Information from Seattle Department of Transportation

Earthquakes could have a major impact on Seattle’s infrastructure. To address these seismic risks, the City of Seattle established a bridge seismic program to assess how vulnerable the City’s bridges were to earthquakes, and to retrofit bridges to better withstand the potential impacts of an earthquake.   

As part of the Levy to Move Seattle, 16 bridges were selected for seismic retrofits, including the Admiral Way North and South Bridges. The Admiral Way North and South Bridges are older bridges built prior to modernizing the seismic design code. 

The bridges are on SW Admiral Way between 39th Ave SW and Walnut Ave SW, above Fairmont Ave SW. While it seems like one bridge when you’re traveling on it, the Admiral Way North and South Bridges are actually two bridges, side-by-side. Both will be retrofitted, making them stronger and safer in the event of an earthquake. 

We will begin construction on seismic retrofits to the Admiral Way North and South Bridges as soon as July 2024. These improvements will help retrofit the bridge to better withstand earthquakes. We expect construction will last approximately 7-8 months. Construction schedules are subject to change and depend on factors such as weather and availability of crews and materials.   

To complete the work as safely and efficiently as possible, there will be lane closures on SW Admiral Way at the bridge throughout construction and full, 24/7 closures of the bridge on 2 weekends with specific dates to be determined. In addition, Fairmount Ave N beneath the bridge will be closed to people walking, biking, rolling, and driving for the duration of construction. We understand these closures will impact everyone who uses the bridge and Fairmount Ave N regularly and we will do what we can to minimize impacts.  

We will share regular email updates once construction begins. To receive project updates, sign up to join our project listserv.