Good morning. We start with the eastbound West Seattle Bridge view and the northbound Alaskan Way Viaduct view:

You can see more cameras, and other info, on the WSB Traffic page. Updates here if there’s trouble.

(WS Bridge and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
6:12 AM: Welcome to Wednesday; our traffic/transit watch is on.

EARLY DISMISSAL FOR SPS: Two-hour early dismissal today for Seattle Public Schools.

WEST SEATTLE WATER TAXI: Thanks to Carolyn Newman for this view of the WSWT under the Tuesday afternoon rainbow:

The WSWT will be back to seven-day-a-week operation in just a week and a half, starting Monday, April 7th. You can preview the schedule toward the bottom of this page.

8:26 AM: Steve reports in comments, “There is a disabled SUV in the right lane on the Spokane ST Viaduct right at the I-5 North exit. Not causing problems when I passed it.” Your editor here is about to catch a ride downtown for today’s court proceedings so we’ll see firsthand if any trouble has ensued.

(WS Bridge and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
6:07 AM: And we’re off! Thanks in advance for traffic-trouble sightings, whenever you can safely report them (after getting to where you’re going, if you’re driving solo) – our text/voice number is 206-293-6302.

7:18 AM: The rain is picking up, so allow yourself a few extra minutes as we all get used to it again.

8:11 AM: Downtown early for a pre-court meeting. Sluggish but nothing unusual.

(WS Bridge and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
6:07 AM: Good morning! First commute note today – the Saturday closure of Highway 99 concluded with all four lanes of the rebuilt Spokane St. Overcrossing open, on 99 just south of the West Seattle Bridge – we drove it on Sunday for this brief Instagram video clip:

No road-work closures today/tonight in our area, so far. Traffic updates to come, if/when needed.

7:29 AM: WSDOT just tweeted – from its perch watching the entire metro area – “continues to be a quiet, normal traffic day.”

8:19 AM: Downtown, though, there’s a problem – a crash at 1st and Spring has blocked all northbound lanes.

8:42 AM: Debris from a fender bender has a lane blocked on EB bridge. Thanks to Mike for the tip.

(WS Bridge and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
So far, so good, as the Friday morning commute approaches the peak period. Tomorrow, meantime, is the day for Highway 99 to be closed all day – 4:30 am-7 pm, for the Alaskan Way Viaduct’s “followup inspection” and also for remaining work on the Spokane St. Overcrossing just south of the West Seattle Bridge.

(WS Bridge and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
6:16 AM: Good morning. No road trouble in the area so far. Spring arrives with the vernal equinox just before 10 am today. Daily reminder of a major upcoming closure: 4:30 am-7 pm this Saturday (March 22), Highway 99 will be closed for the Alaskan Way Viaduct’s “followup inspection” and, now added, remaining work on the Spokane St. Overcrossing just south of the West Seattle Bridge.

7:16 AM: We doublechecked to confirm – Roxbury IS open again at 15th SW, where it was closed for several hours overnight as deputies investigated a deadly shooting (ongoing coverage on our partner site White Center Now).

(WS Bridge and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
Good morning. Roads are OK so far. So here we go with today’s notes:

SEATTLE CENTER-AREA ROADS OPEN AGAIN: As of 7 pm last night, Broad St. was open again after the wreckage from the helicopter/cars was cleared; 5th had reopened earlier.

OLSON PLACE PAVEMENT REPAIR: If this project is on track, this will be day 2 for pavement-repair work around the east end of SW Roxbury.

HIGHWAY 99 CLOSURE: Highway 99 between East Marginal and Atlantic is likely to close tonight, 9 pm-5 am, for more of the Spokane St. Overcrossing project’s finishing touches just south of the West Seattle Bridge.

SATURDAY ALASKAN WAY VIADUCT CLOSURE: 4:30 am-7 pm Saturday is the scheduled closure window for the followup inspection of the Alaskan Way Viaduct.

1:20 PM UPDATE: No Highway 99 closure tonight or for the rest of the week. The Spokane St. Overcrossing striping work is now planned for Saturday, during the Viaduct closure, per WSDOT.

3:36 PM UPDATE: If you see crews on northbound Fauntleroy Way this afternoon, take note – from SDOT:

SDOT is closing the northbound, curb lane on Fauntleroy SW at SW Webster Street starting approx. 4 or 4:30 p.m. today, as soon as barricades arrive. There is a four-inch depression in the pavement. Crews are investigating the cause before determining how to repair.

8:01 PM: There’s a major “heavy rescue” response on the eastbound Spokane Street Viaduct right now around 4th Avenue South. A texter tells us a car is on or into the divider, so it might be affecting westbound traffic too. More as we get it.

8:15 PM: From SFD via Twitter:

Heavy rescue EB West Seattle Freeway at the gore point. Car on 2 wheels. Firefighters extricated patient in critical condition

— Seattle Fire Dept (@SeattleFire) March 19, 2014

(Latest bridge and Viaduct views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
Two advisories to start the morning:

OLSON PLACE PAVEMENT REPAIR: Today’s the day SDOT plans to start three days of work fixing the pavement in the Olson/2nd vicinity, around the east end of SW Roxbury. Here’s the original announcement.

ANOTHER HIGHWAY 99 CLOSURE: WSDOT also has another announced closure of Highway 99 between East Marginal and Atlantic for the Spokane St. Overcrossing project’s finishing touches just south of the West Seattle Bridge, 9 pm tonight-5 am Wednesday. (We’ll be verifying this with WSDOT before day’s end, as they have noted it’s weather-dependent and also that there’s a chance the work could be done sooner than expected. We’re also checking with WSDOT today to verify details of the announced closure of the Alaskan Way Viaduct for a followup inspection this coming Saturday, March 22nd.)

7:47 AM – DOWNTOWN EMERGENCY: A helicopter is reported to have crashed near the Space Needle/Seattle Center and that’s what the black smoke is downtown. We’re going to break this out separately. Avoid that area.

8:21 AM: Here’s our separate story – all regional news outlets are covering this too; it is reported to have been the KOMO TV helicopter – Channel 4 is right across Broad Street from the crash scene. KIRO and KING also have their headquarters a couple blocks away.

12:59 PM – HIGHWAY 99 UPDATES: *No* closure tonight, WSDOT now says. Tentatively scheduled for tomorrow night. Meantime, the time frame of Saturday’s Alaskan Way Viaduct closure is confirmed for 4:30 am-7 pm.

3:02 PM – SEATTLE CENTER UPDATES: 5th Avenue has reopened. Part of Broad, including the crash scene, has not. This SDOT tweet has the latest.

(Latest bridge and Viaduct views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
Good morning! No major problems so far. But if you’re using the Spokane Street Viaduct eastbound between 1st and 4th Avenues, take note of a big pothole reported Sunday morning – we’re hopeful it did get fixed, but can’t confirm that until later.

Also of note: WSDOT is not done with the Spokane St. Overcrossing bridge restriping just south of the West Seattle Bridge, so it’s expecting to close 99 between East Marginal and Atlantic again for up to 3 more nights, starting tonight, 9 pm-5 am. We’re told that the closures are weather-dependent – so they’re not a sure thing if it’s rainy.

8:02 AM: 911 log shows a crash at 40th/Hanford.

Last night, we reported that SDOT‘s weekly “lookahead” showed long-awaited pavement repair scheduled next week for Olson Place SW, at the east end of Roxbury. The official alert has arrived, and the work is now scheduled for next Tuesday-Thursday (March 18-20):

Crews from the Seattle Department of Transportation plan to repair pavement in the 9000 block of Olson Place Southwest from March 18 to March 20, weather permitting. They will work in the eastbound, curb lane from Second Avenue Southwest to point 160 feet eastward (downhill). Drivers headed for the Park and Ride, the senior housing facility or other businesses in this area will have access from Myers Way South.

(Latest bridge and Viaduct views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
6:56 AM: The rain’s back, in time for the Friday morning commute. No problems reported so far.

7:39 AM: Via scanner – a vehicle stalled/broken down, blocking a lane on the northbound Alaskan Way Viaduct at Seneca. Police en route to check. (Update – nothing found)

7:57 AM: Comment and text report stalled pickup truck in bus lane on eastbound bridge, near crest.

8:07 AM: SDOT has moved a camera to show the truck – a photo is in their tweet:

There's a stalled vehicle in the center right lane on EB West Seattle Bridge. pic.twitter.com/NddopabMq5

— seattledot (@seattledot) March 14, 2014

8:17 AM UPDATE: SDOT now reports the truck has been cleared.

Advisories:

HIGHWAY 99 NOTES FOR THIS WEEKEND: Lane and ramp work in the stadium zone – here’s the rundown on the WSDOT website. If you’re going to the Sounders game on Saturday, take note of a break in the work planned to lessen the potential traffic effects.

SPOKANE OVERCROSSING: WSDOT’s project page for the former “Timber Bridge” south of the West Seattle Bridge says closures might be needed again next week to finish striping; we’re checking on that this morning.

JUNCTION CONSTRUCTION: Also checking on this – but if weather was deemed suitable, a major concrete pour was scheduled for today affecting traffic on California SW between Alaska and Edmunds, as noted here.

**Update – It’s indeed on; northbound California is detoured at Edmunds, southbound is still going through. This should continue until early afternoon.**

While the last of four scheduled overnight closures on 99 should be getting under way now, the new edition of SDOT’s weekly lookahead is out and reveals some smaller-scale closures you might want to know about:

*9 pm Friday-5 am Monday: The right lane on NB 99 will be closed between S. Atlantic and Railroad Way S., along with the Royal Brougham Way onramp to NB 99. That’s so the onramp can be realigned.

*7:30 am-11 am Sunday: The St. Patrick’s Day Dash will close 99/Aurora Ave. N. between Fremont and the Battery Street Tunnel.

*Good news for the most dangerous intersection in West Seattle: Next Monday-Wednesday (March 17-19), around the clock, SDOT says: “Crews will close the right eastbound curb lane on Olson Pl. SW at 2nd Ave. SW to repair concrete panels. Traffic to 2nd Ave. SW will be detoured to Myers Wy. S.” (SEE FRIDAY UPDATE HERE)

*March 22 Viaduct closure: Earlier WSDOT announced a full-day Alaskan Way Viaduct closure to follow up on this month’s inspection. The lookahead has it penciled in for 4:30 am-7 pm that day. It will be preceded by an extended overnight closure just north of the Viaduct, SB 99 closing between Valley St. and the Battery St. Tunnel for bridge-girder work, 11 pm March 21 to 10 am March 22.

(Latest bridge and Viaduct views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
Quiet morning for traffic so far (we’ve been watching for the past two hours). Rain is returning later today, forecasters say.

On the road-work schedule, 9 pm-5 am will bring the final scheduled overnight Highway 99 closure to finish the Spokane St. Overcrossing bridge replacement south of the West Seattle Bridge. The closure is again scheduled for both directions of 99 between East Marginal Way and S. Atlantic – specifics here (note that the start time might not be exact – we were on the bridge around 9:15 last night and the exit to 99 was still open). We’ll be verifying with WSDOT today that when this night of work is over, they still plan to fully open the overcrossing, which means four lanes both ways after more than a year of work.

7:55 AM: See comments regarding an incident at Marginal/Spokane. All we know is that the medical call for that is already closed; we will check with SFD and SPD.

8:39 AM: SPD Det. Mark Jamieson confirms a bicycle and car collided. He says the rider was not seriously hurt. (added) SFD spokesperson Kyle Moore confirms that medics on the scene described the injuries as minor, and says the rider, a man in his 30s, was taken to a hospital to be checked out.

(Latest bridge and Viaduct views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
Happy Wednesday morning! Reminder if you’ll be out late tonight/early tomorrow, 9 pm-5 am brings the third of four scheduled overnight Highway 99 closures to finish the Spokane St. Overcrossing, both ways between East Marginal Way and S. Atlantic – specifics here.

8:06 AM: Texter says there is a stall on the eastbound bridge right after the Delridge onramp.

8:21 AM: Update from commenters – the stall is just before the Delridge onramp.

8:59 AM: Stall was still there when we passed 10 minutes ago. Bridge slow past there, too.

(Latest bridge and Viaduct views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
There are your cameras for Tuesday morning. Biggest advance alert is the second of this week’s four scheduled overnight Highway 99 closures to finish the Spokane St. Overcrossing, 9 pm-5 am again tonight, both ways between East Marginal Way and S. Atlantic – details here.

8:43 AM: Governor Inslee‘s been walking to West Seattle Elementary School this morning, as previewed here Monday:

Full report on WSB later!

(Latest bridge and Viaduct views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
Happy Monday! Traffic watch is under way. And we have major closures this week:

HIGHWAY 99 OVERNIGHT CLOSURES: Tonight is the first of four overnight closures for Highway 99, both ways between East Marginal Way and S. Atlantic, 9 pm-5 am, including the ramp from the West Seattle Bridge to northbound 99. This work will basically complete the Spokane St. Overcrossing (former Timber Bridge) south of the West Seattle Bridge, as explained here.

Speaking of Highway 99 …

TUNNEL-TOLL TALK TODAY: Aside from the ongoing tunneling trouble, WSDOT continues working on the issue of what toll(s) to charge once the tunnel is open. The committee working on that is leaning toward a recommendation that would be around $1.25 peak periods/$1 offpeak, and today, the concept will be presented to City Councilmembers in a 2:30 pm briefing. See the slide deck here. The briefing will be during the council’s meeting as the Committee on Central Waterfront, Seawall, and Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Program, and you can see it live via the Seattle Channel, online or on cable.

8:36 AM: As noted in a separate story, there is an emergency callout at the Spruce construction site (former “Hole,” 3922 SW Alaska), likely to mean backups right there at Fauntleroy/Alaska TFN.

11:15 AM: One more piece of Highway 99 news – a followup inspection will close the Alaskan Way Viaduct on Saturday, March 22nd, WSDOT has announced.

12:42 PM: Westbound lower bridge is backed up, according to multiple sources in Twitter – Steph says it’s a broken-down semi-truck.

(Latest bridge and Viaduct views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
No major trouble reported through, or out of, West Seattle so far. So we start by looking ahead:

THIS WEEKEND: The I-5 expansion-joint work resumes; tonight until Monday morning, WSDOT will close up to 3 northbound collector-distributor lanes downtown, and here’s WSDOT’s animated GIF to show how that’s supposed to work:

NEXT WEEK: Highway 99 will close both ways between East Marginal Way and Atlantic four times next week, late night/early morning – details here:

8:05 AM: Still a relatively quiet commute per all the ways we monitor (including emergency radio, 911 log, Twitter, transportation agencies, and cameras).

If you’re a late-night/early-morning driver, here’s a heads-up: Highway 99 will be closed both ways between East Marginal Way and South Atlantic Street for 4 overnights next week – 9 pm to 5 am each night, Monday through Thursday (in other words, Monday/Tuesday 3/10-11, Tuesday/Wednesday 3/11-12, Wednesday/Thursday 3/12-13, Thursday/Friday 3/13-14). It’s to finish the Spokane Street Overcrossing, aka “Timber Bridge,” project on 99, which has been under way for about a year just south of the West Seattle Bridge. WSDOT spokesperson Kris Olsen tells WSB, “The closures are needed so we can do the final striping and complete the traffic shift onto the new bridge at Spokane Street. When the work is done, traffic will be back to two northbound and two southbound lanes. Work is weather-dependent, so if we can’t get it completed, the week of March 17 is our backup.” The project info page is here.

(Latest bridge and Viaduct views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
The relentless rain continued overnight, along with some wind, so be careful during your commute – besides standing water/puddles, you might encounter downed debris. A two-plus-hour power outage affecting more than 2,000 homes/businesses/buildings in Puget Ridge, Highland Park, South Park, and White Center is now over, so you’re not likely to encounter non-working traffic lights. Our area is under a flood watch, with at least another half-inch of rain expected today.

(Latest bridge and Viaduct views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
At least at the moment, the rain’s a lot lighter than it was just a few hours ago. But the overnight deluge has left “standing water” – aka big puddles – in many a place, so please be careful, however you’re getting around.

I-5 WORK THIS WEEKEND: More expansion-joint (earthquake safety) work is happening late Friday through early Monday – this time, resulting in collector-distributor lane closures on northbound I-5; full details here.

7:43 AM UPDATE: Thanks to the texter (206-293-6302 any time) who reports the roadway is “totally under water” on West Marginal Way SW, just north of Highland Park Way.

(Latest bridge and Viaduct views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
The morning commute is again off to a soggy start, and the forecast suggests the rain might not clear off today the way it did Monday. No traffic-slowing problems currently reported, though.

PATH WORK PLANNED: Reminder that today is the day the county was planning to do work at the 53rd Avenue Pump Station site on Alki, affecting sidewalk/trail traffic. (We’re checking to see if the rain has affected the plan.)