West Seattle, Washington
12 Tuesday
ORIGINAL 6:35 PM NOTE: Separate from the fire incident that’s wrapping up downhill, police are handling a problem with a truck that’s blocked off 22nd SW before the downhill curves – and the tow truck won’t arrive for an hour or so. They’re putting up closure signs at 20th SW/Holden and 21st SW/Webster.
ADDED 10:33 PM: Jon shared photos (one is added, above) “of the truck that was stuck down the street from my house. He had a load of sheetrock for Home Depot. The tow truck was able to pull the end of the trailer back so he could get down the hill. Somehow we need to get the city to put signs up at 16th and Holden so they don’t do this. This isn’t the first one in my 14 years here.”
Second Saturday in a row with a crash on The Bridge right about this time of the afternoon. Police are currently diverting people who are trying to get to the high-rise West Seattle Bridge from 35th/Fauntleroy, pointing them down Avalon, because of a crash (possibly two multiple-car crashes). In this case, though, it appears the Avalon/Admiral and Delridge entrances ARE open. Does not appear anyone was seriously injured, according to the scanner. They’re trying right now to figure out how to get tow trucks to the scene, since multiple vehicles are involved, so it’s not clear how long the 35th/Fauntleroy entrance will be closed. 2:08 PM UPDATE: According to the scanner, they’re now reopening the 35th/Fauntleroy entrance, after the crashed cars were cleared away.
For the next two days – take note! From SDOT:
Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) crews will close the West Seattle Bridge westbound left curb lane from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. on Wednesday and Thursday, October 6 and 7. The closure will enable the Seattle Department of Information Technology to run fiber cable across the bridge. The sidewalks will remain open.
SDOT crews will also close lanes on the Admiral Way Bridge – the westbound right curb lane and the eastbound right curb lane – on Thursday, October 7 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sidewalks will remain open. The lane closures will enable engineers to conduct an annual bridge inspection.
(And if you missed the announcement a few days ago – reminder that WSDOT will close the Alaskan Way Viaduct for its semiannual inspection on October 16-17 … 6 am-6 pm each of those days.)
Though a West Seattle Bridge crash is already “closed” on the 911 log – meaning fire/medic units have cleared – we’ve gotten several messages indicating it’s still causing a backup. According to two people on Twitter (thanks, @cdawg2610 and @nicholasseattle), it’s a westbound truck that got stuck atop the cement barricade, which then was pushed partway into the eastbound lanes, blocking one of them. This is reported to be near the 35th/Fauntleroy end of The Bridge – and the view from the Fauntleroy cam right now does look fairly jammed. 7:55 AM UPDATE: From the middle of the jam, @alexpietsch tweets that eastbound Fauntleroy is “backed up well past Oregon right now.” Adding the Fauntleroy cam “live” image here. 8:27 AM UPDATE: Alex sent a photo just before going by the stuck truck, which as you can see is definitely close to the Fauntleroy end (so if you get on The Bridge from Admiral or Delridge, it’s not an issue):
(He clarifies, that’s the tow truck you see in his photo, not the stuck truck itself.) 8:38 AM: Just got the e-mail rider alert from Metro that the 21, 22, 54 and 55 are “experiencing delays” because of this. 8:56 AM UPDATE: As the top image shows, it’s cleared up now – Jodi also confirmed that via Facebook. She also had this early view of the actual (then-)stuck truck:
ADDED 3:53 PM: Devin shared a better view of what caused the backup:
(Photo by Christopher Boffoli)
ORIGINAL 9:19 PM REPORT: Police are closing the West Seattle Bridge westbound right now at the scene of a one-car rollover, according to initial scanner reports. Via e-mail, Debra, who just drove past, says the rolled vehicle looked like an SUV: “Debris was strewn far … ended up on wheels.” No word yet on injuries – some of the initial responding units have been canceled – but again, the (high-rise) bridge is closed westbound right now.
9:30 PM UPDATE: Medics on the scanner have reported a 25-to-30-year-old woman with a suspected head injury, being rushed to Harborview Medical Center right now via Medic 10. Though the final determination will be up to Seattle Police investigators, the medic discussion included a description of the crash as “high-speed.”
9:49 PM UPDATE: Police have called for help to impound the wrecked car and also for an SDOT crew to come cleanup what was described as a 10′ x 10′ spill at the scene. As Diane points out on Facebook, the westbound side is actually open till everyone heading that way is detoured off onto the Admiral offramp. Via Twitter, Brad notes that the Mariners’ game just got out, which means more drivers heading this way.
10:22 PM UPDATE: Per the scanner, the bridge is now open again. Adding a photo atop the story, taken by Christopher Boffoli. He says the vehicle appears to be a Mercedes SUV. No word on the victim’s condition – according to one witness, it appears she was the driver.
Thanks to Jennifer and Heather for the tip – a crash has closed the Admiral exit from the westbound West Seattle Bridge. Jennifer reports seeing one person on a stretcher and says it appears to be a one-car crash. No word how long it’ll be closed. 8:44 PM UPDATE: Eryka sent an eyewitness report:
My husband and I were right in front of the car that crashed. We didn’t actually see the crash but we heard a loud crash behind us and thought at first it was a loose grate in the road. But as we looked back for the grate we would have driven over we saw that a silver car had crashed head on into the triangular barrier that separates the bridge from the Admiral exit. Two cars that must have been behind the car stopped and were already climbing out of their cars by the time we had looked back and it was impossible for us to stop and help.
We’ll be checking with police to see if we can find out more.
Thanks to Julie for the tip (which we just verified with a late-night drive) that 16th SW is now fully open again, after two months of a northbound detour for the latest round of road-rebuilding work. The original projected completion date was September 27th, and SDOT had reconfirmed for us this past week that they expected to be done “by the end of the month” – but it’s all open again now, a bit ahead of schedule. (We’ll check with SDOT Monday to see if there are still any final touches ahead.)
Starting to catch up on some of the other stories that have come in since mid-afternoon: SDOT has issued a traffic alert that takes effect in a few days – this is part of the Spokane Street Viaduct Widening Project (that’s the section of the West Seattle Bridge between 99 and I-5):
One northbound lane of E Marginal Way S will be closed at Spokane St for three weeks starting Monday morning, Sept 27. The restriction is necessary in order for crews to install column jackets for the seismic retrofit. During this work there will be three lanes northbound on E Marginal just north of westbound Spokane Street. No turning movements will be restricted.
Thanks to Brian Presser of TouchTech Systems in The Junction for sending along that photo of the crew that’s working on the crosswalk at California/Oregon right now. That’s not the only new paint you’ll see along local roads – we also got a weekend tip from WSB’er “Jack Loblaw” that the West Seattle Bridge was getting some stripe-painting attention too. Typical for this time of year, as crews try to get work like this done before the weather turns for the worse.
ORIGINAL REPORT: If you were heading downtown this evening you might want to be sure to take the high bridge. We’re just now hearing reports that the low bridge is stuck in the open position. SPD is barricading and cars have been turned away. We’re going to check it out and will post updates as we learn more.
7:26 PM UPDATE: The low bridge is back in service now.
Traffic in both directions on Admiral Way will be impacted tomorrow, according to this SDOT notice:
Lane Closures on Admiral Way Bridge Wednesday
Wednesday, September 1, the Seattle Department of Transportation will close lanes on the Admiral Way Bridge between Walnut Avenue SW and 39th Avenue SW while they inspect and make drain repairs on the structure. The work will take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The right lane eastbound will be closed first, then the westbound right lane will be closed. There will be no impact to the bridge sidewalks.
(Photos by Christopher Boffoli)
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 eastbound Spokane 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.
Time for SDOT’s weekly roundup of weekend traffic alerts. Some biggies this time, particularly the Seafair Torchlight Run and Parade – the run will close the Alaskan Way Viaduct‘s northbound lanes from about 5:30-7 pm on Saturday, as well as the downtown route that then will stay closed for the parade till late evening. (Here’s our story on the West Seattleites in the parade.) And that’s not the only big weekend event. Here’s the full SDOT rundown.
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.”
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