You asked, so we asked: About not-necessarily-accurate ‘When Flashing Use High Bridge’ signage

(WSB file photo)

We’ve received a few recent reader questions about a longstanding problem – the “When Flashing, Use High-Level Bridge” signs not necessarily reflecting what’s actually happening with the low bridge, particularly the one on Delridge. So we asked SDOT if this problem is on their radar for a fix. They’re “working on a plan,” says spokesperson Ethan Bergerson:

The issues with the road signs alerting travelers when the low bridge is open or closed are due to a combination of factors including aging equipment and multiple instances of wire theft. We are working on a plan to upgrade and replace the components, and do not yet have a definitive timeline for these repairs.

Checking back email, the oldest note we can find on this dates back to 2024, at which time an SDOT staffer told a reader, “We have been working to troubleshoot and correct the issue for the past few weeks. Our electricians recently replaced a bad relay in the system, but unfortunately that did not completely correct the issue.”

wscommuter March 25, 2026 (4:49 pm)

I’ve noticed the last two weeks (but not this week) that the warning sign on the north side of the Admiral onramp to the bridge (underneath the Fauntleroy section going east) has been flashing all the time, whereas the warning indicator on the south side, by the steel mill isn’t. Definitely a problem

Natty RAD! March 25, 2026 (5:06 pm)

This is great news that they’re working on it. This is sometimes my route to work and I’m always asking myself if I made the right decision on Delridge when I go left for the low bridge instead of the WS bridge lol.

22blades March 25, 2026 (6:09 pm)

The flasher unit on EB Spokane Street approaching the Firehouse has been broken for some time; On or off, no flash.

pelicans March 25, 2026 (6:26 pm)

That’s always been my eastbound route to work (except for the ’20 – ’22 years of pain.) On the SDOT camera website, using the one looking west at the low bridge, is what I’ve relied on instead of the flashing yellow lights. But for the last couple of months the picture is frozen on an old night image. Refreshing doesn’t work. I’ve gone to using the daily WSB morning news post with the traffic cameras which refresh all the time. But sometimes I refresh the image as I get close to Chelan intersection to see if it closed, and then get a maintenance screen. The whole thing seems messed up. During Covid, driving under the WS bridge from Admiral and also past the East Waterway under the Spokane viaduct to West Marginal/Spokane was always very dark because the overhead lights were out, for years. I remember reading that was due to copper thieves, too. Why can’t SDOT make all this wiring theft-proof? And how much does it cost every time to replace it? And how much unnecessary traffic does it add to the high bridge?

bill March 25, 2026 (11:17 pm)

Reply

Welding access plates shut and setting ecology blocks on top of vaults impedes maintenance. But maybe that is expense and delay we have to live with.
- pelicans March 26, 2026 (1:45 am)
  
  Reply
  
  If that’s what it would take, they should do it. Think of the money it would save – maybe.
- IDC9 March 31, 2026 (6:13 pm)
  
  Reply
  
  If it can cut sown on wire theft, it might just be worth it.
bolo March 26, 2026 (11:21 pm)

Reply

“During Covid, driving under the WS bridge from Admiral and also past the East Waterway under the Spokane viaduct to West Marginal/Spokane was always very dark because the overhead lights were out, for years.”

They are STILL out in that section (and more),

Kelley March 25, 2026 (10:12 pm)

I’ve been hearing about an effort to ask West Seattle Recycling to stop paying for copper wire, partly because of the amount of debris and damage created when people strip wire nearby, and also to reduce the incentive for theft if there isn’t an easy place to sell it close by.I’m genuinely curious—do folks think this kind of approach would actually help reduce copper wire theft in our area? It seems like it could make a difference on the incentive side, but I imagine there are also tradeoffs.

bolo March 26, 2026 (11:18 pm)

Several new large multicolor mounds of freshly stripped wire insulation on the Alki bike trail just north of the West Seattle Recycling salvage yard. Wonder which nearby string of streetlights is now newly nonfuctional.