(WS high/low bridges and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
So far, no news is good news – no trouble reported in or outbound from West Seattle.

REMINDER – NORTHBOUND 99 WEEKEND CLOSURE: Now that the weekend is back in view, time to rev up the reminding again. From 10 pm Friday night (June 20th) until early Monday morning, Northbound 99 will be closed between the West Seattle Bridge and north end of downtown as WSDOT continues re-aligning the roadway west of the stadiums, as explained here. This will coincide on Saturday 6/21 with northbound 99 – and other roads – being used for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half-Marathon (which has many other closures – see the full list here).

7:58 PM NOTE: The low-bridge problem from earlier (covered in a separate story) is fixed, and the bridge is back to regular operations, after a 2 1/2-hour shutdown.

(WS high/low bridges and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
6:20 AM: We start with a problem that we’re told has the 1st Avenue South offramp from the bridge closed currently – Seattle Fire is investigating a reported natural-gas leak. Spokane Street is closed on the surface in the area, too:

Natural gas line leak 55 S Spokane St. Building evacuated. S Spokane St closed between 1st Av to E 'Marginal Wy.

— Seattle Fire Dept (@SeattleFire) June 17, 2014

One of WSDOT’s cameras shows the offramp blocked on the westbound side of the bridge:

Our IRT is helping block the ramp from WB West Seattle Bridge to 1st Ave. due to possible gas leak. pic.twitter.com/IbHtJvOCqu

— WSDOT Traffic (@wsdot_traffic) June 17, 2014

6:42 AM: We have now confirmed the 1st Avenue South offramps are closed from BOTH sides of the bridge – eastbound AND westbound.

6:51 AM: WSDOT reports the westbound offramp has reopened. Eastbound ramp to 1st S. still closed.

7:29 AM: SFD says the eastbound ramp is reopening.

Meantime:

TRANSPORTATION NEWS: ICYMI, the tunnel-machine repair plan, animation and all, is now public. And there’s another Sound Transit survey to take!

P.S. Looking for the travel times you see on the city’s lighted signboards? They’re also on the right side of the SDOT Travelers’ Information Map, always findable from the link atop the WSB Traffic page.

****

5:12 PM: There’s a crash/police situation at the north end of the northbound 1st Avenue South Bridge, right before East Marginal, and a big backup reported on 509 as a result. They’re calling for tows.

(WS high/low bridges and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
Welcome to the second half of June! A few notes as the day begins:

FERRIES ON SUMMER SCHEDULE: The Washington State Ferries summer schedule started Sunday; doublecheck your ferry schedule here.

ADMIRAL WAY BRIDGE WORK SCHEDULED TO START: For most of the next two weeks, repair work on the bridge over Fairmount Ravine will close a lane on Admiral Way above, as warned here.

7:12 PM NOTE: For anyone stuck in a backup north of downtown and wondering what’s up – all lanes of southbound I-5 are closed at the Ship Canal Bridge because of an investigation that is reported to be related to a shooting involving a State Patrol trooper. No other details but citywide media is getting onto this – just wanted to make note of it here.

Looking at the week ahead – two early reminders:

ADMIRAL WAY BRIDGE WORK STARTS TOMORROW: As noted here last week, SDOT says it’ll be closing the outside westbound lane of the Admiral Way Bridge 9 am-3 pm daily for about two weeks starting tomorrow.

NORTHBOUND 99 CLOSURE NEXT WEEKEND, FOR TWO REASONS: Remember last weekend’s southbound 99 closure? Next weekend – from late Friday night 6/20 until early Monday morning 6/23 – the northbound direction will be closed. Same reason – WSDOT is re-aligning the roadway west of the stadiums, as explained here. This will coincide on Saturday 6/21 with northbound 99 use – and other roads – for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half-Marathon (which has many other road closures – see the full list here).

P.S. We include road-work alerts in the daily “Traffic/Transit Today” update you’ll find atop the WSB home page every weekday morning. (Sometimes there’s unannounced work, and we appreciate your tips when you spot it!)

(WS high/low bridges and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
Soggy weather so far this Friday morning, and some trouble so far, particularly on I-5, most recently a collision on the northbound side in the Seneca St. area, so give yourself extra commute time today.

No major road work is planned this weekend, by the way, but some major events in other neighborhoods might affect traffic – here’s the citywide weekend preview from SDOT. (Lots of graduations on that list, but the two big ones here aren’t mentioned, both Saturday at Southwest Athletic Complex, 2801 SW Thistle – WSHS at 2 pm, Sealth at 7 pm.)

LAST DAY OF SCHOOL: Today’s the day at more local independent schools, including Holy Rosary.

FERRY SCHEDULE CHANGES SUNDAY: June 15th is the start of the summer schedule, including more weekend service for Fauntleroy/Vashon/Southworth.

9:34 AM: If you’re headed this way instead of away from WS – note that there is a rollover crash reported on southbound I-5 in the vicinity of the West Seattle Bridge exit – just south of it, according to scanner traffic.

(WS high/low bridges and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
7:10 AM: No incidents reported in or on the major routes from West Seattle so far. In the road-work department, this is the final announced day of SDOT “seasonal maintenance of landscaping under the (low bridge) along the bike trail. Bicyclists will be required to dismount and walk through areas where the crews are working.”

10:28 AM: The eastbound bridge has been backed up, per several tipsters, and Lindsay explains via Twitter (thank you!) that a vehicle is stalled and blocking a lane under the 99 overpass.

Early warning from SDOT – this starts next Monday:

The westbound, right lane of the Admiral Way Bridge [over Fairmount Ravine] will be closed from June 16 to June 26 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day. Crews from the Seattle Department of Transportation will be using their U-bit truck (under-bridge construction truck) to make repairs to the underside of the bridge. Pedestrian access will be maintained.

The U-bit truck will be parked on the bridge deck. The truck has an arm that can bend over the side and under the bridge. There is a cab on the end of the arm to carry one or two persons, allowing them to work on the underside of the bridge.

(What happened on SB 99 after vehicles flooded onto it after it reopened Tuesday night)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

When the Seattle Police Department’s Traffic Collision Investigation Squad is called in to investigate a crash that has killed or critically injured someone, SPD closes the road, often for a block or so in each direction.

But when TCIS investigated the two-car Tuesday afternoon crash at East Marginal/Nevada (map) that left a man with life-threatening injuries, trapped in his car, cut out of it by firefighters, southbound Highway 99 was closed all the way north to the Battery Street Tunnel – four miles away – and it stayed that way until almost 7:30 pm, as chronicled here.

As discussed in the ensuing 115+ WSB comments, among other places, five-plus hours of gridlock followed. One comment we heard in person: “It was like Snowpocalypse without the snow.”

Many have asked: Why couldn’t traffic have been allowed on southbound 99 as far as the West Seattle Bridge/Harbor Island exits, still about half a mile short of the crash scene?

We started seeking the answer first thing this morning. We also talked to one elected official who says that, separate from the crash, the traffic snarl was “preventable.”

Read More

(WS Bridge and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
No problems in or from West Seattle so far.

Road-work notes:

SPOKANE STREET VIADUCT LANE CLOSURE: SDOT says crews will be “closing the eastbound, left lane from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. They will repair deck spalls and seal cracks in the pavement.” (Repair work was also what closed a lane on the SSV on Sunday, and SDOT acknowledged that “notice of this work didn’t make it to all the parties that should have received it,” which is why we didn’t have advance warning.)

LANDSCAPING WORK CONTINUES … under the low bridge, as announced yesterday.

P.S. If you don’t read comments and haven’t seen the discussion as a result – we are following up on the five-hour Highway 99 closure from yesterday. Why it closed isn’t at issue – there was a crash with life-threatening injuries – the question is, why so far north; why couldn’t vehicles have been detoured to West Seattle? SDOT says it was SPD’s responsibility to make that call, so we are inquiring with them and will publish a followup when the answer is in; we’re tweeting the followup process as we go, twitter.com/westseattleblog.

(7:24 PM UPDATE: Southbound 99 has reopened)

(Above, SDOT tweet with traffic-cam screen grab shortly after crash happened)
ORIGINAL REPORT, 3:16 PM: Southbound 99 is closed most of the way from downtown southward because of a crash that happened south of West Seattle. With commute time approaching, we’ll be tracking this. The crash was at East Marginal/S. Nevada (map); the detours on SB 99 are just north of the southbound Battery Street Tunnel, and again at Atlantic in the stadium zone (for people who get onto 99 from Western). SFD says three people were hurt – one critically, one seriously, one less seriously. More to come.

ADDED 3:33 PM: The southbound alternate routes will be slow going too – here’s the “live” camera looking at 1st Avenue South in SODO:

Here’s a SODO view of 4th Avenue:

3:44 PM: SPD tweets that this will be a factor throughout the evening commute:

Marginal Wy south bound will remain closed around the collision for approximately 3 hours. Use other routes to enter/exit town.

— Seattle Police Dept. (@SeattlePD) June 10, 2014

Metro says, “Routes 21 Express, 55, 56, 57, 113, 120, 121, 122, 123, 125 and the RapidRide C Line (are) currently rerouted off of the southbound Alaskan Way Viaduct and not serving the stop on westbound Columbia St at 2nd Av. Use the temporary stop southbound on 3rd Av just north of Columbia St, until further notice.”

4:39 PM: Check the comments for updates from people on buses, etc. One thing also comes to mind if you are pondering an alternate route – If you can get to Beacon Hill, you can get to the West Seattle Bridge that way, too.

5:19 PM: And of course there’s the West Seattle Water Taxi from Pier 50 downtown. After a question via text (206-293-6302 any time), we asked on Twitter, and the county Transportation Department replied that there’s still plenty of room. Meantime, SPD says the closure could go as late as 7 pm.

5:46 PM: Here’s the closest camera to the crash scene:

Also keep in mind that it’s the Mariners vs. the Yankees at Safeco Field at 7 pm tonight, so the south side of downtown was going to be busy even before all this.

6:34 PM: No update yet – as you can see on the camera just above, the crash scene has not yet been cleared.

7:10 PM: It’s almost ready to reopen, says SDOT:

The incident on E Marginal Way s/o S Spokane St has cleared. SPD getting ready to clear traffic.

— seattledot (@seattledot) June 11, 2014

7:24 PM: The cameras show southbound 99 is open again – here for example is the view from the north end of the remaining elevated Viaduct:

Thanks to everyone for sharing information these past few hours!

Just in from SDOT:

Crews from the Seattle Department of Transportation will work today through Thursday on seasonal maintenance of landscaping under the Southwest Spokane Street Bridge (the lower, swing bridge to West Seattle) along the bike trail. Bicyclists will be required to dismount and walk through areas where the crews are working.

Tomorrow, June 11, crews plan to close one lane on Klickitat Avenue Southwest which provides access to Harbor Island. The closure will allow landscape crews to work safely in roadway medians.

(WS Bridge and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
No problems reported so far, but there’s some rain around the region slowing traffic a bit.

NOTES: Remember that Metro’s June “service change” took effect on Saturday, and that brought some afternoon changes to Route 21. Also re: Metro, today the County Council takes up potential changes to the service-cuts plan, as explained in this Seattle Times (WSB partner) report. … If you drive Highway 99, you’ll notice the southbound lanes’ new configuration south of the elevated section, the result of this past weekend’s closure; a northbound closure is scheduled for the weekend after next. And if you have questions about 99 or other state projects, come to the West Seattle Transportation Coalition‘s meeting tomorrow (Tuesday, June 10th, 6:30 pm, Neighborhood House’s High Point Center) to hear from state Transportation Secretary Lynn Peterson.

9:18 AM: If you’re a late-morning commuter and use northbound I-5, emergency crews have been handling a crash in the Ship Canal Bridge/45th vicinity for about 20 minutes now, and it’s closed a couple lanes.

Thanks to Doug B for this photo from 42nd/Alaska, with a damaged vehicle blocking the westbound side. Seattle Fire has since cleared the initial “motor vehicle accident” call, so apparently there were no serious injuries.

(WS Bridge and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
Good morning! We start with the road-work alerts for today and beyond

ALKI PAVING PROJECT, THROUGH THE END OF THE WEEK: Finally got the details from SDOT about the Alki Avenue paving that continues through Friday.

Looking ahead:

*This weekend, Friday night 6/6 until Monday morning 6/9, southbound 99 will be closed between the Battery Street Tunnel and West Seattle Bridge to reconfigure lanes, as explained here; see the expected results here (along with the results of a similar northbound closure two weeks later).

*Saturday is the start date for Metro’s next service change, detailed here. The only West Seattle route with changes is the 21, with a route change for several afternoon runs.

On Sunday, we checked out road-work-warning signs on Alki that used the names of long-ago streets (Jersey and Arkansas) that don’t currently exist. (Thanks again to Peter for the tip and for the photo you see above.) Today, the project is under way, and while SDOT is still checking for us on how those names wound up on the sign, they’ve first issued an official notice – it’s a two-part project lasting the rest of this week (added – photo shared by Suzanne this afternoon):

Paving crews from the Seattle Department of Transportation are paving two blocks of Alki Avenue Southwest this week. They are paving in the 1300 block of Alki Avenue SW (southwest of Duwamish Head) on June 3 and 4, and in the 2200 block (between Bonair Drive SW and 53rd Avenue SW) on June 5 and 6. They will work from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. One lane in each direction will remain open, but on-street parking will be restricted.

For information on bus service, look for Rider Alert notices at bus stops, see Metro Online, www.kingcounty.gov/metro, or call (206) 553-3000.

P.S. If you missed the original story, don’t miss the comments – thanks to Greg and Moose2 for the historic-map research!

5:40 PM UPDATE: SDOT’s Marybeth Turner got back to us about the “Jersey to Arkansas” sign-verbiage question:

Here is what happened:

Street Maintenance is indeed doing work in the 1300 block of Alki on 6/3 and 6/4. When we drew up the traffic control plan, we used old channelization maps that still have the old street names on them.

Staff included those old street names on the message board. Once the problem was highlighted, we switched the message board to note that the 1300 block of Alki was being repaved.

(WS Bridge and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
7:44 AM: Heading into the heart of the commute so far, two notes: There’s a crash response at 16th/Dawson. Also, if you are headed this way from points north, WSDOT reports: “There’s a disabled vehicle blocking the right lane of the ramp from SB I-5 to the West Seattle Bridge.”

8:12 AM: The 16th/Dawson crash involved a car hitting a parked car that then flipped onto its side.

Nobody hurt, but traffic through that area is slowed; a tow truck is on the scene. There was an initial “heavy rescue” response – if you live in the area, you might have seen/heard it – but that was canceled once those first on the scene found no one was hurt/trapped.

(WS Bridge and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
6:12 AM: Good morning! Looking ahead as we start the week:

*Road work on Alki Avenue in the Duwamish Head vicinity the next two days; we’ll be asking SDOT for details this morning.

*Next weekend, Friday night 6/6 until Monday morning 6/9, southbound 99 will be closed between the Battery Street Tunnel and West Seattle Bridge, as explained here; the lane-reconfiguration project’s results are shown here (along with the results of a similar northbound closure two weeks later).

*Next Saturday is the start date for Metro’s next service change, detailed here. The only West Seattle route with changes is the 21, with a route change for several afternoon runs.

DOWNTOWN ALERT FOR TODAY & BEYOND: Could be some traffic trouble on the north side of downtown (and in the Uptown/lower Queen Anne area) as people get used to major changes that took effect as of last night – two-way Mercer, two-way Roy, closed section of Broad; SDOT explains here; here’s what WSDOT has to say.

6:48 AM: Reader report: Crash at Holden/Delridge. Not on the 911 log so likely not major.

(WS Bridge and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
7:41 AM: All’s well (relatively) so far on the major routes, as we head into the heart of the morning commute.

WEEKEND PREVIEW: Only major closure in the region this weekend is the 520 bridge. Around the city, some big events might affect traffic – they’re in the SDOT weekend-alert roundup.

8:44 AM: Matt reports traffic-signal trouble at Delridge/Kenyon. We’re headed that way for a look. (Update: OK by the time we arrived.)

(WS Bridge and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
6:25 AM: The road/trail/etc. watch is on for Thursday!

6:48 AM: The big problem right now is on southbound I-5 south of I-90, so if you are headed this way from points north, we should mention it. An old expansion joint has popped up and is forcing the closure of three lanes. WSDOT is tweeting updates here, such as:

The maintenance truck pushed the expansion joint back down. pic.twitter.com/qSddDo2LOq

— WSDOT Traffic (@wsdot_traffic) May 29, 2014

6:53 AM: WSDOT estimates repairs to take another half-hour or so. Again, that’s on the southbound side, but just FYI.

9:07 AM: Those lanes haven’t reopened yet, by the way. And other southbound routes like 99 are reported to be jammed.

11:17 AM: Open now! Adding photos here from West Seattle photographer/pilot Long B. Nguyen, from before repairs were completed – above, the traffic jam; below, the work zone:

By the way, more expansion-joint work – scheduled, this time! – is in the works for I-5, the first weekend in June. It’s part of the story we published last night about upcoming highway projects.

11:35 AM: By the way, Vice President Joe Biden is in town, in case you bump into a motorcade. Private fundraiser:

Saw @VP #Veep #motorcade on 1st Ave S. #seattle http://t.co/ACUZeLgtx9 pic.twitter.com/rMJzRedN8Q

— M Kanoli (@MKanoli) May 29, 2014

His wife Dr. Jill Biden is also in Seattle, at a business-related event at Seattle Center, along with former West Seattleite, now Interior Secretary Sally Jewell.

(WS Bridge and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
Good morning! Slow going this morning, though no specific situation is blamed.

SPEED-CAMERA INSTALLATION: If you missed the story on Tuesday – the two school-zone speed cameras announced almost a year ago for Roxbury are being installed starting today. However, the city says they won’t be activated until fall.

8:45 AM: Via scanner, there’s word of a crash in the outside eastbound lane “midspan” on the high bridge.

9:07 AM: We just checked Roxbury for any sign of the camera-installation crews that the city said would be starting work today. Not seeing anyone yet.