On Thursday, May, 10th the contractor for SDOT’s Ballard Bridge Painting project will close a single southbound lane of traffic on the Ballard Bridge.

The lane will remain open during peak traffic periods, but will be closed from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Simultaneously with the southbound lane closure, the west sidewalk will be closed; however, the east sidewalk will remain open.

The contractor will resume work in the northbound lane, beginning at 8 p.m. today. Sidewalk closures on the east side will also resume. This work will be ongoing through May and into early June.

Bicyclists will be detoured during sidewalk closures. Bicyclists may use the Fremont Bridge or may cross the ship canal at the Ballard Locks. (The sidewalks are too narrow to accommodate bicycle traffic in two directions on the same sidewalk.)

Last year, SDOT painted the Ballard Bridge approaches (the raised roadways at each end of the bridge). This year SDOT is painting the bascule part of the bridge, which is the portion of the bridge that opens and closes for marine traffic. SDOT’s annual bridge painting program provides for the periodic painting of each of the city’s 20 structural steel bridges. The painting helps protect the steel surfaces on the bridges from corrosion and other weather deterioration.

For more information or to sign up for project updates visit the project website at: http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/bridgepainting_current.htm