4:30 PM: Avoid the westbound Spokane Street Viaduct – truck trouble has backed it up to I-5. We’re trying to find out if it’s the same truck we tweeted about while stuck in traffic in the same spot two hours ago. Anyway, bottom line, avoid the I-5-to-99 section of the bridge TFN.

4:41 PM: Thanks to those who are sending photos, including Brad, whose pic we just added. Looks like the same spot where a truck was stuck in the 2 pm hour.

On Twitter, one driver says it’s truly a dead stop … and some people are out of their cars (as seen in the photo tweeted by Rob, added above).

4:56 PM: WSDOT says via Twitter that the stuck semi is FINALLY being towed off the Spokane Street Viaduct – still will take the backup a while to clear, though. The truck apparently lost a wheel (we had noticed a flat while passing it in 2 pm hour). Thanks to Ashley for the photo above showing the truck (and tow crew).

6:13 PM: Sounds like all’s getting back to normal – let us know if you’re experiencing otherwise. Meantime, just added the photo above this paragraph, taken by Danny McMillin – note the skateboarders on the new construction alongside the jammed-up road. (Click to see a larger version.)

A reminder before we get back to West Seattle Summer Fest coverage – three nights this week, the westbound Spokane Street Viaduct (that’s the West Seattle Bridge between I-5 and Highway 99) will be closed overnight, 11 pm-5 am, Tuesday-Thursday nights. (That also means the exits to The Bridge from I-5 will be closed during the shutdown.) It’s part of the ongoing SSV-widening work; here are the details on SDOT’s “On the Move” site.

SDOT is out early with this weekend’s citywide traffic alert – and two of the big events are right here on the peninsula, West Seattle Summer Fest (with road closures starting 6 pm tomorrow) Friday-Sunday and the Seafair Pirates’ Landing on Saturday. Read on for the full list:Read More

Be careful! A tree has fallen onto the eastbound (bridge-bound) lanes of Admiral Way near the West Seattle Bridge, according to notes we’ve received. Thanks to those who e-mailed to let us know about it. Off to check out the scene.

5:38 PM: It’s been cleared, so all is OK now.

Both the big downtown parade on Tuesday (reported here yesterday) and West Seattle’s own Admiral 4th of July Kids’ Parade on Monday (here’s our latest preview) are on the SDOT citywide-traffic-alerts list for the next five days – read on to see where you’re likely to find a lot of vehicles and people (oh, and zombies too):Read More

Not a surprise, given the Alaskan Way Viaduct closure (and other traffic effects of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon) – but in case you were hoping for better – sorry! Just got that photo via Twitter from @206sportsfan. The Viaduct is supposed to be fully open again by 4 this afternoon.

The Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon is just getting under way, and one of the related road closures is a biggie – the Alaskan Way Viaduct, both ways. Here’s the update we published a few days ago, including a clickable map with all the marathon-related closures; the state says the Viaduct will be fully open again by 4 pm. As for other events affecting traffic around the city – here’s the weekly bulletin SDOT sent out on Thursday.

It’s a Thursday tradition in the summer – the SDOT list of what around Seattle might affect your ability to get from Point A to Point B over the weekend. It includes, of course, the Alaskan Way Viaduct closure and others for Saturday’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon – but there’s lots more. (Note: Saturday’s Morgan Junction Community Festival here in West Seattle isn’t mentioned but you can expect it’ll be busier at California/Fauntleroy, as there are vendors on both sides of California this year.) Read on for the SDOT list!Read More

If you missed – or forgot about – the alert earlier this week, here it is one more time: Big events this weekend PLUS closures for the I-5 Mercer exit *and* the 520 floating bridge = potential traffic backups around the region. So say the local transportation departments, including SDOT, which is out with its weekend roundup of what’s happening where. (The Alaskan Way Viaduct *is* open this weekend – but remember that NEXT Saturday, June 25, it is scheduled to be closed most of the day for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon.)

For surface-street drivers just east of West Seattle: The recent East Marginal Way/Spokane intersection alert included a note about another upcoming project on East Marginal Way, just north of that area. Word just in from SDOT indicates that will start to affect traffic this Wednesday:

A contractor working for the Seattle Department of Transportation will reduce East Marginal Way South between South Hanford and South Horton streets to one lane in each direction starting June 15 between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. In addition, the roadway will be reduced to one shared lane for both directions of traffic, controlled by traffic flaggers, at night between 7 p.m. and 3 a.m. The work requiring this traffic pattern is expected to be completed by June 17. Drivers should expect congestion. Access to nearby businesses will be maintained.

The purpose of the work is to prepare for the bypass route that is expected to be
open to traffic on June 20 for the E. Marginal Way @ S. Horton Street Bridge
project. For more information, please see the project Web
site.

This city map shows the work zone and the bypass they hope to have in place by this time next week:

6:39 PM: A crash that involves several cars is backing up traffic on the bridge. It’s reported on the Spokane St. Viaduct near the 4th Ave exit and one tipster says traffic is being detoured at 1st.

7:46 PM UPDATE: Multiple commenters say the scene is cleared, and the bridge cams seem to bear that out. (Thanks to everyone who e-mailed and texted about this.)

(Scroll down for updates, and use the comment section to let us know how your commute goes/is going!)

(Refresh for latest pic from WS Bridge; more on the WSB Traffic page)
4:16 PM: As promised, we are tracking the commute home, given the morning gridlock blamed mostly on the “Get Motivated” event at KeyArena, and the city’s warning of a possible rerun-in-reverse since that event gets out just before 5. No problems so far. This will stay atop the home page till we’re sure the commute’ s no worse than usual, so scroll down as we continue to add new news BELOW this story.

4:44 PM: Some trouble spots – in red – are starting to show up on the city Travelers’ Info Map, which you can also use to check the travel times you see on those overhead signs. Find the map here. We have multiple reports that southbound 99 is backed up – all the way past the Battery Street Tunnel, according to a text we just received.

(Refresh for latest pic from 11th/Spokane, low-bridge-bound; more on the WSB Traffic page)
4:56 PM: The low bridge opened during this past half-hour – if you don’t usually go that way, do note that it DOES open for vessels during commute periods. A possible alternative for getting out of downtown is 4th Avenue South, which you can use to get to the 1st Avenue South Bridge, which in turn will take you to exits you can use to get into West Seattle via Highland Park Way, or Myers Way up to Roxbury.

5:45 PM: No news is good news – so far still no major problems reported. Slow, but not catastrophic. We’re continuing to monitor scanner, TV, radio, maps, Twitter, Facebook, comments, e-mail for anything to pass along.

6:42 PM: Looks like the commute has passed without anything resembling this morning. Not great, but not horrific. Nothing on the radar for tomorrow morning … so far!

12:46 PM: Following up on this morning’s traffic nightmare (see our coverage and dozens of reader comments here), the city has issued this advisory for the afternoon/evening:

With major events occurring around Seattle Center, to include the Get Motivated Seminar at KeyArena, the City of Seattle warns travelers to expect higher traffic volumes around the campus area, and on nearby streets and highways from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Commuters are advised to consider an early departure or to delay their trip to avoid traffic related impacts.

Prior to departing their office or home, drivers are advised to check the Travelers Information Map for up-to-date information on citywide traffic flows and to view traffic camera images. If possible, the City recommends using alternate forms of transportation, such as light rail or commuter rail, to avoid roadway-related issues.

Here’s today’s entire Seattle Center calendar – in case you wondered about that first line.

ADDED 2:22 PM: SDOT often issues special alerts about traffic-intensifying events; in summer, they publish one before every weekend. So how did this not wind up on their advance-warning radar? we asked. Spokesperson Rick Sheridan explains:

The City of Seattle has a Special Events Committee that meets to review events that will impact city facilities, services and right of way. That body does take into consideration both large and small scale construction projects, and the scheduling of special events.

However, except for very large events like Bumbershoot, Seattle Center’s activities fall outside of this committee’s work and the center is responsible for them.

SDOT was not aware of the combined magnitude of this and other nearby events. But we will work with the center to ensure their events are appropriately announced to the traveling public.

(Photo taken around 9:20 am, looking north on 35th SW by the Golf Course)
8:42 AM: More than a few WSB’ers have sent word it’s impossible out there this morning. There’s nothing on the West Seattle Bridge and no new closures, but apparently there is a problem somewhere north of on I-5 that has backed things up badly, and this is believed to be a spillover effect. 8:49 AM: Tracy Taylor from KING 5 is blaming – at least in part – the mega-celebrity motivational-speaker event at KeyArena for backing up the Mercer exit on I-5 but that may not be the only factor. So all we can say for now is, if you don’t know this already, it’s a snail’s pace out there. Seattle Times transportation reporter Mike Lindblom, a West Seattleite, tweeted that the signboard on Admiral said “45 minutes (to) I-5” as of about 15 minutes ago. 9:21 AM: Everything with motors and wheels is caught in the gridlock, though Water Taxi and bicycling are touted as running smoothly. Otherwise – Mike J says via Twitter that it took him an hour from WS to SODO, and that’s sounding fairly typical. We have an inquiry out to SDOT to see what the monitors in their traffic center are blaming for the reported mega-gridlock.

9:41 AM: And another potential wrinkle from the KeyArena event: Via Twitter, Joelle reported spotting a motorcade in the Seattle Center vicinity. Potentially for former First Lady Laura Bush, one of the participants? Seattle PD media unit’s Det. Mark Jamieson is checking but says she would definitely merit one (Secret Service protection). And the commute-nightmare stories keep pouring in, both via comments here and other channels like Facebook (facebook.com/westseattleblog) and Twitter, where Travis cites 1 hour, 13 minutes from Our Lady of Guadalupe to Chelan Café (by the low bridge).

10:22 AM: Cameras suggest that it’s finally eased. (Let us know if you experience otherwise.) We took a photo along 35th by the Golf Course after 9 am to capture some of the backup, and that is now atop this story, with the “live” (if you refresh) traffic cams moved down here in case you need a quick reference. No word yet from SDOT on analysis of this morning’s trafficmare. The KeyArena event is scheduled to end at 4:45 pm – so beware the EVENING commute.

(Refresh for latest pic from WS Bridge & eastbound Fauntleroy Way cams, more on the WSB Traffic page)

A reminder that if you take surface streets between SODO and West Seattle/Harbor Island, this closure is scheduled to have begun – the intersection of East Marginal Way/Spokane Street, as part of the project building a new structure on EMW to get over the railroad tracks between the south side of the West Seattle Bridge and the west side of Highway 99. The city created an updated map, which you see above, to show how traffic is supposed to circulate through/around the closure area this weekend – police/flaggers were promised, too. IMPORTANT: The detour map above is only good through Monday morning, but the closure continues through Thursday – here’s the map for Monday morning through Thursday. (And then remember, the day after that – starting late the night of June 10th, NEXT weekend brings an Alaskan Way Viaduct closure, more reminders on that to come.)

Driving along SW Trenton just east of 35th might be slow going for a bit as two tow trucks are busy towing two cars that collided on the north side of 34th/Trenton, one winding up in a house’s yard, one through a fence (photo above). No serious injuries; one driver has been taken to the hospital in a private ambulance. 34th is blocked off at the scene till the towing crews’ work is done.

ADDED 5:36 PM: The family who owns the home escaped injury, though they were all home – husband, wife, and two little kids. He told us that he heard three loud impacts, and thought maybe someone was hitting parked cars along 34th – then went out to discover the car in the yard (which also damaged the house, at the daylight basement level) and the one through the fence next door.

ADDED 6:06 PM: About to add more photos. Nathan reports that the street is open again. (Also thanks to Sam and Val for the original tips.)