TRAFFIC ALERT: Ramp to NB 99 now open, after 6-day closure

As we reported Monday afternoon, the Washington State Department of Transportation said its repaired ramp from the eastbound West Seattle Bridge to northbound Highway 99 would be open by 5 am … and WSDOT just announced that it reopened at 2 am. So if you’re headed for NB 99 at this early hour, you can get there from the bridge again. This ends the closure that started last Tuesday evening after at least five drivers suffered tire blowouts because of a 5′ x 4′ hole in the 64-year-old ramp.

CR May 9, 2023 (5:08 am)

On the on-ramp from the eastbound Spokane viaduct to I-5 North I’ve noticed multiple areas were the concrete is worn away and rebar is exposed. They’ve been that way for months and look similar to how this hole started. Is there a good way to contact the State about this?

Antoine Smith May 9, 2023 (5:48 am)

After all the pessimism of comments saying it will likely take more than the estimated 10 days, it’s only fair to give some praise for getting this done ahead of schedule.

CR May 9, 2023 (6:59 am)

There are a few areas on the I-5 North on-ramp from the Spokane st viaduct that have exposed rebar. They look just like how this hole started.

Steve May 9, 2023 (11:00 am)

I don’t think it’s hyperbolic to say there’s closer to 20 spots on that on-ramp

Marina May 9, 2023 (7:20 am)

Oh Frabjous Day! Callooh! Callay!

newnative May 9, 2023 (8:23 am)

The 56 bus driver didn’t get the memo, apparently. Not only did they cancel the 6:40 and the 7:00 but our bus was late, then made later by moseying through 1st Ave S.

ARPigeonPoint May 9, 2023 (8:47 am)

Do you know if WSDOT has any plans to fix the ramp from the bridge to NB I-5? It has large areas that are down to the rebar.

Tim May 9, 2023 (8:59 am)

Why did the bridge cement have to cure for 30 days, but the on ramp only a week?

Question Authority May 9, 2023 (9:19 am)

Because of the pure scale of the pour size, more cubic feet and not just roadway surface but large anchoring blocks for tensioning cables etc.
DC May 9, 2023 (9:27 am)

Different type of concrete made to carry many times the weight.
- Structural Engineer May 9, 2023 (10:27 am)
  
  The West Seattle bridge concrete (not cement) could have been loaded earlier than 30 days. However, like everything else with the bridge repair, decisions were conservatively made and SDOT did not incentivize the Contractor to finish quickly – it was always the opposite. If the contractor had been incentivized to finish quickly, they could easily have selected concrete mixes that would have been able to be stressed in less than 7 days, or even less than 3 days. And the concrete pours involved with the West Seattle bridge repair were not massive. They were relatively small pours to cast anchor blocks, etc. There was always much too big of a deal about the concrete pours made by SDOT who spent the entire period of bridge outage PR’ing their way around their internal goal of slow-walking the bridge repair. No, what you see with the NB99 repair is the difference between a department of transportation (WSDOT) that is competent in the design and implementation of emergency bridge repairs and another department of transportation (SDOT) that is not. But I’ll bet you that SDOT’s professional payroll costs dwarf that of WSDOT, go figure.
  - RickB May 9, 2023 (12:21 pm)
    
    Citation for this claim? “their internal goal of slow-walking the bridge repair”
    - WestSeattleBadTakes May 10, 2023 (8:04 am)
      
      Source? They made it up.

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