The South Spokane Street Viaduct Project is scheduled to take its next major step Monday May 17, 2010, when crews will close the westbound 1st Ave S on-ramp and prepare it for demolition. This will precede work to widen the upper roadway 41 feet to the north, and build a new on and off-ramp along 1st Ave S.

In the sixteen months during which there will be no westbound access to the Spokane Street Viaduct from surface streets in SODO, southbound vehicles approaching Spokane on First Ave S will be detoured to the low level swing bridge to get to West Seattle. To reduce the expected congestion on this bridge during construction, the Seattle Department of Transportation is working with the Port of Seattle, U.S. Coast Guard and maritime community to reduce bridge openings during the heavy afternoon commute, and to provide advance notification, when possible, of openings that must occur.

Please note the primary detour route is a heavily used truck route serving industry in the Duwamish and the Port of Seattle’s terminals. Many industrial and maritime businesses - and the thousands of jobs they support - depend on the corridor for the movement of goods.

A total of nine bus routes will be re-routed the 16 month construction period. This re-routing is expected to add travel time for buses heading south and westbound, even when traffic levels are light or normal. Traffic, including buses could be delayed even more by trains crossing Hanford Street or openings of the low bridge for marine traffic.
For questions regarding how Metro Transit bus routes will be affected during this construction period, contact King County Metro Transit directly: by phone at (206) 553-3000; email at Customer.Comments@kingcounty.gov; or visit www.kingcounty.gov/metro for route information. Specifically, riders of routes 15, 18, 21, 22, 56, 57, 118, 119 are most likely to be directly impacted. If you would like to receive King County Metro e-mail route alerts, you may sign-up for them at http://metro.kingcounty.gov/up/rr/alertscenter.html.

Buses to be rerouted include:

21 Local - Arbor Heights 22 - Alaska Junction, White Center 35 - Harbor Island 56 Local - Admiral District, Alki 57 - Genesee Hill, Alaska Junction 85 Night Owl - Admiral District, White Center 116 - Fauntleroy (new bus schedule times will start Monday, May 17) 118 - Vashon Island (new bus schedule times will start Monday, May 17) 119 - Vashon Island (new bus schedule times will start Monday, May 17)
To check your preferred route timetable visit http://metro.kingcounty.gov/oltools/timetables.html

Bus travel to West Seattle will be the most affected, but traffic congestion could extend to downtown Seattle, Pioneer Square, SODO, depending on time of day or special events during which higher than normal traffic is expected.

Here's some tips from Metro:

Check out the info provide by Metro and the Seattle Department of Transportation to see if your regular travel patterns will be affected;
If you are a bus rider, sign up for Metro alerts;
Consider commuting on the West Seattle Water Taxi;
Have a plan for traveling through the construction area, and have a back-up plan for those days when traffic is really congested.

Alternate routes for commuters from West Seattle into downtown include:

North on SR-99 to downtown exits at Seneca and Western Ave.
North on East Marginal Way S/Alaskan Way S to Atlantic, Royal Brougham, King, Main, or Yesler.
Stay on the Spokane Street Viaduct to I-5, then North on I-5 to downtown exits.

Alternate routes for commuters from West Seattle southbound include:

South on East Marginal Way to Michigan, east to I-5
South on East Marginal Way to First Avenue South Bridge, connect to I-509
South on East Marginal to Lucille, then east to First or Fourth Avenues or Airport Way, then north or south on any of those arterials

Alternate routes for commuters from downtown to West Seattle include:

North on First Avenue S to east on Edgar Martinez Drive S, onto SR519 to I-5 southbound
North on Fourth Avenue S to the SR519 on-ramp, north of Holgate, to I-5 southbound
North to First Avenue to Columbia Street, to SR99/Alaskan Way Viaduct southbound
South on Fourth Avenue S to east on S Michigan Street, to I-5 northbound I-5
South on First Avenue S across the First Avenue Bridge, to West Marginal Way SW exit north

Tools to help motorists get around during construction include the following:

Travelers Information Map – Visit this SDOT Web page to better plan your driving route: http://web5.seattle.gov/travelers/

Way To Go SoDo – Get information on alternative transportation at this SDOT Web site: http://www.seattle.gov/waytogo/wtg_sodo.htm

Questions? Please contact:

LeAnne Nelson, SDOT Community Relations, 206-684-3897,
LeAnne.Nelson@seattle.gov
OR
Paul Elliott, SDOT Community Relations, 206-684-5321,
Paul.Elliott@seattle.gov