West Seattle, Washington
21 Tuesday
The same ramp closures that affected access to West Seattle for part of last weekend as part of the Spokane Street Viaduct Widening Project are in the works for this weekend. Read on for the official word from SDOT:Read More
Just in from SDOT:
SDOT’s contractor completed this weekend’s work early and expects to reopen the ramp from northbound I-5 to the West Seattle Bridge early this evening (Saturday, Jan 23). The ramp from Columbian Way (from Beacon Hill) to the West Seattle Bridge will reopen at the same time.
Several long-term closures that began last night (Friday, Jan 22) will remain in place for the Spokane Street Viaduct widening project. Lower Spokane Street from First to Sixth avenues is closed to both east and westbound through traffic. The Fourth Avenue South off- ramp from westbound lanes on the Spokane Street Viaduct is permanently closed.
Starting Monday at 9 a.m., Fourth Avenue South under the viaduct will be restricted to one lane in each direction from S Horton to Industrial Way, and will remain restricted for several weeks.
Today the contractor positioned barriers blocking the Fourth Avenue off-ramp from the westbound lanes of Spokane Street Viaduct. The contractor expects to begin demolition of this ramp next week.
Closures similar to this weekend are planned for next weekend if the weather is favorable. Watch for updates.
9:28 PM UPDATE: SDOT confirms the ramps are open.
TRAFFIC ALERTS: All that activity on and around the section of The Bridge between 99 and I-5, known as the Spokane Street Viaduct, starts happening today. The 4th Avenue South offramp from the westbound side closes forever; westbound lower Spokane St. closes from 6th to 1st for many months; the northbound I-5 ramp to The Bridge and the Columbian Way ramp to The Bridge both close around 10 tonight for the entire weekend, till early Monday. Lots of details, detour maps, etc. at seattle.gov/spokane.
WEST SEATTLE COMMUNITY CENTERS: Fun night at three of them – Family Skate Night at 6:45 at Alki CC, an MLK celebration with arts, crafts, music and spoken-word performance at 6 pm at Hiawatha CC, and Leo the Clown at Delridge CC at 7.
PEOPLE’S PLACE FUNDRAISER: Call it a startup for helping the homeless – “communal transitional housing,” founded by two volunteers including West Seattle’s Christi Stapleton. (We wrote about People’s Place here.) 6:30 tonight at El Centro de la Raza on Beacon Hill, they’re having a fundraiser reception and silent auction (items include “lunch, coffee or drinks with Mayor Mike McGinn“).
HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL (INCLUDING HAITI FUNDRAISER @ SEALTH): All three high schools in West Seattle are playing host to visiting teams tonight. At West Seattle High School, Cleveland HS is the visitor, girls’ varsity at 6:15 pm, boys’ varsity at 8 pm. At Chief Sealth High School, Nathan Hale is the visitor, same times – note that a bake sale to raise $ for Haiti relief is planned during the Sealth games. At Seattle Lutheran High School, Tacoma Baptist is the visitor, 6:15 girls’ varsity, 7:45 boys’ varsity.
More on the WSB West Seattle Events page.
That map just sent around by Delridge Neighborhoods District Coordinator Ron Angeles; it expands on the map published here last night when SDOT sent out its latest news release about the upcoming construction-related closures on and around the Spokane Street Viaduct (aka the section of West Seattle Bridge between 99 and I-5). As you can see, this one includes some other closures right outside the general area covered by the original map/info. This expanded list can be found on the city website here – along with a larger, more readable version of the map. Most immediately, as mentioned last night, tomorrow’s the day that the 4th Avenue S. exit from the westbound SSV closes forever, and a longer stretch of lower westbound Spokane Street closes too; plus the West Seattle Bridge ramps from northbound I-5 and Columbian Way on Beacon Hill both will close for the entire weekend, 10 pm tomorrow through 5 am Monday.
We’ve been checking with SDOT today on the aftermath of last week’s Beach Drive slide – and just got new information from Peg Nielsen about work they’ll do tomorrow:
A portion of the southern-most slide will be removed by SDOT crews. An SDOT Urban Forestry crew will trim down a few trees on the hillside in the same general vicinity (more north) to reduce the risk to the right-of-way and Beach Drive. SDOT intends to close Beach Drive for safety purposes from 9 a.m. until the crews complete the work, which should be approximately 4 p.m. While the road is closed, a detour around the slide area will be provided from Atlas Place SW to 49th Avenue SW to SW Canada Drive. Residents will be allowed limited access. The city will continue to evaluate the condition of the slide area daily.
That southern section of the slide moved further into the roadway yesterday, according to a photo a WSB’er sent us (above). We also asked SDOT a question we were asked via Facebook: Are they evaluating the slide zone to see if anything related to development upslope might have factored into this and resulted in property owner liability? Nielsen’s reply:
SDOT’s focus now is to safeguard public and private property. We are, however, documenting the situation while waiting for a geotechnical report that will recommend the best ways to stabilize the slope.
Thanks to @raypage on Twitter for almost immediate word of a crash that’s affecting traffic in the south end of The Junction – a motorcycle-car crash. Ray says the cyclist does not appear to be seriously hurt. The photo above is an overview of the scene, also via Twitter, from @kurtricketts. Ray has images from the scene here. 5 PM UPDATE: We were en route to check on the traffic situation when Brian from TouchTech Systems e-mailed an update – he says the ambulance has taken the motorcyclist away, and the scene’s now clear, traffic back to normal.
Thanks to Nathan for the tip about a water-main problem at 35th/106th (map) in Arbor Heights. 106th west of 35th is closed at that spot, where a backhoe-equipped crew is working, but 35th traffic is not affected – except for one thing to keep in mind later: Southbound lanes are wet for a few blocks south of 106th, and that could be trouble as temperatures drop, though we also spotted an SDOT truck nearby, so the situation should be on their radar.
Reminder that the ramp from the east end of The Bridge to northbound I-5 is scheduled to be closed from right about now through about 8 am tomorrow, as WSDOT works to install “smart” overhead signs.
WSDOT sent out the alert on Monday – now that the closure’s just a day away, here’s the reminder: From late tomorrow night, overnight into Sunday morning, the ramp from The Bridge to I-5 northbound will be closed, while crews install more “Smarter Highways” overhead signs, as part of a multi-mile northbound shutdown from Boeing Access Road to I-90. Full details in our original alert here.
Thanks to Brian and Christopher for the tips – at least one car is stalled at the top of The Bridge, backing up westbound traffic all the way to I-5.
Before the weekend, we mentioned the sign project that closed part of I-5 south of West Seattle last weekend and was scheduled to expand northward this weekend. Just got word from WSDOT that will include closing a ramp from The Bridge to I-5 – read on:Read More
ORIGINAL 3:35 PM REPORT: Thanks to the person who texted us an alert on this: East of White Center, on the south side of Highland Park, eastbound traffic on Roxbury is backing up in a big way because of a crash at Roxbury/Olson (here’s a map; just before the big hill down to South Park). We’re on our way to the area to check it out. 3:44 PM UPDATE: Officers are turning people around at 8th SW – that affects people driving eastbound from White Center as well as southbound from Highland Park. 5:10 PM UPDATE: Just went back to check – the scene’s now clear and everything’s open in time for evening rush hour.
Heads up for late-night drivers, especially if you’re going to a holiday party someplace to the south: Northbound I-5, starting just south of West Seattle, will have a six-mile shutdown overnight tomorrow (Saturday night into Sunday), and an even-more-extensive one next Saturday, for sign installation. Read on for the full details from WSDOT:Read More
From SDOT:
Tomorrow, Friday, December 4, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Seattle Department of Transportation crews will close the left lane of Alaskan Way Viaduct northbound at Massachusetts Street. During the closure, the crew will install a temporary railing until a permanent repair can be made. The guard rail was damaged by a recent one-car accident. Motorists should expect slowing and use caution through the work zone.
Just got this from Kristina, and WSDOT has also tweeted it: The 1st Avenue South bridge’s northbound side is stuck open. No word yet on how soon that’ll be fixed. Big backup stuck behind it. 3:12 PM UPDATE: And good news, it’s been fixed, traffic should be back to normal shortly.
So far we’ve gotten texts about a couple of “huge puddles” that are causing some commute trouble, including one at West Marginal Way/Highland Park Way, and also where Delridge meets The Bridge – given the overnight downpour, certainly there are others, so give yourself extra time when you head out.
First, a reminder about work on The Bridge (eastbound) today and tomorrow, starting at 7 am (detailed here). Second, a schedule update for the paving on Beach Drive between Oregon and Snoqualmie – it will be down to one lane, with a flagger, tomorrow from 7 am till “early afternoon” as crews do the actual paving. Sidewalks will stay open, says SDOT.
Just got a text and phone call that the eastbound bridge is blocked, all traffic stopped, around the Nucor plant. The 911 log shows a crash report a while ago, but the Fire Department involvement in it was “closed” – checking to see what more we can find out, but in the meantime, if you have to head east, don’t try to get on The Bridge before Delridge. 12:33 AM UPDATE: In comments, Diane says it now looks like things are cleared up. 7:46 AM NOTE: Unrelated crash that we didn’t get to before the call “closed” – a car went down an embankment on Pigeon Point in the 1 am hour – there’s a bit about it here.
These are for Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, all from SDOT. For the weekend:
Saturday and Sunday, October 17 and 18, The Seattle Department of Transportation will be removing and replacing markings in the bus lane eastbound on the West Seattle Bridge from the Avalon Way on-ramp, adjacent to the old steel mill, to the First Avenue S off-ramp, just past the SR99 exit. In conjunction with the pavement marking work, the crews will also be installing signs.
The work will be carried out between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. each day. Motorists should use caution and be watchful for buses needing to pull out of the bus lane in the work zone.
And for Monday – the westbound left lane will be closed 9 am-3 pm so the Seattle Fire Department can check the fire-suppression system – here’s that alert. Reminders will be on the WSB Events calendar page in case you need to check those dates again.
The northbound Alaskan Way Viaduct is blocked right now by a two-car crash, and officers are blocking all onramps to NB 99, including the one from the eastbound West Seattle Bridge. No word how long it’ll take to clear. 3:56 AM UPDATE: Took about an hour – the scene is now clear and The Viaduct is open again.
SDOT has now sent word of work this week on another section of Beach Drive, in addition to this one:
SDOT paving crews have been given the go-ahead to pave a block on Beach Drive SW, from SW Oregon Street to SW Snoqualmie Street starting Wednesday, October 14 and possibly continuing through Tuesday, October 20.
First the crews will grind off the old surface and then they will lay new asphalt. When they are grinding, (Wednesday and possibly Friday) one lane will remain open in each direction, with bicycles sharing the same lane as motor vehicles, and the crews working from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. When they are paving (possibly Friday, and could extend into Monday and Tuesday of the following week), all traffic will share one lane, assisted by a traffic flagger, and the crews may work as late as 6 p.m. Sidewalks will remain open.
The paving is needed to restore the street surface.
Reminder: SDOT announced two days ago that crews planned to work on The Bridge today, westbound, at the Harbor Avenue exit till about 6 pm, replacing a “crash cushion.” And we have word from Marco via Twitter that Sylvan Way through High Point (map) is closed – not sure if that’s related to the bike-lane work that we reported yesterday, but if you usually use that “through route” between Delridge and 35th (or points inbetween), heads up.
Maybe it’s the rush before the winter weather hits. Another one just in from SDOT:
SDOT will rebuild the west side of the roadway and repair the sidewalk from 6543 to 6551 Beach Drive Southwest starting Monday, October 12. The road will be reduced to one lane for three weeks with a flagger to guide traffic during the day.
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