(Photo sent by Al)

5:41 PM: We’re on our way to Highland Park Way/2nd SW [map] to check on a crash that has drawn a big Seattle Fire “automobile rescue” dispatch. That’s east of West Marginal Way and most likely to affect traffic headed toward the 1st Avenue South Bridge-bound onramp near the transfer station. More when we get there.

5:51 PM: Eastbound traffic on Highland Park Way, and southbound on West Marginal Way, both at near-standstills as we attempt to get to the crash scene.

(Added: Photo tweeted by SFD)

Via scanner, we heard a few minutes ago that SFD had extricated two people, but we still have no other details on the circumstances. Police are heading back up the Highland Park Way hill so you might be facing traffic closures.

6:01 PM: We’ve gotten closer and can now see that HP Way is closed both ways just west of the 509/1st Avenue S. Bridge approach overpass. Al has sent a photo that we’re adding atop the story, while our photographer sees how close he can get on foot to try to get more information. Again, avoid Highland Park Way east of the hill TFN.

(WSB photo)

6:12 PM: Our photographer just spoke with SFD/SPD at the scene. It’s a three-vehicle collision. The two people who had to be cut out of the car on the left in our top photo were taken to the hospital but neither had life-threatening injuries. The driver of the other car involved was checked out but did not need to be hospitalized. And the truck driver is OK. Police hope to clear the vehicles from the scene before too long.

(SDOT MAP with travel times/video links; is the ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE)

(Click any view for a close-up; more cameras on the WSB Traffic page)

7:26 AM: Good morning. A crash on NB 99 just past the bridge has cleared into the transit lane, and that’s the only problem in the area right now.

BUS NOTE: As reported last night, the main bus stop at South Seattle College (WSB sponsor) is back to normal as of today.

SATURDAY REMINDER: The West Seattle Junction Tree Lighting and Night Market on Saturday night will close SW Alaska between California and 42nd SW approximately 3-9 pm (the market is 4-8 pm, tree lighting starts 4:30 pm).

7:43 AM: Problem on the EB bridge, tweeted by SDOT:

7:48 AM: SDOT says the bridge and 99 problems have both completely cleared.

(SDOT MAP with travel times/video links; is the ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE)

(Click any view for a close-up; more cameras on the WSB Traffic page)

7:10 AM: Good morning! No incidents reported in/outbound from West Seattle so far this morning.

(SDOT MAP with travel times/video links; is the ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE)

(Click any view for a close-up; more cameras on the WSB Traffic page)

6:30 AM: Good morning. Back to work, school, and regular transit schedules as we start the post-Thanksgiving week.

SPOKANE ST. PROJECT: The work on and around surface Spokane St. east of the low bridge continues this week – here’s the official flyer with the newest details.

LOOKING AHEAD: There’s talk the weather might get wintrier next week. MIGHT – but still, you might consider taking a look at SDOT‘s winter-weather info THIS week, just so you’re up to speed.

(SDOT MAP with travel times/video links; is the ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE)

(Click any view for a close-up; more cameras on the WSB Traffic page)

7:02 AM: Good morning – here’s what you need to know if you’re headed out this morning:

TRANSIT CHANGES:
*strong>Metro buses are on the “reduced weekday” schedule
*King County Water Taxi is out of service
*Sound Transit Route 560 is on the regular weekday schedule; Link light rail is on the Saturday schedule

DOWNTOWN ROAD CLOSURES THIS AM AND PM:
The 9 am Macy’s Holiday Parade and 5 pm lighting of the store’s big star both will bring big crowds and road closures – more info in this SDOT holiday-weekend event roundup.

(SDOT MAP with travel times/video links; is the ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE)

(Click any view for a close-up; more cameras on the WSB Traffic page)

7:15 AM: Good morning and welcome to Thanksgiving Eve. So far, no incidents in/from West Seattle.

Info you might find useful:

TODAY: Seattle Public Schools get out one hour early today, and won’t be back in session until next Monday.

THANKSGIVING DAY TRANSPORTATION NOTES: Metro buses will be on the Sunday schedule … Sound Transit Route 560 will be on a Sunday schedule too (as is Link light rail) … King County Water Taxi is out of service … Washington State Ferries‘ Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth route will be on a regular schedule … Street parking will be free in areas of the city that have pay stations.

(SDOT MAP with travel times/video links; is the ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE)

(Click any view for a close-up; more cameras on the WSB Traffic page)

7:11 AM: Good morning – no incidents in/from West Seattle so far this morning.

STADIUM-ZONE ALERT TONIGHT: 7 pm at CenturyLink Field, soccer playoffs – Sounders FC vs. Colorado Rapids.

(SDOT MAP with travel times/video links; is the ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE)

(Click any view for a close-up; more cameras on the WSB Traffic page)

7:02 AM: Good morning! No incidents in/from West Seattle so far this morning.

PRE-HOLIDAY NOTES: While the official school holidays are Thursday and Friday, schedules vary at some schools starting today, because of parent-teacher conferences, so be extra-careful in school zones. … Here’s this week’s plan for the surface Spokane St. paving/repair project east of the low bridge.

8:29 AM: If you are inbound – stalled vehicle on WB bridge just past Admiral.

7:35 AM: If you’re headed this way via I-5 or Beacon Hill any time soon, you might not be able to get onto the westbound West Seattle Bridge for a bit – Seattle Police are shutting down access toward the east end so they can get that semi-truck safely off the bridge. Somehow, it wound up on the westbound bridge, facing east. This probably won’t take too long but we’re making note of it just in case.

8:01 AM: As expected, SPD made short work of this, and the bridge is fully open both ways.

(SDOT MAP with travel times/video links; is the ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE)

(Click any view for a close-up; more cameras on the WSB Traffic page)

7:02 AM: Good morning! No incidents in/from West Seattle so far.

Alerts and updates:

BRIDGE WORK STARTING AT 8 AM: Announced Thursday by SDOT, the left eastbound lane will be closed on the bridge, between the 1st and 4th Ave. S. exits, 8 am-4 pm.

FERRY SPILLOVER OVER: Washington State Ferries announced last night that the Point Defiance-Tahlequah (south Vashon) run would be back in operation today, so you don’t have to worry about spillover on the Fauntleroy-(north) Vashon run.

7:20 AM: Texter sends this photo from East Marginal Way:

“Situation right now on Marginal Way S. for a half-mile to T-46. That’s three rows of vehicles all headed northbound,” they write.

7:25 PM: Also visible on this traffic cam:

11:48 PM: The emergency response that is backing up southbound Alaskan Way Viaduct traffic right now involves a C Line bus driver, according to Jon, who e-mailed us right after someone else texted about the traffic situation. He says his wife was on the bus and reported that the driver had a medical emergency, possibly a heart attack, right after the bus got onto the Viaduct from Columbia. The call is on the SFD log as a “med 7 response” (major medical situation) but there’s been no official information yet. If you are headed this way, avoid SB 99 for now.

12:06 AM: Still nothing official on this, not even a traffic alert, and nothing on the scanner, so we are not likely to be able to get followup information until tomorrow. The closest traffic cam shows traffic moving, slowly, southbound just north of the scene, with police-car lights visible.

12:38 AM: That traffic cam shows the emergency response has cleared, as has traffic.

FRIDAY, 3:30 PM: Metro reports that the driver died, and that passengers took heroic action both to try to save him, and to get the bus under control. Here’s their news release.

(SDOT traffic cam – refresh this story page for newest image)

SDOT has just confirmed that the much-delayed paving of surface Spokane Street east of the low bridge ****IS ON**** for tonight. That means lane closures starting at 2 pm, and a complete closure of SW Spokane starting at 6 pm, along with ramp closures from/on the high bridge. Here’s what SDOT says will be happening between 6 pm and midnight:

Westbound SW Spokane Street will be closed between 11th Ave SW and E Marginal Way.

Eastbound SW Spokane Street will be closed between 11th Ave SW and SW Manning Street.

The ramps from southbound SR-99 and westbound Spokane St Viaduct to Harbor Island will be closed.

Detours will be in place:

o Westbound through traffic on SW Spokane St will be detoured down E Marginal Way to the 1st Ave S Bridge and back up W Marginal Way.

o Westbound traffic on the Spokane St Viaduct and southbound traffic on SR-99 destined for Harbor Island will be detoured across the West Seattle Bridge to Delridge Way SW to access Harbor Island from the west.

o Eastbound through traffic on SW Spokane St will be detoured locally on Harbor Island to continue eastbound via SW Manning St.

Full details here.

(SDOT MAP with travel times/video links; is the ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE)

(Click any view for a close-up; more cameras on the WSB Traffic page)

7:03 AM: Good morning! No incidents right now in/from West Seattle and vicinity. Road-work reminders:

FAUNTLEROY/HUDSON: We noticed lane reductions here while driving through the area last night, and Hudson itself was blocked. Looked like something ongoing.

PAVING ALERT: It’s not raining, which means the lower Spokane St. paving plan for today might be on, scheduled to start after 9 am. We’ll be checking. Here again are the details.

4TH AVENUE REMINDER: For the next few months, 4th Avenue has lane closures on the south side of downtown because of the Yesler Way bridge replacement. This came up in comments yesterday. The long-term alert is here.

One more note:

WEST SEATTLE TRANSPORTATION COALITION: WSTC has changed its night/location for this month’s meeting – 6:30 pm tonight at The Kenney. (7125 Fauntleroy Way SW)

7:54 AM: Big response for a possible fire at Highland Park Way and Kenyon, but it’s just been canceled, except for two units, as they haven’t found the reported fire yet.

(SDOT MAP with travel times/video links; is the ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE)

(Click any view for a close-up; more cameras on the WSB Traffic page)

7:02 AM: Good morning! No incidents reported in/from West Seattle and vicinity right now.

One note for today: Seattle Public Schools get out two hours early

(SDOT MAP with travel times/video links; is the ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE)

(Click any view for a close-up; more cameras on the WSB Traffic page)

7:02 AM: Good morning. So far, no incidents in/from West Seattle. It rained all night, so watch out for standing water.

One road-work alert for later this week: Paving on surface Spokane St. Thursday, if rain doesn’t get in the way again.

8:37 AM: Still no incidents but we’ve heard more about early-morning “puddle” problems by clogged drains. Check the ones near you when you can, since we still haven’t gotten past leaf season.

One of the last major components of the three-month-long surface Spokane Street paving project, east of the low bridge, is now planned for Thursday. Crews had been trying to get it done on recent weekends but the weather just didn’t cooperate. With dry weather forecast, here’s what the contractor hopes to do on Thursday:

· AREA 1 (Eastbound and westbound Spokane Street through lanes) and AREA 2 (Spokane Place) will be paved during the day – starting after 9 am;

· AREA 3 (Gate 1 to Terminal 18) will be paved after the gate closes – starting after 6 pm; and

· AREA 4 (Ramps from southbound 99 and westbound Spokane Street Viaduct) and AREA 5 (Lower Spokane Street) will be paved after 6 pm.

NOTE: THERE WILL BE TRAFFIC IMPACTS AND DETOURS DURING THE PAVING WORK. HOWEVER, GATE 1 ACCESS TO TERMINAL 18 WILL REMAIN DURING NORMAL HOURS OF PORT OPERATIONS AND ACCESS TO BUSINESSES AND FUELING OPERATIONS WILL BE PRIORITIZED AND MAINTAINED.

(SDOT MAP with travel times/video links; is the ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE)

(Click any view for a close-up; more cameras on the WSB Traffic page)

7:02 AM: Good morning. Two notes to start with – SFD is on the scene of a crash at West Marginal Way and Highland Park Way; Sound Transit says Route 560 is one of the routes experiencing delays because of a crash on the Eastside.

7:25 AM: SFD has closed out the call at West Marginal/Highland Park Way. We have no firsthand reports (and no cameras) there, though.

Thanks to Chas Redmond for the tip – he says a car has crashed on, and is blocking, the Delridge offramp from the westbound West Seattle Bridge. SFD Engine 36 was briefly assigned to respond but has already been canceled so we’re not sure about injuries but Chas says the car had major damage. If you’re headed this way any time soon, be aware you might need to take a different exit.

(SDOT MAP with travel times/video links; is the ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE)

(Click any view for a close-up; more cameras on the WSB Traffic page)

7:11 AM: No incidents in/from West Seattle right now. Foggy in some spots, though!

Here’s a look ahead to the holiday tomorrow:

VETERANS DAY ON FRIDAY: Schools will be closed … Metro will be running “reduced weekday” service … No West Seattle Water Taxi service. … Washington State Ferries has announced that on Friday at 11:11 am, it “will honor the men and women who have served in the United States Armed Forces by observing a moment of silence on all ferries underway at that time. Following the moment of silence, the ferries will blow their whistles in unison to recognize the bravery and sacrifice of our veterans.”