:03 pm)

“This project will not interfere with, nor be impacted by, the West Seattle Bridge closure.” This must be an outright lie, in so far as having zero traffic below a bridge while working on it must have *some* impact on the project.