UPDATE: Lander Street Bridge to open Wednesday morning

11:37 AM: Once expected to be done in early 2020, the Lander Street Bridge in SODO was estimated in summer to be on the road to a fall completion, and now that’s come true. SDOT announced today that it’s opening at 6 am tomorrow (Wednesday, October 7th). They’ve already had a small, non-public ribboncutting ceremony:

(SDOT photo)

Though it’s in SODO, the $100 million bridge (formerly the Lander Street Overpass) has long been considered a West Seattle-relevant project, since the path between here and downtown goes through SODO for so many. It takes travelers up over busy railroad tracks that are used dozens of times a day, between 1st and 4th Aves. South. The project was proposed in the 2006 “Bridging the Gap” levy but stalled until, in 2015, the project was promised as part of then-Mayor Ed Murray‘s “Move Seattle” levy. Construction started in spring 2018.

4:13 PM: Metro says Route 50 will start using the new bridge tomorrow.

CAM October 6, 2020 (12:10 pm)

This is amazing news for everyone who rides the 21 and 50 on a regular basis and will hopefully increase ridership post COVID!

Joe Z October 6, 2020 (12:32 pm)

I’m wondering if SDOT is planning to add signs/paint to mark the bike route from E Marginal to the SODO light rail station? This bridge fills an important gap in the bike route but I haven’t seen any effort to update the cycling infrastructure on either side of the bridge. Hoping that changes since traffic is going to increase considerably on this corridor with the bridge open…

Sillygoose October 6, 2020 (12:39 pm)

YAY!!! This will save so much time, it is a great design too!! Can you build us a new West Seattle Bridge?

West Seattle Mad Sci Guy October 6, 2020 (12:59 pm)

Didn’t route 50 used take Lander street pre-closure? Will it begin taking this route again now that it is back open?

WSB October 6, 2020 (4:14 pm)

Per Metro alert this afternoon, yes, starting tomorrow.

sgs October 6, 2020 (1:09 pm)

$100 million? GULP Would love to see the itemized invoice for that. I love the bridge, but phew.

JambuJauce October 6, 2020 (1:27 pm)

Amazing that a tiny bridge like that costs $100 million. And I thought healthcare was bloated…

WSB October 6, 2020 (1:45 pm)

The price tag was originally even higher – $123 million. The project explains that costs, bids, etc., brought it down from that.
Hammer in Hand October 6, 2020 (6:20 pm)

If we had let Chris Hansen build the Basketball arena it would have been part of his package. People so quickly forget
- Don Brubeck October 6, 2020 (9:50 pm)
  
  No, Chris Hansen was promising a bridge at Holgate, not Lander. Not nearly what this bridge is doing, and that was just bait.
  - Chemist October 7, 2020 (7:35 pm)
    
    I believe there was a last ditch pitch by hansen to close a $20 mil funding gap in the lander project if the city approved hansen’s street vacation. I don’t think it was ever seriously itemized and some misunderstood it as finding the whole project. The holgate pedestrian overpass was really a required mitigation for swarms of folks to travel east of the proposed location.
Kath,y October 7, 2020 (8:50 am)

Can you tell from the comments who is an old person? I suspect it is someone who thinks $100 million is a lot of money for this project. When a million is not enough to retire on, and ordinary single family houses are going for nearly a million in West Seattle. Infrastructure costs and that is why ours is so poor when people perpetually vote against tax increases so that maintenance and repair/replacement can’t be done. Yay for the new bridge. The photo does look weird with a left turn arrow in the middle and what looks like a single lane eastbound. Maybe that is just the distortion of the camera angle? Joe Z is right, we need some excellent bike infrastructure at both ends of this bridge connecting us to the light rail station, ASAP.
- WSB October 7, 2020 (9:11 am)
  
  I wish I could tell you but they didn’t invite media to the ribboncutting either, so that photo is all I have. If not for the bridge closure, we’d take a quick trip over for a firsthand look, but that’s more time than I can take away from the desk these days (though we’ve been lucky the two times we’ve had to go downtown in the last 7 months, no backups). Looked for channelization renderings on the project page
  https://www.seattle.gov/transportation/projects-and-programs/programs/bridges-stairs-and-other-structures/bridges/lander-st-bridge
  both options presented in 2016 showed two vehicle lanes both ways …
  https://www.seattle.gov/Documents/Departments/SDOT/BridgeStairsProgram/bridges/Lander/SLanderSt_OpenHouse2Presentation_FINAL_web.pdf

J October 6, 2020 (1:34 pm)

According to the Seattle DOT release, this project took 20 years from planning to end of construction. Well that is good indication that the West Seattle Bridge is going to take at least that long or longer.

WSB October 6, 2020 (1:43 pm)

A major reason for the elongated timeline is that the $ earmarked for it in the 2006 levy was diverted to the “Mercer Mess.”

Kelkouska October 6, 2020 (3:21 pm)

yay – some good bridge news

Smittytheclown October 6, 2020 (3:30 pm)

Looks about the right size to replace the failing mid span of the bridge. Make it happen!

Bus rider October 6, 2020 (10:32 pm)

The photo shows 3 westbound lanes and only 1 eastbound lane.

Mj October 6, 2020 (10:33 pm)

The headline I want hear: The WSB is repaired and open for traffic Spring 2021.

Aaron October 7, 2020 (11:26 pm)

Drove across the bridge today just for fun because I used to work right around the corner from there on 1st. It was always a drag to go to the Post Office on 4th because I’d always end up waiting on a train…There is one lane going east and three going west. Going west the three lanes are 2 turn lanes and one straight through 1st.Since Starbucks office folks are all working from home until late 2021, I think the only traffic on the bridge will be folks going to and from Home Depot!