West Seattle Bridge to close indefinitely; Cracks at attachment points and elsewhere must be repaired
West Seattle Bridge to close indefinitely; Cracks at attachment points and elsewhere must be repaired
Cracks under the roadbed of the West Seattle Bridge have led to the closure of the bridge for an indefinite period SDOT said on March 23.
Photo by David Rosen of Slickpixphotography.com
Mon, 03/23/2020
The Seattle Department of Transportation announced today that The West Seattle Bridge will close indefinitely tonight at 7 for emergency repairs.
SDOT director Sam Zimbabwe said it will take weeks to assess the issues of the cracking e but the closure will be extended since a repair schedule must be established ,
The cracks were found to be where the roadway attaches to the support structure.
For the time being the lower level Spokane Street Bridge is still open to first responders, freight and transit. Motorists are being asked to use State Route 509, 1st Avenue South and the South Park Bridge to get to West Seattle.
See the video press conference on the issue here.
King County Executive Dow Constantine released the following statement on the closure of the West Seattle Bridge by the Seattle Department of Transportation:
“After learning today that the Seattle Department of Transportation was indefinitely closing the West Seattle Bridge due to structural concerns, I directed King County Metro to immediately begin planning alternate routes on both sides of the Duwamish, and to increase frequency of and connections to the King County Water Taxi.
With commuters taking seriously our public health directives to stay at home, we will use this moment to plan for the rebound. As a lifelong West Seattleite, I know how difficult it can be for the 80,000 or so of us on the peninsula when connections with the rest of the region are interrupted. We will do everything in our power to make sure West Seattle has strong transit alternatives during bridge repair.”
Seattle City Councilmember Lisa Herbold issued this statement:
Councilmember Lisa Herbold (District 1, West Seattle - South Park) issued the following statement after the Seattle Department of Transportation announced the immediate closure of the West Seattle Bridge to all traffic, after finding accelerated concrete cracking that was observed during a regular bridge inspection:
“Starting tonight, the West Seattle Bridge will be closed to all traffic. The bridge cannot safely support vehicular traffic at this time. The Seattle Department of Transportation will be doing further assessment to determine what repairs are required, how long they will take and how much it will cost. Safety is a top priority and we are making traffic changes in and out of West Seattle to ensure safety and traffic flow.
“I have questions why the lower level bridge cannot be used for vehicular traffic at this time, and how soon it can be opened for traffic given lower traffic volumes in Seattle due to COVID-19 guidance, and specifically reduced traffic volumes to West Seattle via the West Seattle Bridge in light of the new COVID-19 Shelter in Place Orders. My office has requested that SDOT appeal to the Coast Guard to make fewer bridge openings of the lower level bridge to allow for more buses and cars to cross, like they did in early 2019 when the Alaskan Way Viaduct closed and the SR99 tunnel was not yet open.
“My office will continue to monitor the closure and work with SDOT and other partners to provide West Seattle residents and the public updates.”
Comments
Drivers are being advised to…
Drivers are being advised to take First Avenue South, and South Park Bridges. The lower level bridge is open only to first responders and transit for the next two weeks at least.
What is the cities plan to…
What is the cities plan to manage increased traffic volumes through the Highland Park neighborhood and the crush of traffic rioting to the two bridges? We already have a serious issue with high speed traffic routing through our neighborhood side streets when all routes out of peninsula are available. For now the impact may be minimal due to the current Stay At Home order, but what is the plan to mitigate the impacts on our neighborhood once everyone is allowed to return to normal daily routines? Undoubtedly there will be super high volumes of vehicles that route through more and more of our neighborhood streets in an effort to avoid the Holden/Highland intersection back ups. We need to demand that the city provide traffic officers to manage the high flows, routes, and speeds of drivers through the area to keep our streets safe for all of us.”
What is the city’s plan to…
What is the city’s plan to manage increased traffic volumes through the Highland Park neighborhood and the crush of traffic routing to the two bridges? We already have a serious issue with high speed traffic routing through our neighborhood side streets when all routes out of peninsula are available. For now the impact may be minimal due to the current Stay At Home order, but what is the plan to mitigate the impacts on our neighborhood once everyone is allowed to return to normal daily routines? Undoubtedly there will be super high volumes of vehicles that route through more and more of our neighborhood streets in an effort to avoid the Holden/Highland intersection back ups. We need to demand that the city provide traffic officers to manage the high flows, routes, and speeds of drivers through the area to keep our streets safe for all of us.”
Interesting, the cracks are…
Interesting, the cracks are appearing in the same locations.
I think we are dealing with stress on the bridge that was not foreseen, or not calculated properly.
Here is a thought-Harbor Island is a man made island that was filled in, is the section on Harbor Island moving more than anticipated thereby causing stress on the concrete sections that they were not designed to handle those loads?
This is not normal wear…
This is not normal wear without proper maintenance. This is the result of a major transportation facility being planned, designed and constructed during one of the most corrupt periods of government in Seattle’s history! Attempts to repair cracks will only be a bandaid that will not improve the structural integrity of this structure.
These are the same people…
These are the same people that want to GLUE railroad tracks to a floating bridge, good luck people. Leave while you still can.
What will he the alternative for traveling north of Seattle ?