37 Replies to "WEST SEATTLE BRIDGE: Two timeline followups"

• Matty May 24, 2022 (4:20 pm)

  For the love of all that is holy…When. Will. This. Bridge. Reopen?!?!

  • Deb May 25, 2022 (8:07 am)

    Does anyone know if the low bridge will have weekend access hours on Memorial Day Monday?  Meaning, you can cross up until 8am.  I couldn’t find this information on WSDOT.

    • WSB May 25, 2022 (9:08 am)

      No.

  • shawn May 25, 2022 (10:27 am)

    Article does mention we should find out June 9th.  Its been literally years, so a couple more weeks isn’t going to kill us. If they don’t have a plan on the 9th though I’ll be perturbed.

  • Spencer Haywood May 27, 2022 (8:29 pm)

    This is crappy treatment by the governor, mayor, city council . Should have been ready 6 months ago. If this was Bellevue it would have been fixed in 90 days. Total BS treatment by our government. Lived n West Seatyle most my life- this just sucks. Open Now you idiots should be our Moto.

• Tool Room Dude May 24, 2022 (4:56 pm)

  Yay… West Seattle we’re getting so “ Close“ however I do wonder. That since the Low Bridge was closed because of the West Seattle Bridge closure. Will SDOT have in their announcements. Information about lifting restrictions on the Low Bridge. Once of course after they have a definite reopening date for the West Seattle Bridge. I do know that SDOT’s pilot program of the Low Bridge had a three year time limit. But I can’t imagine that they would keep the restrictions on it any longer especially if the Highbridge is open. I’ve been looking online and through Seattle gov/municipal Court/ordinances and codes… But haven’t really been able to find anything definite. Then again that stuff is kind of hard to interpret sometimes. At least for me lol…Just wish there was some more information about the Low Bridge because not everybody in West Seattle relies on the Highbridge. Tracy if it’s possible could you please find out some more information about that. “I and others in the same boat” would really appreciate it. Thank you for all your coverage on the West Seattle Bridge that you’ve done over the past couple years.

  • WSB May 24, 2022 (6:25 pm)

    We already reported on the low-bridge plan post-high bridge reopening.
    https://westseattleblog.com/2022/03/2-years-without-the-west-seattle-bridge-more-qa-about-whats-next-including-low-bridges-future/

  • Charles Burlingame May 24, 2022 (6:54 pm)

    If you mean the pilot authorization for transit lane enforcement cameras, the authority has been extended by the legislature and is now currently set to expire in 2025.

• ACE May 24, 2022 (6:25 pm)

  Bergerson/CTF- can we please avoid the pomp and circumstance of the meeting and just publish the timeline after the last two pours this week? Enough already, give WS residents come clarity sooner than later.

• cjboffoli May 24, 2022 (6:41 pm)

  Maybe when the high bridge opens they can move the automated ticket cameras from the low bridge to the east end of the Spokane Street Viaduct to ticket all of the selfish jerks who routinely (and illegally) bypass the half mile long line of people who are patiently waiting to merge onto the I-5 North on-ramp. 

  • Concerned in West Seattle May 25, 2022 (11:04 pm)

    You have to admit, that only happens because you get selfish people who can’t be bothered to stop staring at their phones, or who can’t be bothered to flow politely with traffic. If there are multiple 4-car gaps because someone can’t be bothered to be present, I’m going to continue skipping the wait every time. I get one life. I’m not wasting it on people who want to waste theirs or mine.

• Myles May 24, 2022 (10:26 pm)

  zipper merge

  • My two cents May 25, 2022 (8:13 am)

    Myles – maybe Velcro merge is a better way of explaining the current behavior, just mash two sides together and see what happens. 

  • Jeepney May 25, 2022 (8:59 am)

    Technically not a zipper merge with an under utilized bus lane separating the other two lanes.  Would like to see daily traffic enforcement in that area once the bridge has reopened.

  • Seaviewer May 25, 2022 (10:15 am)

    It’s only a zipper merge when one lane is ending. If the lane you are in is going somewhere else entirely, you are not zipper merging, you are selfishly slowing down two lanes going two different places. You are making the very problem you are trying to avoid worse. 

  • Math Teacher May 25, 2022 (10:52 am)

    It’s not a zipper merge situation at all. At the east end of the Spokane viaduct, the right lane carries through traffic and  traffic headed to SB I-5. The left lane carries traffic headed to NB I-5.  NB drivers who choose to block the right lane’s through traffic  to force themselves into the NB lane at the last minute are a traffic hazard.

  • Jay May 25, 2022 (12:42 pm)

    It’s not a zipper merge, you’re camping in the left turn lane and blocking traffic. It’s only a zipper merge if there’s a lane reduction, but when you jump the line you’ve gone way past the lane reduction and are using the left turn lane. I live by Delridge and it pisses me off to have a green light but I’m stuck behind a line jumper camped in the left lane trying to go to Admiral.

• Grammar Nazi May 25, 2022 (1:20 am)

  Please describe Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) in your 1st reference to the organization.   These articles are forwarded to new residents who have no experience with our government entities. I know it’s a blog but some reporting standards are necessary to help readers who don’t follow on a regular basis.

  • Brian May 25, 2022 (9:16 am)

    Literally every city in the country has a DOT and it always stands for the same thing.

  • miws May 25, 2022 (9:42 am)

    GN, WSB is not a “blog”, it’s a news source published in blog format. WSB is run by professional journalists with decades of professional journalism experience prior to the approximately 15 years they have operated this site. They follow reporting standards, have solid journalistic ethics, and are sticklers for accuracy, both their own and what readers post in comments. I don’t think they need anyone, especially someone posting basically anonymously,  dictating how they should run the site. Are you referring to yourself as someone that forwards these articles? How hard would it be for you to point out to those you share with them what “SDOT” stands for? —Mike

    • WSB May 25, 2022 (10:21 am)

      Thanks, Mike. Beat me to responding. “Blog” refers only to the format in which we publish. Regarding GN’s suggestion, SDOT and SPD are mentioned so frequently that we have long since decided not to spell out on first reference – but we do something better anyway: As we publish online, we use links abundantly – every story is like the hub of a wheel with many information spokes – and SDOT is always linked on first reference, so all a new reader would have to do is click – TR

      • Jay May 25, 2022 (12:43 pm)

        Everyone is familiar with the acronyms xPD, xDOT, xFD, etc because they’re standard across the country.

• JunctionResident May 25, 2022 (8:36 am)

  Does that mean at the June 9th meeting we’ll likely be given a bridge opening date???

• Mike May 25, 2022 (10:30 am)

  There should be no bus-only lanes. There should be bus-only lanes during peak hours only and I think that’s fair considering how traffic can be backed up outside peak hours while a wide open lane sits vacant inadvertently contributing to tha extended traffic jam. Take it from me. I drive in Seattle for a living.

  • Kevin on Delridge May 25, 2022 (10:51 am)

    To be clear, you want to have buses stuck in traffic which will result in more people driving since the bus is now no faster than a car? And you think that is going to make traffic better?

  • Jeremiah G May 25, 2022 (12:46 pm)

    There should be bus only lanes everywhere. Buses help everyone – Each articulated bus can carry 100+ people, which means 100 less cars in traffic!

    • Jeepney May 25, 2022 (1:39 pm)

      Bus lanes in theory are a great idea.  However, ridership is down and many of the people who do ride don’t pay, so revenue is really down.   It can be frustrating to be stuck in traffic and see bus lanes unoccupied for long stretches.  

      • WS Res May 25, 2022 (2:30 pm)

        Bus lanes… are supposed to be “unoccupied for long stretches” when car traffic is slowed down? The whole point is that only the bus is in that lane, so it moves through quickly and doesn’t stop the way cars have to.

        • Jeepney May 25, 2022 (2:43 pm)

          To be efficient, bus lanes should not be empty for long stretches.  To maximize lane capacity and moving people quickly, there should be more buses utilizing the lanes.  Ridership on Metro is down significantly from pre pandemic levels, and is not expected to rise anytime soon.  We need more frequent bus trips  to make the dedicated bus lanes viable, but current ridership levels do not justify adding more trips.  I wish we were more like Europe, where there were more people taking mass transit.

    • Eye Roll May 25, 2022 (6:25 pm)

      Oh brother. As soon as my kid graduates HS I am getting the heck out of here. Cannot deal with the extremists here anymore. Life is too short to have to entertain ideas like buses only, an idea so totally ridiculous and unserious on its face it is not worry of rebuttal…yet in Seattle it is coddled. If you travel anywhere on Earth outside of Seattle you quickly are reminded how provincial and frankly silly it is. 

      • CarDriver May 25, 2022 (6:51 pm)

        EYE ROLL. You know what’s even more goofy is that if you read all the posts here on the blog you’ll realize that all the “take the bus everywhere/cars are evil” posters have slipped up and told the truth that they own and drive cars!! They want you out so they have more room on the road!

      • bye May 25, 2022 (6:52 pm)

        “If you travel anywhere on Earth outside of Seattle you quickly are reminded how provincial and frankly silly it is.”

        Uh…  I hate to be the one to break it to ya, but this comment makes you seem really, really sheltered and provincial.

        But, bye!  Glad you’re getting the heck out of here!  Don’t let the door hit ya, etc, etc.

        • Eye Roll May 26, 2022 (3:28 am)

          I doubt I will regret leaving. I am honestly looking forward to living in a place where people smile at each and know how to merge in traffic. .  Coming to Seattle from California has sadly been a big disappointment.  I don’t mind the weather but I have found Seattle to be a highly intolerant and oddly closed minded city. I am a liberal but the progressives here seem really angry and consumed with it. I guess I prefer a more relaxed and friendly culture. Glad I got to spend a few years here! but I have known many people who have moved to escape the whole Seattle thing and so far no one has regrets. That said,  I genuinely wish those who like it here all the best and maybe you will achieve your dreams of not having any cars and getting free bus rides or whatever it the black umbrellas are protesting about this week. I just prefer more a calm, laid back and friendly vibe. Seattle is just too uptight for me.  Peace.

• Tony May 25, 2022 (10:53 am)

  Simply imagine the bridge will never reopen. No stress that way and if it does reopen good for us. Waiting for this bridge to reopen, or a “date” is unhealthy 😕. 

• Bob May 25, 2022 (4:23 pm)

  An update on June 9th, but that date isn’t finalized, so likely no update at all I would assume.  They have had absolutely zero interest in getting this reopened since the day after it was closed. I see sound transit making miles and miles of progress, never stopped working on light rail but Seattle says we can’t get concrete, so we give up.

• Eye Roll May 25, 2022 (6:18 pm)

  What a nightmare. Please vote out the entire Seattle City Council. We have probably the worst run city in America. 

• sam May 26, 2022 (12:30 am)

  Im from California and just laugh at Seattleites don’t know how to give way to mergers.  These selfish people assume that all are locals and know what the long line is for.  People, remember that outsiders only rely on their GPS and by the time it says merge to the right it’s too late because these selfish locals think that we’re jumping the line and start their selfish pathetic road rage and won’t give way and give us the finger.  Twenty years ago, this wasn’t a problem in once used to be polite drivers in Seattle always giving way to mergers. Times have changed and I’m so sorry for the current attitude of local drivers in Seattle, so impolite and selfish. They must be in a lot of pain because of the bridge closure.  – Visitor in Seattle

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