TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: Wednesday watch

(SDOT MAP with travel times/ Is the ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE/ West Seattle-relevant traffic cams HERE)

7 AM: Good morning! One incident in our area right now, a crash that WSDOT says is blocking the center lane on NB SR 99 on the 1st Avenue S. Bridge.\

7:32 AM: Crash reported in the right lane of the eastbound West Seattle Bridge just before the exit to 99.

8:25 AM: The WS Bridge crash is cleared.

9:07 AM: This might be normal, but reporting anyway because we’ve been out on a story: At 9:05, the Avalon backup to get onto the bridge went all the way uphill past Yancy. Going the other way (which we were), getting through the Harbor/Avalon/Spokane intersection SB took 4 light cycles.

heyalki January 22, 2020 (7:16 am)

Three car pile up on NB 1st Ave bridge at the moment

WSB January 22, 2020 (7:23 am)

Thanks, that’s the one we mentioned but no specifics. 3 cars miht take a while to clear…

Lura Ercolano January 22, 2020 (7:36 am)

Drive from West Seattle to north of downtown just took me 20 minutes longer than normal, A heavy truck is blocking the right lane of I-5 just north of Seneca. Look like they will need a special tow truck to move it. Consider taking collector-distributor lanes to get around I-5 mess. Or maybe 4th ave + collector distributor lanes.

Judah January 22, 2020 (8:09 am)

Traffic around the WSHC, Avalon, and Delridge is really backed up

JTM January 22, 2020 (8:17 am)

There were also two cars stopped in the middle lane, WB, right before the exit to 4th around 7:45. That caused the secondary backup as folks had to get around that.

Azimuth January 22, 2020 (8:28 am)

When it rains it pours

Kk January 22, 2020 (8:37 am)

Took over 5 minutes to travel one block on 26th to get out of my neighborhood. People are using the greenway as overflow from Delridge and probably 35th too. Seemed backed up northbound for several blocks.

Lk January 22, 2020 (9:21 am)

Traffic on Delridge and the surrounding streets is incredibly backed up. Been on Delridge from Brandon for 20 minutes and still haven’t even gotten to Genesee.

Tess Rhea January 22, 2020 (9:21 am)

I live next to Pearls on Delridge and its still pretty backed up going towards the bridge

Riverview January 22, 2020 (9:22 am)

Getting out of Puget Ridge neighborhood to Delridge and then bridge is impossible.

DAVID QUIMBY January 22, 2020 (9:31 am)

Residual backup on EB WSB still around @ 9:30. Took 21 local > 10 minutes to make it from Avalon & Charlestown to the bridge.

sarah January 22, 2020 (9:36 am)

Not normal. Just took me over an hour on the 21 from Morgan to downtown. Horrendous traffic not only backed up on the bridge but all along 1st and 4th.

Andrew T January 22, 2020 (9:42 am)

It doesn’t help that the Spokane St Bridge is opening for a ship right now….Is been 20 minutes trying to get from Luna Park Cafe, and I’m *almost* at the Delridge intersection.

GatewoodGuy January 22, 2020 (10:37 am)

And this illustrates one of the many problems with the 99 bus only lane. It makes any other traffic problems that much worse. Is Metro still pretending that it’s needed because of people ditching to the downtown exit before the toll? Because that particular boogeyman has failed to materialize. Please tell us another fairy tale about why it’s there. I’ve given this a fair amount of thought and here’s what I think: Metro likes the visual of the buses on the bridge using the bus lane to zoom past backed up traffic. Of course they themselves have created that backup with the 99 bus only lane.

WSB January 22, 2020 (10:42 am)

Your next chance to bring it up with local elected officials in person (or any other transportation issue within their purview) is Thursday night – the West Seattle Transportation Coalition’s guests are County Councilmember Joe McDermott and City Councilmember Lisa Herbold.
David January 22, 2020 (1:55 pm)

I to thought it was Sam Zimbabwe at SDOT who is pretending we still need the bus lane on NB 99. It does not benefit metro since the busses (including my 21X) are stuck in the backup waiting to get into 99 like everybody else.

Jen January 22, 2020 (11:11 am)

36 minutes to drive from Morgan junction to SODO, yikes.

Railroaded January 22, 2020 (11:49 am)

All of these traffic cameras show one think perfectly: Seattle is a very gray city too much of the year.

sam-c January 22, 2020 (12:54 pm)

Re: 9:07 am, “this might be normal…” Definitely not normal. The Delridge area near the WSB was a mess. Giant trucks exiting NUCOR, laying on their horns and blocking westbound traffic on Andover (for a full light cycle) as they exit the driveway (that mess went on from 8a – 10:30 am). Then, drivers were heading eastbound in the wrong lane (on Andover) to get to the business park/ deli mart. That always happens when it’s really bad.

ch January 22, 2020 (1:03 pm)

1 hour from Home Depot to 99 on ramp at 9 am. IMO a single fender bender should not cause a traffic shut down for the entire region.

ch January 22, 2020 (3:02 pm)

Out of curiosity, has there been any study of the impact of the tunnel on West Seattle traffic? It seems to be worse now.

Kyle January 22, 2020 (4:20 pm)

The bus lane on 99 doesn’t help (cars or buses). It creates a backup on the west Seattle bridge. Traffic is free flowing on 99 and through the tunnel. We need smart bus lane placement where there are actual bottlenecks (thinking the ride home from downtown to 99 could definitely use a bus lane). The reinstalled bus lane on 99, just seems like it was put there because we had one before, and I’ve seen no data that this helps buses get to downtown faster. My anecdotal trips show that buses get stuck on the cloverleaf with everyone else, then go at the same speed as cars on 99 after the forced merge point. Bus lanes work when the speed of the bus is greater than the speed of the cars. That’s not the case for the 99 half mile bus lane.

Sorry, comment time is over.