Original report 11:42 am: Just checking on reports of a car fire in the westbound lanes of the West Seattle bridge. We’ll post more details as we have them.
Update 12:11 pm: SFD has the fire out. Westbound lanes of the bridge are now open, though moving slowly as the right lane is restricted at the West Seattle end of the bridge (just before the intersection of 35th) while police wait for removal of the burned vehicle. It appears the fire was in a commercial van which burned completely. There are no reports of injuries.
Update 2:46 pm: Thanks to those who e-mailed us earlier this afternoon to report that traffic was again moving smoothly. Also, thanks to WSB’er Chris for the cameraphone video of smoke billowing from the van:
ORIGINAL 5:20 PM REPORT: Police and fire are heading to a reported crash involving a Metro bus and SUV at Delridge and Myrtle (just north of the Home Depot/Arco/Shell intersection). No word yet if anyone is hurt, but given the location and the fact it’s evening commute time, we’re posting this as a heads-up. 5:30 PM UPDATE: 2 more fire units are being sent – seven people are reported to have minor injuries. Per the scanner, police are closing northbound Delridge at Orchard.
(Photo added 6:27 pm, originally posted to our Twitter account @westseattleblog) 5:55 PM UPDATE: We are here, road just reopened both ways. Will add photo shortly. SUV was towed; bus drove a short way north and is still in outside SB lane with a supervisor vehicle in front of it. (And yes, that was a TV chopper over the scene for a while – channel 7.)
David DeSiga just shared that photo of Air Force One taxiing at Boeing Field (and spectators – they don’t just turn out for those six blue F/A-18s!) – and we got a phone tip with the reminder that motorcade shutdowns of I-5 can lead to West Seattle Bridge backups too (as is apparently the case right now). Per KING5, President Obama‘s quick visit is scheduled to end some time after 3 pm today.
If you will be heading home southbound/westbound on Fauntleroy Way past Morgan Junction en route toward Lincoln Park, note that ferry backups are worse than usual this afternoon because of what Washington State Ferries describes as earlier fog delays – the biggest boat on the run, Issaquah, is still running late. All this backed up southbound Fauntleroy, the main travel lane, way past even Gatewood Elementary up till just a few minutes ago (we are near there now and can see it’s cleared a bit). Thanks to Anne from longtime WSB sponsor Ventana Construction for the tip!
(SDOT aerial photo of new ramp, July 31st)
Since the final touches are in progress – namely, concrete curing – on the new 4th Avenue South offramp from the eastboundSpokane Street Viaduct (aka the West Seattle Bridge between 99 and I-5), we checked today with SDOT to see if they have an opening date for the ramp, which in turn would be reopening day for the eastbound lane that’s been closed for 3 weeks. SDOT’s Marybeth Turner confirms the big day “may” be next week – but the exact date isn’t set yet. (If it does happen next week, that’s one-third shorter than the “up to 6 weeks” lane-closure timetable first projected.) P.S. A reminder that we have area traffic cameras – including the closest ones to that area – “live” on the WSB Traffic page, including the city’s semi-new Junction and Lincoln Park-area cams, along with links to traffic alerts from a variety of sources.
“The tunnel’s going to be closed for quite a while.” That’s what we just heard on the scanner, as police call in the major-incident investigators for a crash on northbound Highway 99 at the Battery Street Tunnel. We don’t have details of the crash, but in case you drive the Alaskan Way Viaduct northbound overnight, you should be aware. (“Quite a while” translates to “at least two hours,” according to more scanner traffic heard as we wrote this.) FRIDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE: SPD Blotter has the story of what happened – motorcycle crash with two people hurt.
Thanks to Kindree for the photo and this traffic report: “The onramp to bridge from Avalon is blocked by a lumber truck. He took the corner too tight and got stuck.” The photos and note were sent half an hour ago but just came through – so we’ll be heading that way to see if this is cleared yet. (P.S. If you’re trying to recall “hasn’t this happened before?” – here’s the previous stuck truck in our archives, last October.) 11:48 AM UPDATE: Ramp clear, truck gone.
ORIGINAL 4:38 PM REPORT: This is on the South Park section of West Marginal Way (map), by Northwest Center and other large industrial buildings – a rollover crash has blocked the northbound lanes of West Marginal. This is in the South Park area but in case you take that route to get back to West Seattle, here’s the traffic alert. No details on the crash cause or injuries, but tow crews are there so it shouldn’t be blocked too much longer. 4:46 PM UPDATE: A little further down the road, the Marginal/Holden intersection is still under police control and overall, says our reporter, “it’s a mess” – so avoid the area for a while.
With the latest commute challenges this week, planned and unplanned, we noticed more people than usual were consulting the WSB Traffic page. Then we noticed some broken links, and some newer cameras that needed to be added. So we’ve added those cameras, fixed the links, and enhanced the infolinks atop the page. Check it out and let us know if there’s something else that might help.
(“Live” eastbound West Seattle Bridge camera moved up from earlier stories)
As you know if you’ve already gone to work – it was even more of a mess this morning and not just because of the Spokane Street Viaduct lane closure: A crash on Highway 99 in the 4 o’clock hour shut down all northbound lanes for a while. One lane was open again by 7 am, and the whole thing was reopened as of about 20 minutes ago. If you haven’t left yet, here’s the eastbound West Seattle Bridge (high-rise, looking toward 99 and beyond) “live” camera for reference. ADDED 8:34 AM: Here’s the KING 5 story about the crash that caused the 99 trouble:
According to SPD Blotter, the 70-year-old man driving the overturned car is in the hospital with injuries described as “serious.”
Many of the traffic-alert signboards that are now up in and around West Seattle say simply “Lane closing 9 pm Monday on the West Seattle Bridge” – and since that doesn’t tell the whole story, as evidenced by a couple notes on our Facebook wall, here’s another reminder: Starting at 9 pm next Monday, and continuing for up to six weeks, the outside lane on the eastbound side of the Spokane Street Viaduct – aka the West Seattle Bridge between Highway 99 and I-5 – will close, roughly between 1st and 4th Ave. South, so that work can be done to connect the new 4th Ave. offramp. But the eastbound lower roadway will reopen along that stretch – so you potentially can skip the whole thing by getting off at 1st Avenue South. It’s all explained here.3:15 PM NOTE: We told SDOT many of the notes we’d received indicated some confusion with the signs’ terminology; they indicate it’ll be changed to say “Upper Spokane” rather than “West Seattle Bridge.”
The weekly roundup of all the major traffic-affecting closures and changes around the area is out – and it’s worth a look tonight more than ever, since it includes this weekend’s Alaskan Way Viaduct and 1st Avenue South Bridge closures, next Wednesday’s South Park Bridge forever shutdown, as well as other things that might affect your mobility – here’s the link. (Traffic P.S. – We haven’t been by to see it yet, but SDOT tells us the Genesee Hill paving work is done.)
Checking out multiple reports that the eastbound West Seattle Bridge is closed right now because of at least one crash. Witnesses say they’re seeing a vehicle on its side. 6:45 PM UPDATE: Witnesses say this crash is near the Walking on Logs curve. The fire/medic response for it already has closed; there was an earlier one further along the eastbound lanes, about an hour ago, and that call also has closed. City traffic cameras are not currently showing the bridge beyond the Fauntleroy entrance, so they’re not of use right now in determining its status. 7:04 PM UPDATE: The crash scene is cleared; police are reopening the bridge.
(Photo added 12:46 pm – SFD units that were there till it turned out the diver wasn’t missing after all)
We are on our way to the scene of a water-rescue call in the 1600 block of Harbor SW. Traffic in the area is snarled and police have it blocked right at The Bridge, so if you are trying to get to Alki, approach from the west – don’t go from Avalon, Spokane, bottom of Admiral, etc. Still working to get details of what the rescue call’s all about. 12:24 PM UPDATE: Thanks to Katie for word that this call went out as a diver missing near Salty’s. 12:32 PM: Christopher Boffoli is there and reports that what was reported as a missing diver, turned out to be a diver that got separated from their companion/s and has been found. All this should clear up soon. (But traffic lags – and it’s already a busy, sunny day at the beach – so we still advise approaching Alki from the west, for a while.)
As noted here about 24 hours ago, SDOT plans to close the 1st Avenue South/South Spokane Street intersection at 8:30 tonight, continuing till about 6 am Monday. But the eastbound West Seattle Bridge offramp remains open. So a few have asked – how’s that going to work? We asked SDOT, whose LeAnne Nelson replied:
The intersection will be blocked off and closed to all northbound and southbound through traffic, with drivers south of the intersection directed from 1st Ave S to Dawson to 4th Ave S. Drivers north of the intersection will be directed to Lander St and then to 4th Ave S. Five police officers will be on site to help guide traffic. Drivers from West Seattle will still be able to turn left off the ramp to go north to downtown on a lane dedicated to that traffic.
Crews working on the Spokane Street Viaduct Project will close the intersection at First Avenue S and S Spokane Street for the weekend, beginning at 8:30 pm tomorrow (Friday, June 11). The intersection will be closed to all through traffic until early Monday (June 14) at 6 a.m. The closure is required to complete work on the water main under the roadway. The eastbound off-ramp from the Spokane Street Viaduct (from the West Seattle Bridge) to First Avenue South will remain open. Detours will be provided for north and southbound traffic on First Avenue.
Out of the inbox, forwarded by a few folks (thank you!), SDOT’s Paul Elliott sent out this alert regarding the “low bridge” during the evening commute:
I just was told that we expect NOAA to bring two large vessels through the swing bridge this afternoon, probably about 5:30, but perhaps ten or fifteen minutes earlier. We expect the openings to last in the 25-30 minute range. Apparently we didn’t get notification until yesterday afternoon, hence this last-minute push to get the word out.
Also remember that SDOT sends word of imminent rush-hour low-bridge openings via Twitter, but this is an earlier heads-up in case you want to plot an alternate path/time to go home.
Tomorrow, Thursday, June 10, from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., SDOT will be conducting a maintenance inspection on the SW Spokane Street Bridge in the eastbound pedestrian and bike lane. Pedestrians and bicyclists will be flagged around the equipment involved in the work activities. Bicyclists will be asked to dismount through the work zone.
(Photo from Genesee work zone, added Wednesday evening)
Second – Heidi on Genesee Hill e-mailed to ask about what appeared to be an unannounced paving project in the works. We checked with SDOT, whose Marybeth Turner replied:
DOT crews are paving SW Genesee from 47th to 49th. It wasn’t on the lists because it was not certain that there would be funds for it this year. When it became apparent that there would be sufficient funds, they started the job. The plan is to pave on Friday or Monday. One lane will remain open in each direction.
(WSB photo added 9:15 am, trees across 48th SW) ORIGINAL 7:35 AM REPORT: First report of notable weather-related trouble; Metro just sent an alert that the 37 and 53 bus lines are rerouted because of “an incident” at 48th SW/SW Eddy. Checked withSeattle Police – they have word of trees down on 48th SW at SW Holly, which is also affecting car traffic – not sure yet exactly where the detours are, but avoid that area. Here’s the reroute alert from Metro:
Routes 37 & 53 are rerouted due to an incident on 48th SW near SW Eddy St. Use the stop north of SW Graham St or the stop north of Atlas Pl SW.
This is between Seaview and Lowman Beach; here’s a map.9:25 AM UPDATE: From the scene – 48th SW is closed from SW Eddy at the top of the hill, to the bottom where it meets Lincoln Park Way and Beach Drive. We also received this photo with another perspective on the blocked road, as a school bus (they had to reroute too) faced the mess:
We also got a note about the wind tearing away more of the plastic sheeting around the scaffolding on the 35th/Myrtle water tower that’s been getting painted. Here’s how it looked as of a few minutes ago:
10:05 AM UPDATE: Just checked with SDOT – Marybeth Turner tells us the urban-forestry crew estimates 48th will be cleared/reopened no later than 11:30 am. 1:21 PM: Kris notes in comments that the road has reopened; also, Metro has confirmed Routes 37 and 53 are now back to normal. 2:04 PM: Jody adds this via Facebook: “”A good section of the sidewalk on the east side of the street is closed though for anyone walking in that area.””
As previewed two days ago, a film crew working on what’s believed to be a Japanese TV project has been in action this afternoon on the West Seattle Bridge, leading to “rolling slowdowns.” Sorry we just don’t have a chopper yet, but our friends at KING do, and they have just published aerial photos. The crew is expected back on The Bridge 11 pm-1 am tonight, after shooting on the northbound Alaskan Way Viaduct 8-10 pm.
Drivers may encounter congestion on the West Seattle Bridge on Thursday, April 22, while a film crew works from noon to 3 p.m. and again from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. There will be “rolling slowdowns” on the bridge from First Avenue South to Southwest Avalon Way in both the eastbound and westbound directions.
Filming is also scheduled Thursday for the Alaskan Way Viaduct from East Marginal Way South to the Western Avenue off-ramp, from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. The filming will affect only northbound traffic on the viaduct.
The weekly roundup of traffic alerts and closures around the city is out – and if you drive late at night, you’ll want to know in particular about the ramp closure from the West Seattle Bridge to northbound I-5, midnight-8 am Friday night/Saturday morning and midnight-8 am Saturday night/Sunday morning, to be repeated the following two weekends. Here’s the entire long, long list of various closures and changes.
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