UPDATE: Bike rider dies after hitting gate on northbound 1st Avenue S. Bridge walkway

12:32 PM: Thanks to Chris for the tip. Two lanes are blocked on the northbound 1st Ave. South Bridge after a crash. Avoid that route for a while.

12:40 PM: WSDOT says one of those lanes has reopened.

10 PM: We didn’t have any information on the collision circumstances at the time, but tonight the State Patrol has sent a news release saying it involved a bike rider hitting the gate on the pedestrian walkway and falling to the ground. The rider, who has not been identified, was described as intoxicated and not wearing a helmet. WSP says no other people or vehicles were involved.

THURSDAY UPDATE: The King County Medical Examiner’s Office says the rider was a 51-year-old woman who died from a “blunt-force head injury.”

Derp July 28, 2026 (1:24 pm)

I was trying to get over and see #7 come in, Blue Angel, but saw it coming in sitting on the bridge. Welcome to Seattle

1994 July 28, 2026 (11:10 pm)

Did the bike rider fall over & off the bridge to the ground below or to the ground/walkway on the bridge? Tragic situation.

WSB July 29, 2026 (12:06 am)

Reply

The WSP news release is fairly terse; it says the deceased “came to rest on the pedestrian walkway.”
- Deann July 31, 2026 (9:21 pm)
  
  Reply
  
  I knew her and it has was very tragic and has affected everyone that knew her,
LS July 29, 2026 (12:27 am)

Reply

No. She was on the walkway on the bridge. The barricades had already been lowered and maintenance workers were walking on the traffic lanes doing inspections or something. She collided with the barricade that was across the pedestrian or bike path along the east side of the bridge. I don’t know how she got there. Maybe she went around the barricade at the north end and didn’t know there was another barricade at the south end? She rode southbound at what seemed to be a fast speed (black Lectric foldable ebike) and the impact was quite traumatic.