Hours after SDOT‘s most-recent update on the West Seattle low-bridge closure, department reps were guests at West Seattle Bike Connections‘ monthly meeting. Among the new information that emerged – more on the plan for free cross-Duwamish travel during the closure:
In response to questions during the online meeting, they clarified that the free rides would be available to everyone interested – not just people with bicycles in tow. As the slide above shows, though the Water Taxi and buses are operated by King County, the city will cover the cost. Since they hope to launch this by the end of the week, watch for details within the next few days.
Another major topic of discussion was the bicycle-detour route SDOT is suggesting, and the refinements they announced this afternoon, such as temporary protected bicycle lanes on sections of West Marginal Way SW and 1st Avenue South. Installation of the cones and other markers will start tomorrow, first on 1st, and may continue into Thursday if they can’t finish tomorrow. Meeting attendees brought up concerns about route conditions – one showed video of a harrowing attempt to navigate a rutted section near the 1st Avenue South Bridge; SDOT said they have engineers working on that section.
As for the repairs themselves, most of what was presented duplicated what was in this afternoon’s update, with an additional emphasis on long-planned work that’s also coming up, beyond the unexpected repairs:
Toward the start of the meeting, SDOT’s Meghan Shepard pointed out that the low bridge was, if not one of a kind, close to it, and that its cylinders all had to be replaced within a year of its 1991 opening – those replacements are what’s lasted the ensuing 30 years, until now,
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