3:32 PM: Thanks to the texter (2062936302 any time!) who sent this photo of a dump-truck problem where Harbor Avenue meets the bridge. They note – as the photo shows – that vehicles are “squeezing by” to the right of the spill; we haven’t heard an emergency dispatch on this yet, but if you’re headed that way, be forewarned. And just as we finish typing this, we’re getting a Metro alert that RapidRide C Line and Route 21 are rerouted off Avalon because of this.

4:34 PM: Metro says the reroutes are still in effect. We’re going to go see how cleanup is going.

5:10 PM: Avoid Avalon northbound for a while longer. Truck has been righted, dirt is being scooped up, but the Avalon/Harbor onramp toward the eastbound bridge remains blocked and traffic is backing up intermittently. The outbound buses are detouring onto Yancy.

6:46 PM: Metro has just texted that the 21 and C Line are back on their regular routes, indicating the ramp has reopened after 3+ hours. This isn’t the first truck to get in trouble at this spot – we found a few other incidents in the archives, like this one.

Update from SDOT on this week’s Admiral Way paving work (reported here Friday thanks to a neighbor tip): We asked SDOT spokesperson Marybeth Turner about the plan; her reply: “SDOT paving crews plan to work tomorrow on Admiral Way between 34th Avenue SW and SW Olga Street from 7 am to 7 pm. They will repair areas of the street where pavement is deteriorating. At least one lane in each direction will remain open. They hope to complete the work in one day.”

(Four WS-relevant views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
Good morning! As we keep watch on the morning commute (and beyond), transportation notes:

SOUTH PARK BRIDGE STATUS: After a malfunction put the bridge off-limits to surface traffic for most of Saturday, county road crews managed to get it back in service again, and are now awaiting parts for permanent repairs. You can check here any time to be sure it’s operational before you head that way. (Here’s a traffic cam, too.)

ADMIRAL WAY PAVING TUESDAY-WEDNESDAY: SDOT work on Admiral between 34th and Olga, as mentioned here Friday night after a tip from Mike.

WEST SEATTLE TRANSPORTATION COALITION ON THURSDAY: The WSTC’s monthly meeting is 6:30 pm Thursday at Neighborhood House’s High Point Center. The agenda features a guest: Paulo Nunes-Ueno, the new head of SDOT’s Transit Division.

METRO FARE CHANGES TAKE EFFECT NEXT SUNDAY: On March 1st, some go up, some go down, as explained here.

7:11 AM: Quiet so far. Checking travel times from the city’s map:

35th Ave SW @ SW Snoqualmie St to …
SR-99 Off Ramp 4 min.
1st Ave Off Ramp 5 min.
4th Ave Off Ramp 6 min.
Stadiums via 1st Ave 10 min.
Stadiums via 4th Ave 10 min.
South Lake Union 15 min.
Ballard 22 min.
Crown Hill 28 min.
Green Lake via SR-99 22 min.
I-5 NB/SB 5 min.
Lower Queen Anne 17 min.
Shoreline via SR-99 28 min.

8:16 AM: Just got two texts about a bus-car collision at midspan of the eastbound bridge, reported to be blocking two lanes. One texter says two lanes are blocked including the bus lane; the other says the vehicles are “stopped on top of the bridge just east of the (crest).”

8:22 AM: You can see the bus and car in the top left camera. Only the bus lane is blocked now – the car is in front of the bus. It’s a #56, per a texter on board.

8:36 AM: Texter on board says driver told them the car hit the bus, and that after some pictures/paperwork, they’ll be able to move on. While the top-left camera will have the newest image, here’s a screengrab from a moment or two ago:

A supervisor is now out checking the bus’s exterior, our tipster reports.

8:45 AM: And now a #55 bus has arrived to take passengers from the stuck bus. Not room enough for all of them, says our tipster – “about a dozen” are back on board and now waiting for a #120.

8:57 AM: Bus lane is now clear – the bus, Metro supervisors’ vehicles, and the car that was involved have all just left.

Via scanner, the 3-vehicle crash this past hour at 4th and Roxbury hadn’t sounded too serious – minor injuries were mentioned – but a texter tells us the scene is blocking the downhill (eastbound) lanes, so avoid the area for a while.

Thanks to Mike for the tip on this – SDOT hasn’t sent a communitywide notice on this yet, but he and neighbors just received flyers saying that “grind-and-pave” work is planned for two days next week on Admiral Way between 34th SW and Olga, 7 am-4 pm Tuesday and Wednesday (February 24th and 25th). Here’s a map.

(WS high/low bridges and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
Good morning and happy foggy Friday! While we watch this morning’s traffic, a new alert for this weekend (and next):

1ST AVENUE SOUTH TRAFFIC ALERT FOR NEXT 2 WEEKENDS: Received overnight from SDOT:

First Avenue South alongside Safeco Field is getting some restorative work done on two upcoming weekends, weather permitting. Crews from the Seattle Department of Transportation are repairing the street following work on underground utilities.

The southbound, left hand lane at Atlantic Street will be closed from 7 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 21 until Sunday, Feb. 22 at 5 p.m. The center turn lane on the south side of Atlantic will also be closed both days, but will be open at night. Police Officers will assist traffic. The following weekend, Feb. 28 and March 1, the paving crews plan to work at the same location and during the same hours.

And in case you missed it:

HIGHWAY 99 TUNNEL MACHINE’S BREAKTHROUGH: The machine made it through the repair-pit wall on Thursday – but this leg of its journey isn’t over yet. (ADDED 7:40 AM: View into the pit this morning:)

Also:

DELRIDGE/ANDOVER PROJECT’S NEW START DATE: As reported in our coverage of the Delridge Neighborhoods District Council meeting, the work at Delridge/Andover/23rd is now set to start March 2nd.

7:33 AM: If you’re traveling northbound 99 north of downtown, two lanes are blocked at Howe St., so it’s slow going.

In case you’re about to head outbound – from the scanner, there’s word of a gravel spill on the eastbound bridge, possibly tracing all the way back to The Junction, and police are saying they’ll likely be closing the middle lane on the bridge near the 1st Avenue South exit. On the 1st/Spokane SDOT live-video camera (find it from the lower right of the travelers’ map), you can definitely see traffic stopped on the inside eastbound lanes and flashing lights starting right before the 99 overpass.

1:24 PM: After a brief full closure, all eastbound lanes are open again, per SDOT.

2:09 PM: Metro Routes 21 and 50 were routed off the 1st Avenue South offramp for a while, too, and have just returned to normal. Regarding the gravel, MistiLynn tells us via Twitter, “It was heavy gravel, more like plum-sized rocks …”

(WS high/low bridges and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
Good morning! We start with transit and transportation news, while keeping an eye out for trouble spots.

FERRY SWITCH: Washington State Ferries says that starting today on the Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth run, “the 87-vehicle Evergreen State will replace the 124-vehicle Cathlamet for approximately two weeks while the Cathlamet moves to Seattle/Bremerton to replace another vessel undergoing emergent repairs. Passengers should note that the Evergreen State has been moved back into service to maintain the three-boat schedule on the route. The Evergreen State is an older, slower vessel and passengers are advised that the vessel may not be able to maintain the schedule during periods of heavy commuter traffic. During the weekday, the Evergreen State will remain in the #2 sailing position. The vessel will not have Wi-Fi, galley service or vending machines on board.”

TRANSPORTATION NEWS, IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: The tunnel machine is moving again! … Metro-funding followups, including RapidRide split

DELRIDGE/ORCHARD: The work that led to the flashing traffic signals earlier this week is indeed Seattle Public Utilities work related to the CSO project nearby, we confirmed.

7:01 AM: Crash reported at 17th and Roxbury.

(WS high/low bridges and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
Good morning! Texter reported lower-bridge traffic stopped; SDOT says the bridge was open for marine traffic, and (update as of 6:54 am) now open to surface traffic.

WASHINGTON STATE FERRIES NOTE: The ferry Kitsap is out of service, which could increase Southworth-to-Fauntleroy traffic until the situation is remedied.

DELRIDGE/ANDOVER PROJECT BRIEFING TONIGHT: If you have questions about the project getting under way from Delridge/Andover northward – last previewed here two weeks ago – an SDOT briefing is on the agenda for tonight’s Delridge Neighborhoods District Council meeting, 7 pm at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center (4408 Delridge Way SW).

(WS high/low bridges and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
Happy Friday! Lighter traffic around the region today, and that’s not surprising since we’re going into a holiday weekend (it’s a four-day weekend for Seattle Public Schools and those who follow its schedule). SDOT’s traffic-watchers report heavy truck traffic on northbound Marginal, north of the bridge, also not surprising since ships *are* being offloaded today but weren’t yesterday and won’t be for the next three days, as reported here.

TRANSPORTATION NEWS NOTES: One more reminder of Metro‘s three-times-a-year service change tomorrow … While it was announced in the north end, the city’s new Vision Zero street-safety plan has many changes in store for West Seattle, as mentioned in the report from our partners at The Seattle Times – we’ll be following up this morning.

7:55 AM: Michael reports via Twitter that “lower Spokane St. is a mess” too – “lots of truck traffic.” (See the lower-left camera in our quad split above.) Scanner-monitored discussion indicates that traffic officers are getting involved, if they weren’t already.

8:12 AM: SDOT reports a stall on northbound 99 just before King Street:

8:22 AM: SDOT now reports the WSDOT incident-response truck cleared the stalled pickup quickly. That gives us the chance to remind you …

PRESIDENTS DAY TRANSIT NOTES: On Monday, the West Seattle and Vashon Water Taxis will NOT be running. Metro will be on REGULAR weekday service (except for the routes affected in the “No UW” mode).

9:15 AM: Per scanner, police are directing traffic at E. Marginal/Spokane.

(WS high/low bridges and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
The morning traffic/transit watch is on. And we have two notes:

REMINDER – METRO SERVICE CHANGE ON SATURDAY: It’s two phases this time – the actual “service change” for route tweaks on Saturday, the fare changes on March 1st. Details here, if you haven’t seen them yet.

EARLY WARNING – HIGHWAY 99 LANE CLOSURES NORTH OF DOWNTOWN: If you drive or ride on Highway 99 north of downtown, longterm lane closures (two to three months) in both directions will probably affect you. They won’t start before next month but WSDOT wants to make sure you hear about them now.

7:09 AM: So far, so good on the major roadways this morning.

7:38 AM: Travel-time check from the city map:

5th Ave SW @ SW Snoqualmie St to …
1st Ave offramp 8 min.
4th Ave offramp 10 min.
Ballard 32 min.
Crown Hill 37 min.
Green Lake via SR-99 32 min.
I-5 NB/SB 10 min.
Lower Queen Anne 27 min.
Shoreline via SR-99 40 min.
South Lake Union 25 min.
SR-99 Off Ramp 11 min.
Stadiums via 1st Ave 14 min.
Stadiums via 4th Ave 14 min.

(WS high/low bridges and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
6:54 AM: Nothing unusual on West Seattle’s main/outbound routes so far this morning.

7:54 AM CHECK-IN: Slow but still incident-free. Spot check of travel times from the SDOT map (same system that feeds the overhead signs):

35th Ave SW @ SW Snoqualmie St to …
1st Ave Off Ramp 11 min.
4th Ave Off Ramp 12 min.
Ballard 40 min.
Crown Hill 47 min.
Green Lake via SR-99 37 min.
I-5 NB/SB 16 min.
Lower Queen Anne 33 min.
Shoreline via SR-99 44 min.
South Lake Union 29 min.
Stadiums via 1st Ave 20 min.
Stadiums via 4th Ave 17 min.

(WS high/low bridges and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
The week is off to a showery start. Some notes while we watch the roads:

METRO SERVICE CHANGE NEXT SATURDAY: Two West Seattle routes have non-WS changes taking effect when Metro’s next “service change” happens on Saturday (February 14th). Full details in the story we published over the weekend. (Clarification: While the “service change” announcement includes the new fares – 25-cent increase for most, plus launch of the new ORCA LIFT fare – they don’t take effect until March 1st.)

HIGHWAY 99 PROJECT UPDATE: WSDOT will brief the City Council again this morning on the Highway 99 project, during the council’s 9:30 am session. Here’s the WSDOT slide deck that’s linked from the agenda, with some general updates, but perhaps of more interest is another slide deck, this one from SDOT, with information on how the city is independently monitoring the settlement situation, and toplines on plans in place in case the Viaduct has to be shut down at any point.

9:10 AM: Some breakdown woes on 99 this morning, per commenters (thank you!). These don’t always turn up on the 911 log or traffic tweets, so – when you can report safely/legally – tips are always appreciated.

8:53 PM: SDOT says the Delridge offramp from the westbound West Seattle Bridge is closed because of a crash. Reader tip (accompanying photos including the one added above) says it seems like a spinout. More as we get it.

10:18 PM: SDOT just tweeted that the ramp has reopened.

8:42 PM: A tanker truck is on its side on southbound I-5 just south of the West Seattle Bridge, so the offramp is closed. Updates as we get them.

9:29 PM: From the State Patrol:

If you want to check the eastbound-bridge-to-southbound-I-5 ramp status between our updates, use the city’s travelers-info map, and choose, on the lower right, live video/SODO/6th & Spokane.

12:49 AM: Still closed – no estimate for reopening, WSDOT says.

ADDED EARLY SATURDAY: Per WSDOT’s tweet, the ramp (and all I-5 lanes) reopened just before 1:30 am.

(WS high/low bridges and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
Another rainy commute. No specific incidents or alerts in or from West Seattle so far, though.

NORTH DELRIDGE PROJECT: On Thursday, we found out more from SDOT about the upcoming work at Delridge/Andover and northward, including the plan to start week after next.

8:22 AM: A little trouble on northbound 99 in the Battery Street Tunnel:

8:53 AM: The BSTunnel situation is reported to be cleared, but there’s a new problem on northbound 99 – a crash, with injuries, reported near the stadium zone. That’s all we’ve heard (via scanner) so far.

(WS high/low bridges and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
The big commute news so far this morning is the rain, which means slow going – be safe.

METRO SURVEY: Among the transportation stories reported in the past day – Metro’s on the road to a long-range plan, and as part of it, invites you to take an online survey. The link’s in our story.

(WS high/low bridges and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
6:58 AM: Good morning!

As we start today’s commute watch, there’s word of trouble in the bus lane on northbound 99, just tweeted by Kevin:

7:06 AM: The truck has moved on, according to SDOT, and the lane is open again.

7:35 AM: A note from Lisa calls our attention to a power outage on western Charlestown Hill. Does not appear to be in an area with any traffic lights, according to the City Light outage map (which blames “equipment failure” and projects the power will be back soon), but you might encounter repair crews in that area.

8:30 AM: From Helga in comments: “E Marginal backup from Atlantic to Spokane for the 3rd day in a row.”

8:38 AM: Traffic reporter Tracy Taylor @ KING 5 found a camera for it:

(WS high/low bridges and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
Several of the traffic cams showing conditions through/from West Seattle are down this morning, but no trouble spots are reported right now anyway.

ORCA LIFT: Next month is when Metro fares go up and the new low-income fare kicks in. You can check eligibility now – this announcement from the county explains how.

8:05 AM NOTE: This morning SDOT has announced it’s planning a “hackathon” for community help with commute-tackling tools – details here.

TONIGHT: West Seattle Bike Connections meets, 6:30 pm at HomeStreet Bank (WSB sponsor) in The Junction, with the notorious 5-way intersection on the agenda.

3:08 PM NOTE: Desiree sends word that Harbor Island is hard to get to/navigate because of truck backups that apparently are starting along East Marginal. We haven’t found any additional information about this yet.

(WS high/low bridges and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
Good morning! No alerts for today, but one transit-related note – if you use the streetcar downtown, fare changes are in the works, with a public meeting tonight and other ways to comment – all the info’s here.

6:51 AM: Just got a call reporting a stalled vehicle on the eastbound Spokane Street Viaduct, left lane. Meantime, fairly heavy rain.

7:04 AM: No further updates; traffic appears to be moving fairly normally, on the high-rise too.