TRAFFIC, TRANSIT, ROAD WORK, WEATHER: Thursday notes; 99 ramp crash

7:44 AM: Crash is blocking eastbound bridge ramp to NB 99. Texter says a car is “spun sideways.” High bridge traffic is moving very slowly as a result.

7:56 AM: The assigned SFD units just all cleared.

7:59 AM: @SDOTTraffic has finally acknowledged this and spun the bridge camera to look at the scene.

8:08 AM: Ramp still closed, looks like a cleanup crew at the scene.

8:13 AM: Officers just confirmed that to dispatch, saying the crashed car has been towed but the incident-response team is working on a fluid spill.

8:31 AM: New problem – broken-down RapidRide bus reported to be blocking a lane on NB 99 at Atlantic.

8:46 AM: SDOT reports the scene is now clear and the ramp has reopened.

Earlier:

6:00 AM: Good morning! It’s Thursday, August 15.

BACK-TO-SCHOOL

Remember that Summit Atlas, the charter middle/high school at 35th/Roxbury, is in session.

WEATHER + SUNRISE/SUNSET TIMES

Today’s forecast, same as yesterday: Cloudy, then clearing, high in the low 70s. Today’s sunrise will be at 6:06 am, while sunset will be at 8:20 pm.

(Wednesday sunset, photographed by Carol Ann Joyce)

TRANSIT NOTES

Water Taxi todayRegular schedule for both routes.

Metro buses today – Regular schedules; check for advisories here.

Washington State Ferries today – 2 boats on the Triangle Route, and the unscheduled third boat may be available. Check that link before you sail.

SPOKANE ST. VIADUCT CLOSURES

See the schedule here for this week’s planned closures for the Spokane Street Viaduct resurfacing project, and remember it’s always subject to last-minute change.

Scheduled tonight: 7 pm-6 am, eastbound left lanes closed, exits to 99, 1st, 4th open.

OTHER ROAD WORK NOTES

*The Admiral Way Bridge seismic project is in progress. Fairmount Avenue is closed under the bridge for the duration of the project, at least into early 2025. Lane closures have begun on the top deck too.

*The East Marginal Way S. project continues, with a temporary routing change for bicycle riders starting this week:

People biking will be routed onto the street of E Marginal Way S in temporary protected bike lanes from S Spokane St to north of the Terminal 30 parking lot at approximately S Stacy St. At the T30 parking lot / S Stacy St, people will be routed back into the existing bike lanes and sidewalk on the west side of the street. Please note that the T30 parking lot is south of the main T30 entrance.

*The Delridge pedestrian-bridge earthquake-safety project also continues, with narrowing at Delridge/Oregon.

*Beach Drive: Gas-pipeline work continues at spots along the southern stretch. Watch for no-parking zones and steel plates, plus flaggers.

SPOTLIGHT TRAFFIC CAMERAS

High Bridge – Here’s the main camera:

Spokane Street Viaduct – This view looks westward, with eastbound lanes at left and westbound lanes at right:

Low bridge: Here’s the main view:

1st Avenue South Bridge:

Delridge cameras: Besides the one below (Delridge/Genesee), cameras are also at Delridge/Juneau, Delridge/Henderson, Delridge/Oregon, and video-only (so you have to go to the map), Delridge/Holden and Delridge/Thistle.

MORE TRAFFIC CAMS: All functioning traffic cams citywide are here; West Seattle and vicinity-relevant cameras are on this WSB page.

BRIDGE INFO: The @SDOTBridges feed on X (ex-Twitter) shows whether the city’s movable bridges are open for vessel traffic.

If you see a problem on the bridges/streets/paths/water, please text or call our hotline (when you can do that safely, and after you’ve reported to authorities if they’re not already on scene) – 206-293-6302. Thank you!

21 Replies to "TRAFFIC, TRANSIT, ROAD WORK, WEATHER: Thursday notes; 99 ramp crash"

  • SeattleSteve August 15, 2024 (7:31 am)

    Something is messed up on 99N. 

    • Ljhmarquez August 15, 2024 (7:44 am)

      Yup.  Stuck on an H and they are re-routing us.  

    • Yello August 15, 2024 (7:46 am)

      someone smashed into the retaining wall and got their car facing the wrong direction on the ramp from ws bridge to 99N

      • Pete R August 15, 2024 (7:55 am)

        Looks like everyone is straight now, but the ramp is still closed. Three civvies and maybe 6 police vehicles. I’m on a C Line. We were rerouted to First Avenue. Eastbound is getting pretty backed up.

  • Yello August 15, 2024 (7:48 am)

    off ramp from ws bridge to 99n blocked by accident at 725am

  • WSB August 15, 2024 (7:53 am)

    Thanks, SDOT’s Traffic Center hasn’t posted about this and hasn’t turned the only bridge camera that can see that area so we don’t have a visual on this. But we’ve added a note above.

  • WSB August 15, 2024 (8:02 am)

    They’ve finally posted an alert and turned the camera, at least temporarily. SFD has cleared, though.

  • Jay August 15, 2024 (8:24 am)

    It looks like there’s an oil(?) spill stretching for hundreds of feet back down the on-ramp from Spokane to 99NB.  Could be a long closure if they need to clean all of that.

  • savoirfaire August 15, 2024 (8:48 am)

    Did the car burn? Our rerouted C just got a bunch of ash through the open windows. Or was that from the plant? Either way, close yours if you’re on a bus behind us!

    • WSB August 15, 2024 (8:51 am)

      No, it did not.

  • foop August 15, 2024 (9:20 am)

    Imagine how much of a nonissue all this road work would be if we had some sort of transit system that didn’t depend on roads.

    • Al King August 15, 2024 (12:22 pm)

      FOOP. Today’s Seattle Times has a great front-page article on the fallacy that light rail solves everything.

      • Bbron August 15, 2024 (1:09 pm)

        you mean the article “Does light rail solve I-5’s traffic congestion?” which only talks about light rail in the context of I-5? it’s hardly about “the fallacy that light rail solves everything,” and in fact provides a lot of data saying that even the “small” reductions in trips on a highway can have significant impacts on congestion. the conclusion i drew from it (b/c the article does not definitively state an opinion on whether or not it thinks light rail solves issues) was that there are many factors at play when determining what causes I5 congestion, and that it’s not as clear as light rail == less congestion which SDOT messaged a lot in the past. Going in to the article i thought it would have a lot more in the way of opposing views on the light rail based on your comment, but it was pretty tilted towards presented a bunch of pro-light rail data and arguments, so thank you for calling attention to it!

        • foop August 15, 2024 (1:59 pm)

          It biases toward mass transit because mass transit, when implemented thoughtfully, benefits everyone pretty much universally. My point when looking at this images is all the anti-lightrail nimbys in our community are trying to say “busses are the future, not light rail” as a bad faith argument when clearly, as seen from commenters here and these awful images, busses are not the answer. Redundancy is the answer. Light rail gives some people an alternative way to move around that it’s beholden to a single choke point (this viaduct, or the 99 offramp). Other alternatives are spokane st bridge, the bike path on said bridge, 1st ave, the water taxi. Not all of those alternatives help everyone but for every person they do help it does contribute to reduced congestion, reduced risk of accidents such as what happened this morning, and reduced cost to move folks around. Sure there are other risks, what if a train derails, the bus crashes, the bridge gets stuck, but ultimately the more people you can move efficiently the better the value prop is compared to the risk. Most of the folks stuck on busses this morning would have greatly benefitted from the light rail if we already had it complete, since all of our busses that cross the bridge go downtown, where the light rail will eventually get us. Even if that doesnt solve the traffic issue for everyone in these photos, it solves it for a good chunk.

          • Anne August 15, 2024 (4:13 pm)

            It does NOT  solve it for a  “good chunk”.

          • K August 15, 2024 (4:50 pm)

            Yes it does.

          • Scarlett August 15, 2024 (5:18 pm)

            Foop:  This is not a cost-effective option.  Spending a billion dollars per mile for light rail link already served by buses is not a good use of money, to put it gently.  Imagine what (4) billion dollars could do to upgrade and expand already existing bus network?  Light rail is already outdated technology and maybe buses are too, but then we’re not evicting people and spending obscene amounts of money to upgrade bus transit, unlike this infrastructure lollipop that will largely  benefit affluent West Seattleites.  But cities feel tey must have light rail to keep up with the Jones; and Seattle is no exception.   

          • Foop August 15, 2024 (11:11 pm)

            Don’t try to sell me your lies Scarlett, try to sell them to the people who were stuck on busses this morning in traffic dependent on roads that were otherwise occupied or blocked.

          • Scarlett August 15, 2024 (6:50 pm)

            If we’re now talking “options,” not a mass transit system, then we can spend billions on any number of alternatives or redundacies, even gondola’s, but that doesn’t make them a good use of money, considering their limited impact on alleviating congestion or moving significant numbers of people around.  Simply put, light rail has not been the panacea, or even a partial panacea, in the cities where it has been sold (usually with the backing of the construction industry) and it won’t be here either.   

        • Al King August 15, 2024 (3:37 pm)

          Bbron. I am NOT against light rail(or transit).I know the economics of building light rail. It will NEVER be cash positive(or even neutral) I keep my eyes and ears wide open and know that light rail WILL NOT entice people to sell their cars. It will NOT entice people to take light rail(or transit) to the store/mall to shop. Y’all will be still be real happy to use Amazon(or any other online retailer) and have someone drive your items to your house in their car.

  • Al King August 15, 2024 (9:21 am)

    WSB. Re: Jay’s post. Could it be a spill from a previous car/truck/bus that caused the car to crash? Hopefully you can get an update from SDOT or SPD.

Sorry, comment time is over.