5:42 PM: With the Alaskan Way Viaduct out of commission this weekend, the exits on the Spokane Street Viaduct – east half of the West Seattle Bridge – are carrying more traffic. That might be complicating matters now that there’s a four-car crash near the 4th Avenue South exit. Big backup on the bridge, according to the nearest cam:

(“Live” views are on the WSB Traffic page.)

5:53 PM: Multiple lanes are closed and an officer was just heard (via scanner) saying they’ll be closed “a while.

7:12 PM UPDATE: SDOT has tweeted that the scene is clear.

FIRST REPORT, 12:57 PM: A car-motorcycle collision in the 4700 block of West Marginal Way has police blocking the road, so avoid that area. No word yet on injuries.

1:17 PM: We’re at the scene; West Marginal is blocked just south of T-107 Park. According to emergency radio, the motorcycle rider is a 58-year-old man who is being rushed to Harborview Medical Center, and a preliminary description of the collision indicated that he was riding “at traffic speed” when a pickup truck “pulled out in front of him.” His injuries are not believed to be life-threatening, so they’ll be reopening the road after tow trucks arrive and clear wreckage.

(WS bridge and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
It’s Friday, and that means the much-discussed Highway 99/Alaskan Way Viaduct closure starts tonight. See maps/times here. In general, it starts at 10 pm, but there are provisions for allowing vehicles onto 99 to handle departures from the Seahawks game – for southbound 99, the Columbia St. entrance will stay open until midnight. One more reminder – from the West Seattle Bridge until the Battery Street Tunnel, it’s only closed until early Monday, but from there north to Valley Street on lower Queen Anne, the closure continues until early Wednesday. If you’re taking a bus that uses 99, check here for reroute info.

OTHER WEEKEND NOTES: The Alki Beach 5K for Northwest Hope and Healing closes Alki Avenue SW for a few hours on Sunday morning. That’s one of the various citywide non-Highway 99 alerts in this roundup published by SDOT.

8:25 AM: If you are headed westbound on the bridge, a safety alert was just broadcast regarding an overhead sign in danger of falling. Didn’t catch exactly where, except that it was on the Fauntleroy Expressway section, and it’s going to be checked out ASAP.

We usually just link SDOT’s weekly citywide-alert roundup in our daily traffic watch – but this time around, seems to be worth sharing immediately, so here it is, featuring the Highway 99 closures (the Viaduct itself is ONLY involved in the weekend closure), plus Sunday morning’s Alki Avenue closure for the Alki Beach 5K, and more. Also please remember if you’re out late TONIGHT, the ramp to northbound 99 from the eastbound bridge will be closed overnight (10 pm tonight-5 am Friday) for work related to the weekend 99 closure. And if you need Metro reroute info – it’s here.

(WS bridge and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
Good morning! The outbound signs are all reminding you of the looming Highway 99 closure. Remember that while many signs say “4-day closure,” it’s 2 days for the Alaskan Way Viaduct and 99 south of there to the West Seattle Bridge, all 4 days from the Battery Street Tunnel northbound to Valley St. (lower Queen Anne). See maps/times here. The preparation work that’s been happening overnight all week will also include closure tonight, 10 pm-5 am, of the West Seattle Bridge offramp to NB 99. Also of note:

CONTINUING ROAD WORK: Arbor Heights microsurfacing, and restriping all over the place.

TRANSPORTATION NEWS: Next step in the Fauntleroy Way “Boulevard” project, a community meeting, which we learned on Wednesday is set for September 23rd.

ADDED 9:27 AM: Trouble on the 1st Avenue South Bridge’s northbound side:

@seattledot More fire trucks on scene on 1st Ave S Bridge, northbound traffic reduced to 1 lane on the bridge. pic.twitter.com/tm3AqDj7Bw

— seattledot (@seattledot) August 21, 2014

10:05 AM: SFD has cleared that scene. Meantime, we just received a text about a reported crash on the eastbound bridge – no further details yet.

(WS bridge and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
Welcome to another late-summer commute. The morning starts with the road-work alerts:

ARBOR HEIGHTS MICROSURFACING CONTINUES: Our Monday story includes the map of which streets are getting it and when.

STRIPE-PAINTING: Just one day after the SDOT alert about work crews here by week’s end, we spotted one out working on California SW yesterday. Keep your distance if you see them.

HIGHWAY 99 WORK, INCLUDING THE BIG CLOSURE: Overnight prep work is closing lanes nightly, getting ready for the big work that requires a two-phase closure beginning Friday night: See maps/times here.

7:31 AM UPDATE: Thanks to CC in comments and someone via phone for the tip – there’s a problem on the ramp from the eastbound bridge to Highway 99. (added) Julia says, “We just passed the ramp. A semi and smaller truck appear to have collided and blocking the ramp. Use other routes if you can.”

7:41 AM UPDATE: Annie tweets that she’s on the Route 120 bus and it just “took the SODO detour.”

7:57 AM UPDATE: The ramp is now clear, according to multiple reports including an SDOT tweet. Thanks for the updates (again, especially from bus riders and others who aren’t driving – if you see a problem while you ARE driving, please don’t call, text, tweet, etc. until you can do so safely and legally after arriving at your destination).

(WS bridge and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
Good morning! Time to watch traffic, just in case, and to share alerts and transportation news:

ROXBURY PAVING TODAY: The city will be finishing the work between 25th and 27th SW.

ARBOR HEIGHTS MICROSURFACING CONTINUES: The long-anticipated work is under way, as announced by SDOT on Monday. Kevin McClintic shares this view of one road post-treatment:

He says the street was kept closed for about four hours after application, and has some advice: “Keep your animals inside until the sealant dries, lest they get the stuff on their paws and they lick themselves crazy.”

NIGHTTIME LANE CLOSURES ON HIGHWAY 99: Announced on Monday, for the nights leading up to the big closure this weekend (and partly beyond). Speaking of which

HIGHWAY 99 CLOSURE STARTS FRIDAY NIGHT: The stretch from the West Seattle Bridge to the Battery Street Tunnel will be closed both ways all weekend; from the tunnel to Valley Street, it will be closed late Friday night-early Wednesday morning. See maps/times here.

PAINTING CREWS ON THE WAY: SDOT expects its road-painting crews to start work out our way by week’s end.

SDOT has just sent out a general alert about crews repainting lines “on major arterial streets throughout the city” while the clear, dry weather lasts – 850 “lane miles” in all. Notes SDOT’s Marybeth Turner, “Re-marking the yellow, solid white and dashed white lines makes them easier to see, and the reflective beads in the paint also helps, enhancing safety.” The crews have already been through North Seattle and downtown, are in east Central Seattle now, and expected in our area later this week “where, if weather is favorable, they expect to complete striping in about three weeks.” The trucks carry signs warning you to keep away from the wet paint – please heed them!

(WS bridge and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
No major problems right now as the heart of the morning commute approaches. As reported here very early this morning, the Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth ferry run is back to three boats. Here’s what’s ahead this week:

ROXBURY PAVING, TUESDAY: The city has already ground down SW Roxbury from 25th to 27th but needed dry weather to repave, so that’s now set for tomorrow.

HIGHWAY 99 CLOSURE, STARTING FRIDAY NIGHT: The stretch from the West Seattle Bridge to the Battery Street Tunnel will be closed both ways all weekend; from the tunnel to Valley Street, it will be closed late Friday night-early Wednesday morning. See maps/times here.

ALKI SW CLOSURE NEXT SUNDAY: The Alki Beach 5K benefiting breast-cancer patients is next Sunday morning.

(WS bridge and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
Weather is this morning’s primary commute challenge so far – wet roads around the area. Looking ahead to tonight and beyond:

CITYWIDE ALERTS FOR TONIGHT/WEEKEND … here’s the SDOT roundup, beginning with Hempfest starting this afternoon and the Seahawks‘ preseason game vs. San Diego, 7 pm tonight.

VASHON EVENT THIS WEEKEND: Washington State Ferries notes weekend traffic to/from Vashon is likely to be heavy because of the Raft Up kayak/canoe/music event expected to draw thousands.

REMEMBER – HIGHWAY 99 CLOSURE, ONE WEEK AWAY! One week until Highway 99 closes from the West Seattle Bridge to Valley Street all weekend and then stays closed from the Battery St. Tunnel to Valley St. for two days beyond that.

ADDED 11:16 AM: ROXBURY RESCHEDULED – The repaving between 25th and 27th SW is now rescheduled for next Tuesday (August 19th) because dry weather is required.

(WS bridge and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
Weather is the main challenge today – while we haven’t seen any word of West Seattle problems, the Vashon Water Taxi is running late because of fog. No major problems on the land routes closest to us (as of this writing, the camera views are fairly clear), but the fog is shifting, so give yourself extra time just in case.

ROAD CREW REMINDER: While there are small projects in multiple spots, the only official alert we have for today is tha this is scheduled to be the third and final day for Harbor Avenue median landscaping work.

Mystery solved, regarding what has sounded to some like an almost-continuous alarm bell/siren-type noise these past few days. Tuesday, we received half a dozen messages from north West Seattle, mysterious because of an absence of any 911 reports of an ongoing alarm-type bell; then we developed the theory it might have been the “shot blasting” technique used to improve traction on two local hills – SW Charlestown yesterday, SW Genesee today – and as soon as we received a noise report from the Luna Park area today, that seemed to confirm it. We went over to the work zone on Genesee and while we couldn’t get it on video, we confirmed that the equipment was making a droning alarm/siren-type noise, somewhat reminiscent of the old “air-raid sirens” we remembered from weekly tests (and are blessed not to have known in any other context) decades ago.

(WSB photo added Wednesday afternoon)
Here’s what the Harbor Avenue no-parking signs were about – today is the second of three days of landscape work on the median, according to SDOT:

You may have seen crews at work along Harbor Avenue Southwest between Southwest Spokane Street and Southwest Florida Street. These Seattle Department of Transportation landscape crews began working on the street median yesterday, weeding and cutting back plant material. They will continue the work through tomorrow, keeping one lane open in each direction by shifting traffic into the parking lanes. The northbound lane is closed from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Closure of the southbound lane is delayed until 9 a.m. to allow for morning commuter traffic.

https://westseattleblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/IMG_9854-e1407968377882.jpg

(WS bridge and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
Hours of steady rain overnight has left some standing water out there, so drive carefully. One early alert: The county texted that mechanical trouble has affected the first run of the Route 775 shuttle from Seacrest toward Admiral.

ROAD WORK: If the overnight rain hasn’t affected the plan, today’s the day crews are supposed to work on traction improvement on SW Genesee between Avalon and Delridge.

10:51 AM: SDOT just sent formal notice of work that’s under way through tomorrow on Harbor Avenue.

(WS bridge and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
As we start a new day of traffic-watching, remember that two of this week’s road-work projects are scheduled for today: The first of two days of SW Roxbury repaving, 25th SW to 27th SW. Also, the first of two days of hill-traction work, starting today with SW Charlestown, 45th SW to 47th SW. (Tomorrow, the crews are scheduled to move on to SW Genesee between Avalon and Delridge.)

ALSO TODAY: 2 big items on the City Council Transportation Committee‘s agenda this morning at 9:30 am – the confirmation process starts for SDOT director nominee Scott Kubly, and another discussion of Sound Transit‘s Long-Range Plan Update, both previewed here. If you can’t be at City Hall, you can watch live at seattlechannel.org.

(WS bridge and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
As our traffic watch begins for a new week, a reminder of what’s ahead (the links each go to the previous stories with details on the work):

ROXBURY REPAVING: Scheduled for Tuesday/Wednesday, 25th SW to 27th SW.

CHARLESTOWN TRACTION IMPROVEMENT: Scheduled for Tuesday, 45th SW to 47th SW.

GENESEE TRACTION IMPROVEMENT: Scheduled for Wednesday, between Avalon and Delridge.

4:42 PM: Police are closing all lanes of southbound Highway 99 because of a crash reported to be parallel with Holgate, not far north of the West Seattle Bridge exit. No details yet; a witness texted to us that they believe a motorcycle rider was involved. Medics are headed northbound in the southbound lanes to reach the victim(s).

4:53 PM UPDATE: Tweeted by Seattle Fire: The patient is a 61-year-old man who was riding a motorcycle that collided with a car. He is being taken to the hospital with head trauma, and CPR is under way. Meantime, since the injuries are life-threatening, that means the Traffic Collision Investigation Squad is likely to be summoned, and the road will be closed for some time. Police are working right now to get other vehicles off southbound 99, which they describe as “completely gridlock” – here’s the latest image from the south end of the elevated structure:

5:07 PM: Metro confirms via Twitter that it’s working on rerouting buses.

5:29 PM: SFD has confirmed the rider died. Police are continuing to clear traffic off southbound 99 but also advise it will be “difficult” in the area for some time.

6:08 PM: SPD also confirms southbound 99 will remain closed – from Battery St. Tunnel southward – until investigators have finished, likely a few more hours. No official report from police yet but the other vehicle involved is reported to be a RapidRide bus. A KING 5 journalist tweeted this photo:

Motorcycle accident involved this King County Metro bus. pic.twitter.com/3tN2kEYqQv

— Ted Land (@TedLandK5) August 10, 2014

8:11 PM: Southbound 99 has reopened.

9:09 PM: That was according to this SPD tweet – but commenters say it is NOT fully reopened, only to Atlantic. We are hoping SPD will clarify. As of right now, this traffic camera south of the crash scene does seem to verify the stretch from stadiums to West Seattle Bridge remains closed.

9:23 PM: That camera now shows traffic moving across the last southbound stretch, indicating SB 99 has now fully reopened.

(WS bridge and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
Happy Friday! No issues on the main routes through/from West Seattle so far this morning. Other notes:

WEEKEND PREVIEW – Here’s the city roundup of what’s happening where, through Sunday, with potential traffic effects.

TRANSPORTATION NEWS: Thursday pm, we had a lot of it –
*RapidRide route change? SDOT confirmed what a tipster told us, that it’s studying the feasibility of moving the outbound SW Alaska RapidRide stop east of California, so the C Line could use California instead of Edmunds/44th/Alaska.
*Road work: Next week, SDOT crews are scheduled to pave part of Roxbury and improve traction on the Charlestown/Genesee hills.