TRAFFIC, TRANSIT, WEATHER, ROAD WORK: Welcome to Friday

6:01 AM: Good morning. A multiple-vehicle crash on the NB 1st Avenue S Bridge has been blocking lanes. Go another way, or wait. Only one lane currently open.

6:31 AM: All lanes have reopened.

6:46 AM: WSF just announced Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth is reducing to 1-boat service – crew shortage.

WEATHER

Another rainy day, with a high near 60.

BUSES, WATER TAXI, FERRIES

Metro remains on its regular weekday schedule, except for the rerouting in RapidRide H Line work zones, including 26th SW. Watch @kcmetrobus for word of trip cancellations.

For ferries and Water Taxi: WSF continues a ~~two-boat schedule~~ (UPDATE: see above) on the Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth run. Check here for alerts/updates. The Water Taxi is back in service today.

ONE MORE NOTE

*Seattle Public Schools are closed again today.

BRIDGES AND DETOUR ROUTES

599th morning without the West Seattle Bridge. Here are views of other bridges and routes:

Low Bridge: No new trouble reported over the weekend. Automated enforcement cameras remain in use; restrictions are in effect 5 am-9 pm daily – except weekends; the bridge is open to all until 8 am Saturday and Sunday mornings. (Access applications are available here for some categories of drivers.)

The 1st Avenue South Bridge (map):

South Park Bridge:

West Marginal Way at Highland Park Way:

Highland Park Way/Holden:

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

Are movable bridges opening for vessels? The @SDOTBridges Twitter feed is working; 1st Ave. South Bridge openings are also tweeted on @wsdot_traffic.

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

ROAD WORK REMINDERS

26th SW – Continuing southbound closure between Roxbury and Barton for RapidRide H Line prep work. Also, work at 26th/Roxbury. This flyer has details.

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

Greg November 12, 2021 (6:32 am)

Another day — another double/triple length commute. I am right there with everyone who is upset about the bridge being broken — and I too don’t really understand how something like this can take this long BUT I appreciate the people who say “it is complicated”. That said — when it IS fixed it better stay fixed. If the people doing this complicated fix don’t actually fix it — that will be on them. If you shut down the busiest bridge in the city for 2+ years your fix better be a good one and it better solve the problem for a decade or more.

Eddie November 12, 2021 (7:09 am)

Lest anyone forget, they’re fixing the bridge so it can be used again, but the bridge was never the source of huge daily traffic headaches in that corridor. Number 1 bottleneck there was the interchange accessing I-5 Northbound. Until that gets addressed, the bridge will just be a familiar place to crawl through daily traffic. Would you rather crawl past the steel mill, up over the hill and down across the elevated Spokane Street, or crawl down west marginal and across 1st south bridge?
- Anne November 12, 2021 (8:18 am)
  
  Exactly!!!!!
- AMD November 12, 2021 (8:41 am)
  
  I think some people are going to be in for a rude awakening when the bridge reopens. It was not the free-flowing mover of cars people seem to remember it as, and it will not become that after construction.
- Reed November 12, 2021 (8:52 am)
  
  Exactly Eddie. Soon enough we will be back to the incessant complaints of bus lanes merging onto 99, street rechannelizations, bike lanes, fish trucks, etc.
- d November 12, 2021 (9:33 am)
  
  Yes, and lest anyone forget the installation of the failed 99 N Bus Lane merge choke point that causes huge back ups, gridlocks traffic, cars and buses alike. Instead of admitting the error Zimbabwe only agreed to give back 1000 Ft. which as we know did little to alleviate the backups. I am pro mass transit, bus lanes etc but where’s the point when that design fail impedes mass transit itself. Buses and car traffic flowed well prior to that and that debacle should be addressed long before the bridge reopens.

RKO November 12, 2021 (10:37 am)

Y’all above are legitimately making me LOL. Going to go ahead and assume you don’t live on a street in the Southern part of West Seattle that was never meant to move this amount of people in and out of our neighborhood, EVER. I don’t think anyone in their right mind believes what you are insinuating above, but if you are so narrow in not thinking about the effect of 100k plus people needing to go South just to go North, and / or funneling onto side streets that were not meant to move this volume of people, at all, ever, then I’m going to go ahead and assume you live in parts of West Seattle that are much busier when the bridge is open, and y’all are experiencing the solace we did before all y’all came into my part of the neighborhood to speed through at 50MPH in school zones and side streets.No one has EVER made the argument that the bridge reopening is going to magically make traffic go away. That’s the most ‘Seattle’ passive aggressive thing I think I have ever heard.

Eddie November 12, 2021 (12:22 pm)

Agree with you.

AF43 November 12, 2021 (6:05 pm)

When Durkan announced the bridge would be repaired, she said that even with the fix, West Seattle would need other mobility options. That’s why I like the gondola idea until the light rail gets here eleven+ years from now. Sure would be nice to rise above all the congestion and reduce the traffic everywhere.

Eddie November 12, 2021 (9:11 pm)

West Seattle isn’t the only neighborhood impacted by Wonky Bridges. Today (Friday 11/12) Seattle Times
The Seattle Department of Transportation is advising the public to take alternate routes Friday with the University Bridge stuck in an upright due to mechanical issues. No estimated reopening time has been given.
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/transportation/seattles-university-bridge-stuck-open-due-to-malfunction/

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