(Live view from the east-facing WS Bridge camera; other cameras are on the WSB Traffic page)
6:03 AM: With the weekend in view, it’s time for reminders of road work ahead, while we start today’s commute watch:

*Ramp closure tonight: The ramp from northbound I-5 to the West Seattle Bridge will close 10 pm tonight-5 am Friday to get ready for the all-weekend-long expansion-joint work.

*Ramp closure all weekend: The ramp from northbound I-5 to the WS Bridge and to lower Spokane St./6th will close 7 pm Friday-3 pm Monday for the aforementioned safety work. Project details, detour info, future closures, and more can be found here.

Also, the citywide big-event roundup for the long holiday weekend is already out – SDOT published it here.

P.S. The West Seattle Water Taxi does run late tonight for the Seahawks game, with the last sailing from downtown at 10:30 pm.

12:46 PM UPDATE: Trouble on southbound I-5 at the bridge, because of a bus/semi-truck crash – updates in a separate story.

(Live view from the east-facing WS Bridge camera; other cameras are on the WSB Traffic page)
Rain was blamed for some of Tuesday morning’s traffic trouble – so give yourself some extra time this morning, since we’ve had more overnight. A lot more – about a quarter-inch in the official gauge at Sea-Tac. And some fog has drifted through, too.

(Live view from the east-facing WS Bridge camera; other cameras are on the WSB Traffic page)
7:28 AM: Be careful out there – just had a cloudburst 15 minutes or so ago. And if you are heading for I-90, be aware that there have been problems in the Mount Baker tunnel, including one blocking two eastbound lanes just reported by WSDOT.

8:16 AM UPDATE: From comments – the Admiral approach to the bridge is “backed up all the way to the viewpoint.”

8:38 AM UPDATE: More updates/observations in comments – ugly just about everywhere, at least in part a domino effect from a particularly jammed-up morning on I-5. Remember that the WSB Traffic page – always linked beneath the image atop this daily update – includes views like this one:

Unfortunately, while the city has multiple views heading toward the bridge on the Fauntleroy side, there’s nothing publicly viewable from the Admiral approach. So comments from there (when you can safely share them – NOT while driving; thanks!) are the only “views” we get on that side.

(Live view from the east-facing WS Bridge camera; other cameras are on the WSB Traffic page)
No scheduled road work announced for West Seattle this week – aside from the ongoing Delridge repaving – so the only heads-up we have for you, so far, is another ramp closure next weekend for expansion-joint replacement, longer than the just-concluded closure – 7 pm Friday (August 30th) until 3 pm Monday (Labor Day, September 2nd). More info here.

(Live view from the east-facing WS Bridge camera; other cameras are on the WSB Traffic page)
The weekend’s almost here! As we get going with today’s commute watch, those reminders again:

*At 7 pm tonight, the northbound I-5 exit to the West Seattle Bridge closes for the weekend, to reopen by 5 am Monday. State crews will be replacing two half-century-old expansion joints and replace “a 550-foot section of rutted-out roadway … with new concrete.” Here’s the detour map; here’s the schedule of other closures ahead for the same area.

*Sunday morning, the Alki Beach 5K – benefiting breast-cancer patients – closes part of Alki Avenue until about 11 am.

ADDED 2:04 PM: Two weekend closures you will want to know about if you’re using Highway 99 north of downtown:

Saturday, Aug. 24

Crews will close two lanes of southbound SR 99 across the Aurora Bridge from 6 a.m. to noon.

Sunday, Aug. 25

Crews will close two lanes of northbound SR 99 across the Aurora Bridge from 6 a.m. to noon.

(Live view from the east-facing WS Bridge camera; other cameras are on the WSB Traffic page)
Don’t forget your sunglasses; we’re heading into the 80s today, say the forecasters. Road-work notes:

*The Dumar/Orchard closure is scheduled to continue again today

*The northbound I-5 exit to West Seattle Bridge will be closed tonight overnight to get ready for the weekend-long closure – here’s the latest from WSDOT’s Broch Bender:

*10 pm Thursday (tonight) – 5 am Friday – Crews will close the ramp to mobilize equipment necessary for replacing two expansion joints and resurfacing approximately 550 feet of the ramp.

*7 pm Friday – 5 am Monday, Aug. 26 – Crews will close the ramp to traffic. During the closure they will sawcut out two 50-year-old bridge expansion joints and replace them with modern equivalents. They also will hydroblast off a 550 foot section of rutted out roadway and replace it with new concrete.

Here’s the detour map. And here’s the schedule of other closures ahead for the same area.

9:26 AM UPDATE: A stalled vehicle on the eastbound “low bridge” is slowing things down, SDOT tweets.

Here's a visual of the car stall on the Lower Spokane Bridge pic.twitter.com/3ttJzUDsLa

— seattledot (@seattledot) August 22, 2013

(Live view from the east-facing WS Bridge camera; other cameras are on the WSB Traffic page)
The Dumar/Orchard closure continues today; that’s it for scheduled road work requiring detours. Looking ahead to the weekend again, the northbound I-5 exit to West Seattle Bridge will be closed Friday night-Monday morning; the Alki Beach 5K route on Alki Avenue will be closed Sunday morning.

(Live view of the 1st Ave. S. Bridge, looking south at northbound lanes)
That’s a state-run camera again this morning, as we wait for the city traffic cameras to stabilize. Meanwhile, the pre-scheduled traffic alerts:

*Dumar/Orchard between Delridge and (almost) 16th still closed

Looking ahead:

*Northbound I-5 exit to West Seattle Bridge closed Friday night-Monday morning
*Alki Beach 5K route closed Sunday morning

TUESDAY AFTERNOON P.S. The city cams are back – see them on the WSB Traffic page.

(Live view of the 1st Ave. S. Bridge, looking south at northbound lanes)
No major problems reported on local outbound routes so far this morning – except that the city’s traffic cameras don’t appear to be updating (they all appear to have stopped at about 5:37 am); checking on that (and looking at a state-operated camera in the meantime). Meantime, remember the West Seattle road closure that is scheduled to last all week – Orchard/Dumar between Delridge and (almost) 16th; here’s our reminder, with map, from last night.

(Live view from the east-facing WS Bridge camera; other cameras are on the WSB Traffic page)
6:50 AM: Happy Friday! One more time, here’s a look ahead to closures/changes:

*Tonight/tomorrow morning, Highway 99 closures – details here
*Next Monday-Friday, Orchard/Dumar closes between Highland Park/Puget Ridge and Delridge – details here
*Prep work is under way there, so Metro Route 120 changes are already in effect – explained here

7:35 AM: Don’t know the severity (or lack of it), but Engine 36 is on a call described as “fuel spill” at 11th and Spokane, which would be just east of the low bridge. Also, Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth ferry runs are about 10-15 minutes delayed because of the fog, per WSF; it started very early this morning – we were hearing the ferry foghorns starting around 1 am. On the other side of the West Seattle waterfront, just got this photo from Lise:

(The Spirit of Kingston is on the Vashon run today.)

8:42 AM: Fog effects continue on the waterways: The West Seattle Water Taxi is on time at last report, but one Vashon run has been canceled by both the fog and a “minor mechanical (problem)”; the three ferries on the Fauntleroy route are all running up to half an hour late now.

(Live view from the east-facing WS Bridge camera; other cameras are on the WSB Traffic page)
As we keep an eye on what’s happening today – with your help – we’re also looking ahead, so here are two reminders:

*Friday night/Saturday morning, Highway 99 closures – newest details here
*Next Monday-Friday, a key road closure between Highland Park/Puget Ridge and Delridge – details here
*For that road closure, Metro Route 120 effects start TODAY – explained here

8:21 AM: The stalled semi mentioned in comments has been cleared from the westbound lanes of the low bridge, per SDOT. A possible truck problem is now mentioned in e-mail from Nicholas: “A semi missed the turn on Andover to Nucor, and now appears to be stuck on the hill heading back up to Avalon.”

9:28 AM: If you take the 1st Avenue South Bridge on 99 northbound, note that there’s a big SFD callout on East Marginal Way north of the bridge (map) right now, listed as hazmat/spill/leak – no details yet but the callout is likely to affect 99 traffic in that area between bridges, so be forewarned.

10:11 AM: As discussed in comments – here’s what SFD has tweeted about the East Marginal incident: “… a report of 1 patient who felt dizzy & nauseous after opening envelope. … Medic evaluating 1 patient. Envelope islolated. Workers in building being sheltered in place. HazMat team will evaluate envelope.”

(Live view from the west-facing WS Bridge camera; other cameras are on the WSB Traffic page)
7:46 AM: Nothing out of the ordinary to report so far, as we head toward the peak of the morning commute.

11:03 AM: Thanks to Jonathan and Jan for tips that the Admiral Way exit from the westbound bridge was closed – supposed to have reopened by now, but we’re making note in case you’re wondering what it was about: SPD says they were assisting SDOT with some kind of brief cleanup that required closure of the exit.

(Live view from the west-facing WS Bridge camera; other cameras are on the WSB Traffic page)
One note so far this morning: If your commute is on the water, the West Seattle Water Taxi is scheduled to be back, per King County, though Melissa Ann is scheduled to make the run, with Spirit of Kingston out for now.

(Live view from the west-facing WS Bridge camera; other cameras are on the WSB Traffic page)
No trouble on the bridges but multiple WSB’ers have sent word of truck trouble at Delridge/Andover – photo momentarily here:

A TV helicopter has come over to check it out, per Twitter and one text so far. Note that the truck was turning from southbound Delridge to westbound Andover; still, a busy spot.

7:29 AM: Sue passed by a few minutes ago and reported the truck is still blocking the corner but, even going southbound, a lane is getting through.

8:01 AM: Just checked out the scene a few minutes ago. If you usually commute through Delridge/Andover in any direction, all’s well now – the truck has been entirely pulled over onto westbound Andover and there’s no backup, in any direction.

9:02 AM: Police investigation downtown is likely to affect traffic coming off the Viaduct at Seneca. Multiple reports say it’s a shooting on board a bus. More shortly.

9:33 AM: We are covering this separately.

3:05 PM NOTE: If you’re checking back here for PM commute info – Metro says its service is mostly back to normal (if any anomalies, they’ll be noted on the “Eye on Your Metro Commute” site)

4:27 PM UPDATE: Making note of this on all of our coverage pages related to this – just tweeted by SPD: “Streets reopened downtown. 2nd Ave still closed between Spring and University but should be opening shortly.”

5:22 PM NOTE: In case you’ve missed our other mentions – the West Seattle Water Taxi is canceled for the rest of the day/night. Stay tuned for updates about tomorrow.

Looking at the week ahead, there’s one major road closure likely to affect people going to/from West Seattle – next Friday night/Saturday morning (August 16th-17th), Highway 99 will be closed both ways between the West Seattle Bridge and the stadium area for lane-shifting. The northbound closure is scheduled for 10 pm Friday to 8 am Saturday; the southbound closure, from 10 pm Friday to noon Saturday. (We’ll include reminders in our weekday traffic/transit-tracking reports as the week goes on.)

Thanks to WSB’er “Smokeycretin9” for photos of, and an update on, the road work that’s been under way since Thursday on SW Roxbury in the 23rd-24th vicinity (mentioned again today in our daily traffic/transit tracker). He says it appears this work, described by SDOT only as replacement of a concrete panel in the road, will take care of the notorious “bump” in the area. But in the meantime, the work’s scheduled to continue until 5 or so, and he says “Roxbury is down to one lane for both directions with flaggers directing traffic. Traffic is backing up into White Center going West and past Safeway going East.” So if you’re heading that way, you might consider an alternate route.

(Live view from the west-facing WS Bridge camera; other cameras are on the WSB Traffic page)
Happy Friday! The SDOT Construction Lookahead says the work on Roxbury between 23rd and 24th – replacing a concrete panel – is expected to continue all day today, 9 am-5 pm. Looking ahead to the weekend – here’s the citywide lineup of events that might affect traffic.

(Live view from the west-facing WS Bridge camera; other cameras are on the WSB Traffic page)
So far, nothing out of the ordinary on West Seattle’s outbound routes. As always, we’ll add updates here if that changes.

EARLY WARNING: If you missed the announcement last night, SDOT has sent early warning that a key connector between Highland Park/Puget Ridge and Delridge will be closed for five weekdays starting August 19th – details here.