Followup: Why ‘low bridge’ opened during ‘high bridge’ emergency

As promised, we followed up with SDOT on the issue raised by commenter “Pha-la-la” following coverage of a crash on the West Seattle Bridge night before last. In short, the crash led to the closure of the westbound bridge, east of 99, for more than an hour, and drivers were diverted onto the “low bridge” – and a backup ensued when that bridge opened for marine traffic. Asked “Pha-la-la” in her/his lengthy comment that seemed to pithily summarize many longrunning West Seattle traffic complaints; before this part of the comment, they had run through the process of getting diverted from the then-closed high bridge, creeping westward:

… Finally, lower West Seattle bridge appears like an oasis on the horizon. But, uh oh, lower bridge is, ding ding ding…opening? Why is lower bridge opening? Hasn’t anyone informed the lower bridge Controller that the upper bridge is kinda closed from I-5 and traffic is being diverted to lower bridge. Give ME the Controller’s phone number and I’ll call him/her. This is how you coordinate traffic. We need to bring the pieces TOGETHER so they work TOGETHER. …

We asked SDOT why an emergency closure of the high bridge wouldn’t put low-bridge openings on hold – especially considering that emergency responders would need one route to be open in case of a major incident (like a structure fire) bringing in resources from across the Duwamish. Spokesperson Marybeth Turner‘s reply:

Unfortunately SDOT does not have a choice of whether or not to open the Spokane Street swing bridge to marine traffic. Federal laws for navigable waters require us to open for vessels regardless of whether or not the West Seattle high level bridge is open. The Fire Department is notified when the bridges are closed to traffic. Sometimes when the high level bridge is closed to general traffic, emergency vehicles can still get across. However, this is not always an option, so emergency responders must plan where to locate their resources and must determine which alternate routes are best to provide supplementary services.

You may recall that, as reported here repeatedly, city leaders have tried to get the federal rules amended at least a bit while Spokane Street Viaduct and Alaskan Way Viaduct construction – and have been turned down every time.

ad December 3, 2010 (12:25 pm)

West Seattle Island…

CandrewB December 3, 2010 (1:05 pm)

From the Seattle website:
“Federal law gives marine traffic the right-of-way over vehicular traffic. The City of Seattle must apply to the U.S. Coast Guard for exceptions to that rule. The exception for bridge closures during rush-hour periods is granted by the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard also allows vessels to be held for 10 minutes on the Lake Washington Ship Canal bridges to allow accumulated vehicular traffic to clear.”
What is involved to apply for an exemption due to an alternative bridge being closed? Have we tried this?

Julie December 3, 2010 (1:14 pm)

Can someone explain why the ballard, fremont, university, montlake, and 99 bridges are different? Are these not over federal waterways? I don’t think any of these bridges open during rush hour but I may be wrong, any insight?

Born To Be Mild December 3, 2010 (1:19 pm)

Pha-la-la did a great job on the epic rant. But SDOT’s explanation of why the lower bridge doesn’t accomodate traffic shows the complexity of managing traffic. I think there is a similar situation at train crossings. Pha-la-la thinks that someone from SF or NYC could be a better manager. Nope. SDOT managers don’t tell the Federal government how to manage ship traffic. One of my favorite SDOT managers described the job as having one hand tied behind your back. Until you find out your other hand is tied behind your back. Until you find out your ankles are tied. Well, you can still hop around and shout.

Gene December 3, 2010 (1:25 pm)

It would also be nice if the operator of the low bridge could have some discretion about opening the low bridge – including communication with the incoming/outgoing vessel to see if they are voluntarily willing to wait. Even better would be then posting the information about which ships/companies that did/did allow the low bridge to remain closed.

Either way, it sounds like it is time for a hospital here in West Seattle.

Franci December 3, 2010 (1:45 pm)

One of the things that I think makes a huge differences between the low swing bridge into WS and the other bridges around Seattle is the time it takes for our swing bridge to complete an open/close cycle. Those other bridges can open and close within 5 min or less. The swing bridge seems to take 20 min at a minimum. It seems like the design of the swing bridge did not take into account the impact on traffic.

eileen December 3, 2010 (2:07 pm)

On SDOTS page http://www.cityofseattle.net/transportation/bridgeopenings.htm they state that our swing bridge is always open on demand and no restrictions. The lake washington ship canal bridges (fremont, ballard and university bridge) are all restricted at morning and evening rush hours. This web page did add that a very large vessel can request an opening during those times for those bridges. Does not seem too equitable.

jno December 3, 2010 (2:57 pm)

Julie, eileen –

“Navigable waters of the United States are those waters that are subject to the ebb and flow of the tide and/or are presently being used, or have been used in the past, or may be susceptible for use to transport interstate or foreign commerce.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Army_Corps_of_Engineers

True of the Duwamish, not of Lake Union.

sophista-tiki December 3, 2010 (3:05 pm)

The ” going through the Coast Guard” is the same issue we had about the South Park Bridge. Why they would not leave it for foot traffic,They just had to have access to that extra 30 yards of the Duwamish.

sailorgrrl December 3, 2010 (3:22 pm)

Boats can’t just stop and wait at the bridge like cars can at a traffic light. It’s physics, people. Boats don’t have brakes, large vessels carry a lot of momentum and have a very long stopping distance. Add to that the constantly changing tide/current conditions on the Duwamish, and trying to regulate boat traffic for the convenience of cars is at best a huge wrench in the economic activity of that area and at worst quite dangerous, with the potential for major oil spills and loss of life in a vessel collision.

Yeah, it sucks to sit and wait…and wait…and wait…for the bridge to open. And yeah, it’s scary to think we can be cut off from EMS if both the low and high bridges are closed (although the ER at Highline Med Center is probably no further away timewise by ambulance than most of the Pill Hill ERs). These things are, however, a reality of living in a working maritime region.

Julie December 3, 2010 (3:49 pm)

I’ve waited for the large boats to go thru a couple of times but my experience is that the bridge is usually opening for the sail boats that dock at the marina. I’ve also watched these little sail boats go around in circles waiting for the bridge to open so I guess it’s hard to believe that they can’t stop or turn around. Also, I don’t think that pleasure boating restrictions would be all that difficult to create. And I’m usually waiting on my bike not in my car which this is the only way to get to West Seattle on a bike from downtoan. (Without significant additional mileage)

Julie December 3, 2010 (4:09 pm)

FYI The 1st Avenue bridge which also spans the Duwamish does have restrictions. “Bridge openings for marine vessels are not allowed Monday – Friday, from 6 – 9 a.m. and 3 – 6 p.m. with the following exceptions: The draws shall open at any time for a vessel of 5000 gross tons and over, a vessel towing a vessel of 5000 gross tons and over, and a vessel proceeding to pick up for towing a vessel of 5000 gross tons and over. Bridge openings are allowed at any time on the weekends and on all Federal holidays except Columbus Day. “

JenS December 3, 2010 (4:26 pm)

Columbus Day?

toddinwestwood December 3, 2010 (4:29 pm)

Why does the city hate West Seattle?

Time to call out the W.S.L.F. again.

West Seattle Liberation Front will meet at The Feedback Lounge same bat time, same bat-night.

jno December 3, 2010 (5:20 pm)

Julie, thanks. 1st Ave S bridge is a state highway so perhaps the state has more clout than the city regarding exemptions. (I think it also requires opening less frequently.)

sailorgrrl December 3, 2010 (5:22 pm)

This isn’t the city hating WS, this is the Coast Guard regulating vessel traffic in a very busy seaport. And originally, the Duwamish River wasn’t navigable by anything with a deeper draft than a native canoe. We have created this problem by creating an infrastructure with a lot of necessary services on one side of the river but not the other.

Julie, you’re right, the smaller boats are more agile and can sometimes circle to wait. Restrictions on their movement might be reasonable, even desirable. It’s the big ones that just can’t stop without a lot of prior notice, or realistically stop at all depending on tide/current conditions if they’re coming downriver (dropping an anchor isn’t something you can just do quickly anywhere and have it work!).