(Latest bridge and Viaduct views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
5:58 AM: No ice to worry about this morning – it’s been rainy overnight and well above freezing. Today’s traffic advisory is for anyone who drives along the downtown waterfront: Starting this morning, Alaskan Way surface traffic between Madison and Pike shifts to the new temporary road under The Viaduct, to make way for seawall-replacement work. It’s all explained here.
7:09 AM: ‘Fender-bender’ on the eastbound bridge, says a tipster. No fire/medic callout.
7:36 AM: As commenters are noting, major bridge backup. And now there’s an aid callout.
8:01 AM: To clarify – the aid callout is for a DIFFERENT crash. The “fender-bender” was earlier and did not involve a fire/medics callout. Then came this one, which is just west of the exit to 99, and DID require a callout. If you haven’t left the house yet, and can wait, we highly suggest you do.
8:11 AM: One of the bridge cams is focused on the crash but we don’t know for how long, so here’s a screengrab for posterity:
8:20 AM: Tow truck spotted headed that way. Live traffic cam currently shows fire and police staged across three lanes, routing traffic around to the right. Commenters note that buses were not routed off the high bridge for some time.
8:23 AM: And until the camera pulled back again, it appeared the scene was clearing! (few minutes later) Police are still in the bus lane.
8:33 AM: Hate to be the bearer of bad news but now there is apparently a stalled vehicle parallel with Nucor, blocking a lane, per police, heard on the scanner.
8:43 AM: Per comments, that’s in the left lane. Meantime, just for the record – One commenter says it took an hour to get from Upper Fauntleroy to the Trader Joe’s vicinity; to the south, no better, @catfishianne said via Twitter that it took more than a hour to get from Roxbury Safeway to 99.
8:53 AM: Looks like the crash scene before the 99 exit is clear after about an hour and a half – here’s a screen grab of the camera a few minutes ago:
No update on the stalled car.
9:02 AM: The low bridge was open for marine traffic and is now reported to be back open to vehicles. One more note IF you commute beyond 99 onto Elliott along the north downtown waterfront and beyond – there is a rollover crash at Elliott/Harrison (map) that emergency crews are dealing with right now.
9:15 AM: If you waited to leave – note from the cameras (more views on our Traffic page) that it’s still very busy, even without new incidents to complicate things, and it’s still raining. Wait a while longer if you can; if you can’t, drive slowly and safely! We will continue to update here IF any additional incidents happen – the daily traffic update is always linked atop the “TOP STORIES” list on the WSB sidebar.
10:02 AM: On the peninsula, a school bus was involved in a collision at 12th/Henderson. (Added – photo courtesy of Keith – note the pickup on the sidewalk under the tree:)
No reports of injuries – fire/medics were NOT called out.
11:02 AM: An exchange of note via Twitter, involving newly inaugurated Mayor Ed Murray:
4:26 PM: A crash has closed the 1st Avenue South onramp to the westbound West Seattle Bridge, though it doesn’t sound like it will be closed for long.
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