ROAD WORK, WEATHER, TRAFFIC: Friday watch, and Bike Everywhere Day

6:03 AM: Good morning. Sunshine expected today, and 60s.

BIKE EVERYWHERE DAY

Today is the former “Bike to Work Day.” As previewed here, West Seattle Bike Connections is hosting a “commute station” along the trail under the bridge through 9 am today.

ROAD WORK UPDATES

Delridge project – Here’s this week’s plan. Later today, we’ll get next week’s preview. We’ll be asking the project team this morning about the alert we saw on a roadside message board Thursday – SW Henderson closed at the Delridge/Barton/Henderson intersection May 24th (Monday) through mid-June.

SW Yancy – This drainage/utility work east of Avalon has about three more weeks to go.

FERRIES/BUSES

Regular schedules today.

BRIDGES AND DETOUR ROUTES

424th morning without the West Seattle Bridge. (The repair contractor’s just been chosen.) Here are the views of other bridges and routes:

Low Bridge: 19th week for automated enforcement cameras; restrictions are in effect 5 am-9 pm daily – except weekends, when the bridge is open to all until 8 am Saturday and Sunday mornings. (Access applications are available for some categories of drivers.)

Here’s a low-bridge view:

West Marginal Way at Highland Park Way:

Highland Park Way/Holden:

The 5-way intersection (Spokane/West Marginal/Delridge/Chelan):

And the 1st Avenue South Bridge (map):

For the South Park Bridge (map), here’s the nearest camera:

Are bridges opening for boats or barges? Check the @SDOTBridges Twitter feed.

See all local traffic cams here; locally relevant cameras are also shown on this WSB page.

Trouble on the streets/paths/bridges/water? Please let us know – text (but not if you’re driving!) 206-293-6302.

wsguy May 21, 2021 (8:05 am)

So closing Henderson, slowing traffic down to 15 mph on 106th east of Marine View Drive, blockages on Delridge – SDOT could not make it harder to get out of West Seattle if that was their plan – oh wait maybe it is! SMH…

Christina May 21, 2021 (10:13 am)

I mean if they don’t get Thistle back open before that closure we can meet up on Trenton and knock over their street closed signs…
- Jort May 21, 2021 (11:27 am)
  
  I always find it fascinating that people are so willing to openly and brazenly admit to committing crimes because their feelings are so hurt about having to drive slower. Imagine saying, “I don’t like the prices the store charges so I’m going to get some people together and just steal the stuff from the store.” Absolutely unreal.
  - reed May 21, 2021 (1:39 pm)
    
    Agreed Jort, and these are probably the same people who are always screaming “SDOT never fixes the roads!” out of the other side of their mouths.
  - Christina May 22, 2021 (3:46 am)
    
    Lol. Obviously I was being facetious Jort. I’m the driver that goes down Highland Park Way at 25mph- because that’s the law. I’m the lady at the grocery store that corrects the checker even when a mistake is made in my favor- because it’s the right thing to do. I don’t “borrow” my neighbors WiFi even if it’s unsecured and no, I don’t steal from retailers (or anyone else). It does annoy me though that this would mean no straight through from 16th to Delridge on any of the blocks with a traffic light. It does annoy me though that the recreational zones were set up without much public input. And it really annoys me that Thistle has been closed more than open in 2021. But all jests aside, since we’re being literal here, I’m not going to do a single thing about it- because it’s the law.Thanks for giving me a chance to defend my integrity. Certainly not everyone gets my sense of humor in light of such a frustrating situation.

Mary May 21, 2021 (10:21 am)

And Friday there was road construction on SW Andover ST too! I got stuck going west of 26th, waiting to go right to SW Andover to Delridge! Road department should have to alert WAZE, & other navigation companies SO THEY KNOW NOT TO SEND US IN CONSTRUCTIO SITES!

Auntie May 21, 2021 (12:34 pm)

If everybody would just calm down and slow down, leave early instead of waiting until the last minute and then getting frustrated because you are late, and expect delays. Why haven’t you all figured it out yet? There is no quick and easy way to go. Chill out.

BetteDavisEyes May 21, 2021 (1:17 pm)

Auntie, those are words of wisdom. ❤️

Foop May 21, 2021 (1:07 pm)

Yes, this is painful for everyone, but there’s no way to improve our aging infrastructure without closing some of it in the mean time. This is going to make our roads better for EVERYONE. Frankly I am glad they are doing all of this at the same time, rip the bandaid off fast and hurt for a shorter period of time as opposed to dragging the pain out over a long time. Everyone just needs to add time for traffic, call their appts they might be late for, be patient and respectful of other people, cars, cyclists, pedestrians, and construction workers on the road.

winniegirl May 21, 2021 (1:35 pm)

All of those things are true, but that doesn’t mean that there can’t be better communication about construction and road closures. Some people have jobs that will fire them if they are late. If you’re working two jobs it’s not as if you can leave earlier. Some people get charged a fee from daycare if they are late for pickups. Considering the mess we’re in over here, it should be a priority for SDOT to overcommunicate rather than minimize people’s reactions.

Rob May 21, 2021 (3:00 pm)

SDOT should have postponed the work on the sidewalk by the longhouse and avoided slowing traffic on West Marginal way. West Seattle is already in a very unprecedented and painful situation and it was totally unnecessary to take on that project right now. Regardless what was in the schedule. In fact, SDOT should have reopened the right lane adjacent the longhouse until the upper level bridge is completed and open. This shows that SDOT does not understand West Seattle.

Jort May 21, 2021 (4:51 pm)

You think making improvements to the road to improve safety and save people’s lives is “unnecessary?” That is very dark and somewhat sinister.
Reed May 21, 2021 (5:27 pm)

Fact: Restoring the right lane in front of the Longhouse would do absolutely nothing to help traffic, because you just run into the bottleneck at Highland Park anyway. This just shows that all the armchair engineers on the west Seattle blog don’t know what they are talking about.

Sorry, comment time is over.