(Added 1:03 am: Photos by Christopher Boffoli for WSB)
11:32 PM: Just outside West Seattle, a driver is reported to be seriously hurt after her vehicle went off the 1st Avenue South Bridge near/at the Michigan exit.

She’s been taken to the hospital, and Seattle Police‘s Traffic Collision Investigation Squad has been called out. SDOT cameras don’t show any effect on the bridge right now, but if you’re headed that way, on surface streets or the bridge, now you know what’s going on.

12:01 AM: Update from SPD via Twitter: “Preliminary investigation indicates excessive speed a contributing factor to crash. S River St will be completely shut down for about 2 (hours).” Police also say the driver was the only person in the car.

1:55 AM: A bit more information has just been posted on SPD Blotter, including:

… On November 2nd at approximately 10:36 p.m. officers responded to a one-vehicle collision in the 100 block of South River Street. Preliminary investigation indicates that a woman was driving her Honda Accord northbound across the 1st Avenue South Bridge. She entered the Michigan Street off-ramp at what appears to be a high rate of speed, lost control of her car and went over the concrete barrier, landing on South River Street below. The female driver was the sole occupant of her car. There were no other vehicles involved in the collision.

Fire department medics responded to the scene and transported the woman to Harborview Medical Center with life-threatening head injuries.

(East-facing camera on the West Seattle Bridge; see other cams on the WSB Traffic page)
Welcome to November!

We start the morning with two weekend notes:

BIKE PATH CLEANUP: In case you missed the announcement on Thursday – or need a reminder – you’re invited to join in a cleanup along the western stretch of the bike path alongside/beneath the West Seattle Bridge, 9 am-11 am tomorrow (Saturday), organized by Dave Winters of Swedish Automotive (WSB sponsor) – details here.

CITYWIDE TRAFFIC ALERTS: This weekend’s stadium events and more, in this roundup from SDOT.

Also remember that NEXT weekend, Friday night 11/8 through Monday morning 11/11, is scheduled for the next Alaskan Way Viaduct/Highway 99 closure, as first reported here a week ago.

ADDED 4:32 PM: Reminder from Metro, if you catch the bus downtown:

From Monday, November 4 through Tuesday, November 12, the bus stop westbound on Columbia St just east of 2nd Av will be closed at all times, due to construction.

During those times, board or exit the RapidRide C Line & route 125 to Westwood Village, and routes 21 Express to Arbor Heights, 55 to the Admiral District, 56 to Alki, 57 to the Alaska Junction and 120 to Burien at the temporary relocated stop southbound on 3rd Av just north of Columbia St.

Once leaving the stop on 3rd Av at Columbia St, southbound Viaduct buses will operate non-stop via their regular routing, with no other stops affected.

(East-facing camera on the West Seattle Bridge; see other cams on the WSB Traffic page)
6:12 AM: How scary – or not – will the Halloween commute be? We’re off and rolling for Thursday. On the other side of the day, do note that trick-or-treating at Admiral District businesses is set for 3-6 pm today, so extra care is vital in that area, no matter what mode of transportation you’re using. Meantime, here’s the bridge cam that usually points west:

P.S. The rest of the Halloween event lineup is in our special guide.

9:18 AM: We seem to have made it through the bulk of the morning commute without a major problem. However, a medic response near Holden/Highland Park Way right now is reported to be a crash; we’re checking it out for potential traffic effects.

9:38 AM: Our crew says the uphill side of the intersection – south/westbound from Highland Park Way on to Holden/9th – is blocked right now. Two pickups collided; one person was going to the hospital via private ambulance.

Tow trucks have arrived so it’s not likely to be blocked too long.

(East-facing camera on the West Seattle Bridge; see other cams on the WSB Traffic page)
No trouble on the routes through/out of West Seattle so far. One note for this afternoon – Seattle Public Schools are out two hours early, so you’ll see school buses, biking/walking kids, and other dismissal-time traffic sooner than usual.

Speaking of time – 2 am this Sunday, clocks “fall back” an hour.

7:48 AM: Thanks to Jana for first word of a crash on the bridge – multiple ensuing sources say it’s in the left lane, near the crest of the eastbound high-rise. And this is backing things up into the approaches, multiple commenters say. Here’s the camera showing Fauntleroy headed eastbound toward the bridge:

8:02 AM: If the Water Taxi is an option, here’s the view from the dock a short time ago, thanks to Lise Thivierge:

The camera that usually faces west to show the eastbound bridge WOULD show the crash if it were pointed that way, but every time we check it, it’s pointed somewhere else:

8:24 AM: Commenter CB has gone through the crash zone and reports from the other side that it appears cleaned up, and that once you’re actually on the bridge, things move fast.

(East-facing camera on the West Seattle Bridge; see other cams on the WSB Traffic page)
Nothing major on the routes out of West Seattle so far this morning. If you travel to/through Capitol Hill, two routes are affected by an overnight incident involving someone believed to have been hit and killed by a Metro bus.

HOPING FOR WEST SEATTLE LIGHT RAIL SOMEDAY? TELL SOUND TRANSIT NOW Sound Transit is advertising with WSB (among other media outlets) to let people know about its upcoming “scoping” hearing in Seattle, looking at where its service might expand after “current voter-approved projects are complete in 2023.” Whether or not you can go to the November 12th hearing (full details here), you can take an online survey NOW to share your thoughts with ST – go here.

8:51 AM UPDATE: Two-car crash, no injuries on the 1st Avenue South Bridge northbound, just before Michigan:

9:08 AM UPDATE: This crash was quickly down to just one lane and not expected to be a traffic-affecting problem for long.

WEST SEATTLE WATER TAXI NOW ON WINTER SCHEDULE: Yet another reminder, today marks the start of the Water Taxi’s winter schedule – morning and afternoon/evening commute, weekdays only, through April 6th.

10:05 AM UPDATE: Crash on the Alaskan Way Viaduct, northbound 99 parallel with University. Thanks to reader KD for early tip on this one, before we heard the dispatch on the scanner; police are on the way now. KD says traffic is starting to back up (and shared the following photo):

There’s now a medic dispatch to NB 99/Western – not sure if it’s this or something else.

Rain or shine, the Harvest Festival is happening today, 10 am-2 pm in The Junction – and that means street closures and bus changes from now until mid-afternoon:

STREET CLOSURES
*California is closed between Oregon and Edmunds
*Alaska is closed between 44th and 42nd

METRO BUS CHANGES
*Rapid Ride C Line info here
*Route 22 info here
*Route 50 info here
*Route 128 info here
*Route 773 (Water Taxi Shuttle) info here

In addition to other festival activities, remember, the West Seattle Farmers’ Market moves out into the streets – this map shows you where to look for your favorite vendors. More festival info in our “West Seattle Sunday” preview up next – but the key times to remember are:

10 am-2 pm, activities & Farmers’ Market
11 am, chili competition (bring $ for a flight, benefiting West Seattle Food Bank)
11:30 am, costume parade
Noon-2 pm, business trick-or-treating

WSB is among the festival co-sponsors and activity providers – come “bowl” with us, WestSide Baby, and West Seattle Bowl on the east side of the California/Alaska intersection!

(East-facing camera on the West Seattle Bridge; see other cams on the WSB Traffic page)
7:06 AM: Nothing major on the usual routes from West Seattle this morning BUT if you are headed south on I-5, a huge pileup blocking northbound I-5 at mid-Boeing Field might affect things in terms of a lookyloo slowdown on the opposite side, if nothing else. It’s a 10-car crash that WSDOT says is already causing a 14-mile backup.

7:40 AM: As just noted in the comments, there is indeed some emergency-vehicle activity on the SOUTHBOUND side parallel with the massive crash scene.

7:55 AM: Now there is a SOUTHBOUND crash on I-5 in the same area, while on the northbound side, they’ve reopened two lanes.

8:41 AM: All of the above has been mostly cleared up.

(East-facing camera on the West Seattle Bridge; see other cams on the WSB Traffic page)
6:36 AM: We start this morning with an alert about the West Seattle Water Taxi – this morning, the fog is causing delays. Not major so far – the e-mail version of this alert says “5 to 8 minutes.” By the way, the WSWT’s weekdays-only winter schedule starts next Monday (October 28th); preview it via an expandable link here.

9:09 AM: Washington State Ferries has had some fog delays too. Nothing else to report this morning, with the a.m. commute now winding down, but we did just get this great photo from Susan Cameron showing the Water Taxi with yesterday’s fog bank:

We published one mini-gallery of fog photos late last night and it looks like we’ll probably have another one later today – we appreciate photos any time, from beauty shots to breaking news, preferably via e-mail at editor@westseattleblog.com. Thanks!

4:07 PM: There’s word of a crash at East Marginal under the West Seattle Bridge, southbound.

(East-facing camera on the West Seattle Bridge; see other cams on the WSB Traffic page)
6:43 AM: First e-mail of the day: “Northbound 99 is a parking lot – at 6:30 am.” That’s because of a crash, on the 911 log as a “heavy rescue” response, at Lander. So avoid 99 for now. Here’s the closest camera:

WSB’er Franci reports, “Rollover accident, barrier between NB/SB (99) dislodged, 2 cars – 1 SUV and 1 sedan.”

6:57 AM: Emergency vehicles have been trying to get to the scene any way they can, even by going the wrong way – and that part of the response is being canceled. “Heavy rescue” usually means rescuers might have to cut someone out of wreckage, and they have reported by scanner that everyone is out of the rolled-over car. Also, Metro has sent a text alert that Viaduct-running buses are detoured to 4th Avenue. Trouble on the water this morning too, because of the fog – Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth runs are delayed.

7:25 AM: Two lanes blocked still on northbound 99 and no word how long that’ll last – depends on what level of investigation (and repairs) the crash will require. WSDOT says via Twitter that northbound I-5 is “rough,” too, so if there’s any way you can head in later than usual today, that might be the best plan of all.

7:55 AM: One lane is getting by, per WSDOT. And as shown in our “live” image from the traffic camera at the scene right now, tow trucks are there.

8:09 AM: Still “don’t leave if you can wait” mode – tweeters say that traffic headed for the bridge is backed up on Fauntleroy to Fairmount Park and that even with the Viaduct buses rerouted to 4th, it’s still slow going getting TO the bridge.

8:26 AM: Buses have returned to regular northbound 99 routing, according to a text alert from Metro.

8:36 AM: Per scanner, 99 is about to “open back up.” Remember that it’ll still be a while before the residual backup clears. And it’s still massively foggy out there – be very careful.

9:10 AM: In fact, the National Weather Service has a “dense fog advisory” in effect for the general metro area. And Washington State Ferries just sent an updated alert, “All vessels on the Fauntleroy/Vashon/Southworth route are delayed and estimated 30-45 minutes due to heavy fog.” Speaking of WSF – this reminder also has just come in:

WSF is considering revisions to the Fauntleroy/Vashon/SW schedule to make the best use of added vehicle capacity when the 124-car Cathlamet replaces the 87-car Klahowya in fall 2014. We look forward to sharing information and hearing from our customers at two open houses on: Sat., Oct. 26, 12-3 p.m. at the Ober Park Community Center, 17130 Vashon Hwy. SW, Vashon Island; and Tue, Oct. 29, 5-7 p.m. at Harper Church, 10384 SE Sedgwick Road in Port Orchard. More information at wsdot.wa.gov/Ferries/Service/ScheduleProposals.htm

(East-facing camera on the West Seattle Bridge; see other cams on the WSB Traffic page)
Good morning! No scheduled road work to report for today. While we watch to see how your commute goes: In the ongoing-projects department, there’s a new photo from WSDOT, shared via Twitter, of the work going on at the future Highway 99 south portal, now that the tunnel-digging machine is making some progress:

The tunnel’s future south portal is coming together. pic.twitter.com/2RF5f5jcro

— Bertha (@BerthaDigsSR99) October 21, 2013

Here’s an overview of how the South Portal area will work.

(East-facing camera on the West Seattle Bridge; see other cams on the WSB Traffic page)
Welcome to a new week! Just one alert for today – reminder that a TEMPORARY closure of sidewalks on the southeast corner of California/Alaska is scheduled to start today as demolition work begins on the west half of the development site there. Here’s our story from Friday.

(East-facing camera on the West Seattle Bridge; see other cams on the WSB Traffic page)
Hoping for another relatively quiet day on the roads – so far, so good.

One reminder for the weekend: The two right lanes of the northbound 1st Avenue South Bridge will close tomorrow (Saturday) morning, 7:30 am-1 pm, for inspection.

From the weekly SDOT road-work/closure “lookahead”:

The two right lanes of northbound SR99 over the 1st Ave. S. Bridge will be closed Saturday (October 19) 7:30 am-1 pm for bridge inspection.

(East-facing camera on the West Seattle Bridge; see other cams on the WSB Traffic page)
Nothing out of the ordinary reported so far as the morning commute heads for its peak. Remember that during the day and into the afternoon, we do add updates to this daily report if non-major-but-affecting-traffic incidents happen.

(East-facing camera on the West Seattle Bridge; see other cams on the WSB Traffic page)
7:33 AM: Nothing unusual reported so far this morning commute. If you drive to/past our area’s two public high schools, you’ll notice different traffic flows today – it’s a two-hours-early-release day for WSHS, while some Chief Sealth students are starting late because it’s a testing day for two grades. Weather-wise, as you can see from the bridge camera if you haven’t been outside yet, it’s clearer than the past few mornings; forecasters expect sun later.

9:38 AM: Big response heading onto northbound I-5 for a reported rollover crash on the offramp to Highway 520.

5:37 PM: Scanner report – trouble at 8th and Roxbury again, either a crash or a stalled/broken-down vehicle in the westbound lanes.

(East-facing camera on the West Seattle Bridge; see other cams on the WSB Traffic page)
7:36 AM: Another foggy fall morning, with sun expected to take over later. Just checked around; nothing out of the ordinary reported on nearby routes so far.

8:52 AM: If you’re checking in from out of town and wondering how foggy is it – we tweeted this photo taken looking west at the 35th/Thistle stoplight, uphill stretch of Thistle out of sight:

Can't see the hill. http://t.co/QukI43ZDqx

— West Seattle Blog (@westseattleblog) October 15, 2013

East (behind us at the time), visibility was even lower in the Delridge vicinity. Drive slowly in these conditions – you can’t even see crosswalks (or people waiting to use them) until you’re just yards away.

9:15 AM: Stalled vehicle on northbound 99 near the stadiums, according to 911 log and scanner.

The east-facing camera on the West Seattle Bridge is back after some downtime; so are a few others, as you can see on the WSB Traffic page.

No new road work or other alerts so far, but we have two notes:

WEST SEATTLE TRANSPORTATION COALITION NEEDS YOU! The new group launched a manifesto of sorts over the weekend, with the letter it’s sending to local/regional leaders challenging them to join in solving West Seattle’s transportation challenges. You’re invited to sign on by contacting the WSTC (that link also will show you a survey they’re using to shape priorities).

SPEAKING OF TRANSPORTATION ADVOCACY … there’s still that matter of no transportation-funding measure from the State Legislature, with problems looming including cuts in bus service, and if you have something to say to legislators, there’s a special meeting downtown, 6-9 pm, details here.

ADDED 11:22 AM: From Washington State Ferries:

Beginning later this afternoon, the 87-car Klahowya returns to service and will replace the 90-car Sealth. The galley on the Sealth will close today at noon in preparation for the boat move. The galley on the Klahowya will open on Tuesday, 10/15, at 2 pm.

First, a word about the camera view: The east-facing West Seattle Bridge camera has been offline for days; the west-facing one is switched to a low-bridge view as of this writing, but SDOT could change that at any time; some other cameras are shown on/linked to the WSB Traffic page.

SCHOOL’S OUT: No classes today for Seattle Public Schools or Highline Public Schools (White Center, Shorewood, southward).

DETOUR REMINDER: The repaving detour on Delridge Way between Roxbury and Henderson did change directions as of Thursday afternoon – southbound traffic now continues through, while northbound traffic is detoured.

CITYWIDE WEEKEND ALERTS: Who’s at which stadium and when? That’s part of SDOT‘s roundup of weekend events citywide that might affect traffic.

(Live view from the west-facing WS Bridge camera; other cameras are on the WSB Traffic page)
7:18 AM: Nothing major so far – brake lights/headlights in the usual places:

The only upcoming traffic advisory in the area is the one reported here last night – lane closures on the Spokane Street Viaduct section of the West Seattle Bridge this Sunday morning.

7:56 AM UPDATE: Bus-line backup on Avalon Way, tweets Maggie, but it’s not because of buses:

@kcmetrobus Cars lined up in the bus lane along Avalon Way, forcing busses into a long wait line onto WS bridge. @westseattleblog

— Maggie (@SudsyMaggie) October 10, 2013

9:49 AM: SDOT tweets that the Battery St. Tunnel is closed northbound, verifying a tip we just got. Don’t yet know why.

1:21 PM: 106th is closed in Arbor Heights/Shorewood between 31st and 32nd because of a crash.