West Seattle, Washington
05 Saturday
Reminder of two events tonight addressing the West Seattle Bridge closure:
DIGITAL TOWN HALL: City Councilmembers Lisa Herbold and Alex Pedersen are hosting this, with an SDOT preentation and community Q&A, 5-6:30 pm. You need to RSVP here; the link will be sent about an hour in advance to everyone who RSVPs. (Update: 2,200+ as of this morning, according to Herbold’s office.) That link also will explain how to ask a question. Go here to RSVP. (4:22 pm update: Livestream will be here.)
HPAC MEETING: 7-8 pm, the community council for Highland Park, Riverview, and South Delridge – neighborhoods now carrying the weight of bridge-detour traffic – will meet online, with an SDOT guest. Unlike the city-organized town hall, there is an attendance limit for this meeting, so they ask that only people from those three communities participate. Details are here.
(WSB photo of Highland Park Way/Holden traffic signal, rush-installed after bridge closure)
The West Seattle Bridge Town Hall is the first of two local online meetings tomorrow night focusing on the bridge closure and how it’s affecting peninsula mobility. At 7 pm Wednesday (April 22nd), the neighborhood group whose area is most affected by the detouring traffic, HPAC, is hosting its monthly meeting online – but please note the important disclaimer:
HPAC virtual meetings are limited to 100 participants (this is due to cost of the software and what HPAC has the budget for) and are intended for residents of Highland Park, South Delridge, and Riverview, if you are not a resident of one of these neighborhoods, we ask you kindly to step back from attending this one.
April Agenda:
7:00: Welcome and overview of attending a virtual meeting
7:10: Q & A with SDOT: Impact of West Seattle Bridge Closure on Highland Park, Riverview, and South Delridge.
A representative from SDOT will attend to answer questions about the West Seattle High-Rise Bridge closure and how it impacts our neighborhood, as well as provide an update on the intersection at Highland Park Way SW and SW Holden Street.
7:50: Outstanding Items/Closing
If you are in one of HPAC’s neighborhoods, you can find the meeting-access info here.
(WSB photo, last week)
9:56 AM: As mentioned in our coverage of Monday’s council briefing about the West Seattle Bridge closure, Councilmember Lisa Herbold announced that she would host an “electronic Town Hall” Wednesday night. She has just sent details of how to be part of it:
West Seattle Bridge Digital Town Hall
Wednesday at 5 p.m.Councilmember Pedersen and I will co-host a digital town hall with SDOT on the West Seattle Bridge and traffic management in West Seattle while the bridge is closed. The town hall will be from 5 p.m. to 6:30 on Wednesday, April 22nd.
SDOT Director Sam Zimbabwe will be presenting, and available for your questions.
You can sign up to participate here; you’ll receive the link to the meeting an hour or so before it begins.
(Councilmember Alex Pedersen chairs the Transportation Committee.)
ADDED 2:34 PM: We sent a few followup questions to Councilmember Herbold’s office; legislative assistant Newell Aldrich replied. How will participants be able to ask questions? The email you’ll get about an hour in advance, if you RSVP, will include the link for questions. You’ll also be able to ask during the event. They’re not yet sure what platform the event will use – they want to ensure they can handle all the participation (1,000 RSVPs already).
(Added 2:27 pm: Archived video of meeting)
9:33 AM: Five days after announcing the West Seattle Bridge will be out of service until at least 2022 (WSB coverage here), SDOT is briefing the City Council on the situation during councilmembers’ weekly Monday morning “briefing meeting,” which has just begun. You can click into the live Seattle Channel feed above. Here’s the slide deck they’re using – almost identical to the one from Wednesday.
9:38 AM: The briefing is introduced by West Seattle/South Park Councilmember Lisa Herbold. She reiterates her concern about “staying laser focused on the need to maximize mobility for West Seattle residents.”
She announces an “electronic town hall” for District 1 this Wednesday 4/22 5-6:30 pm.
9:44 PM: SDOT director Sam Zimbabwe starts the presentation, and says Heather Marx will follow him to talk about traffic mitigation. Both are West Seattle residents. He promises that this is a priority for all levels of city government, up to the mayor.
He reiterates that cracks in the bridge have continued to grow since it was closed four weeks ago but at a slower rate and they do not believe the bridge is in danger of collapse but they are preparing “contingency plans” in case that changes. They are installing real-time monitoring now and inspecting the bridge in person daily. He says they will be ready for a “worst-case scenario.” They’re working with “local stakeholders” including the port as they prepare for that. (Note added: An SDOT Blog post from last Friaay night has a bit more on this.)
9:52 AM: Councilmember Herbold notes that SDOT “sent a message” over the weekend saying that they could remove traffic from the low bridge if the high bridge is found to be unstable. She says she hopes SFD Station 36, under the bridge, is involved in planning too. Zimbabwe says yes, they are working with SFD on a plan.
He continues the short version of last Wednesday’s presentation, reiterating that they don’t know if repairing the bridge is technically or financially feasible, and that even if it is, its maximum life is 10 more years (it should have had ~40 more). He also reiterates that the bridge has to be stabilized/shored, no matter what. He’s also explaining the Pier 18 bearing “release of tension” that has to happen too. While they’re doing that and shoring work, he says, they’ll be able to determine the bridge’s future – whether it needs to be replaced sooner rather than later – and that should be clearer by spring.
Herbold says she’s been contacted by more than a few constituents (editor’s note -this has happened in our comment threads too) who have said (paraphrasing) “never mind worrying about repairs, just get on with planning a replacement.” Zimbabwe says that would have “a lot of different budget implications” from the current work toward getting traffic back onto the bridge sooner. He reiterates that stabilization is vital now no matter what. “This is a very complicated bridge,” he summarizes, noting (again, a reiteration from last week) that they’re bringing in an expert Technical Advisory Panel.
10:12 AM: Before turning it over to Marx to talk about traffic, Herbold asks about the advisers’ role. As he said in response to a question we asked Wednesday, Zimbabwe said they haven’t yet started to assemble the panel, which he says will be more of a “sounding board” than a “recommending” group.
Marx – who has been serving as SDOT’s downtown-mobility director – first recaps the low-bridge restrictions and some other work that’s been done so far, including the Highland Park Way/Holden signal installation, and 5-way signal work (as we reported last Friday, they’ll be repaving the 5-way next weekend, and Marx warns that means “limited access”). She also notes the current detour routes “cannot support the level of traffic we had before the stay-home order.”
Herbold asks about traffic volumes on the low bridge since enforcement began. Around 8,000 vehicles a day, says Marx. “When there isn’t enforcement, the violations of (the restriction)” are major. Marx asks West Seattleites to please not use the low-level bridge so emergency access is always possible. Herbold recaps that she continues to advocate for some alternate time-period access, but can’t make that happen unless people stop using the low-level bridge, period. Council President Lorena González, also a West Seattleite, echoes that, as does yet another WS resident, the other citywide rep, Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda, who makes a request that Herbold has, about health-care and human-services providers getting an exception.
Marx says they’re working “closely right now” with essential businesses near the low bridge but says it’s difficult to designate who’s most essential “because we have actual limitations of how much traffic (the low bridge) can handle.” Mosqueda mentions reports of police officers pulling over people and asking for some kind of “essential worker permit” (this has come up in our comments too); Marx says that applies only to a “placard” available to “a tiny” number of ILWU workers at Terminal 5″ (as mentioned here). And she notes that overall, SDOT is working with Metro (no new details – the briefing is already over the allotted time).
Zimbabwe concludes with the budget slide shown last week – saying it’s “very early” – with a $33 million estimate through shoring, including associated costs (“accelerated maintenance” of the low bridge among them). What actual repair, if feasible, might cost – not included.
10:33 AM: Briefing over, council meeting is on to members’ weekly updates. We’ll replace the video window with the archived video when it’s available later today.
WHAT’S NEXT: As mentioned above, Councilmember Herbold is organizing an “electronic town hall” for 5-6:30 pm this Wednesday. That same night, SDOT is due at the online meeting of HPAC at 7 pm.
ADDED 2:27 PM: Archived video of the meeting is now atop this story.
Four West Seattle Bridge-related notes this afternoon:
LOW-BRIDGE WORK THIS WEEKEND: SDOT has mentioned some maintenance ahead for the low bridge. We asked for details:
This weekend, we plan to replace the Spokane Street Pedestrian Gate, which has not been operating properly and causing some unintended vehicle-traffic interruptions. We are also going to be testing the live-load capacity on the bridge. This work will require us to intermittently close portions of the bridge for brief intervals (under 10 minutes) over the weekend. We do not expect this to be more disruptive than a typical bridge opening for maritime traffic, and many of the brief closures will be to the sidewalk or a single lane at a time (in which case a police officer will alternate traffic in the remaining lane).
Added: Just after we published this, Joseph Laubach sent a photo of low-bridge testing already under way:
5-WAY INTERSECTION WORK AHEAD: Also mentioned in this past Wednesday’s announcement, some work ahead to improve the suddenly more-critical-than-ever 5-way intersection at Spokane/Chelan/Delridge/West Marginal, so we asked for the timeline on that:
We recently upgraded the signals at this intersection so that we can remotely monitor and make real-time adjustments from our Traffic Operations Center in response to changing circumstances. We plan to continue making improvements to this location in the coming weeks, including more significant signal upgrades that will likely include bus prioritization. We are also planning to do road work to improve the pavement condition at this intersection. If weather allows, both sets of work will likely occur over the weekend of April 24 – 26 and will have traffic impacts. We are working to finalize the details and will let you know more soon.
COUNCIL BRIEFING: As for the high bridge itself, the next public discussion is Monday morning, as we first reported early Tuesday. That’s at 9:30 am Monday (April 20th), live via Seattle Channel (cable 21 or online). The slide deck is now online (PDF); it’s almost identical to the one included in our Wednesday report, except for an extra graphic explaining “lateral bearing,” addition of the likely 5-way intersection paving date mentioned above, and addition of a slide about transit.
COUNCILMEMBER HERBOLD’S UPDATE: Just as we finished writing this, Councilmember Lisa Herbold‘s weekly update appeared online. Along with a recap of recent developments, she includes a summary of constituent suggestions, plus information on “what SDOT has done in recent weeks to adjust signals and monitor traffic.”
3:30 PM: That slide is the headline from a briefing the mayor and transportation leaders are about to begin.
A short time ago, we and other reporters got a pre-briefing presentation with SDOT leadership so we can present the key points concurrent with the announcement.
The key points: The high-rise West Seattle Bridge, closed for safety concerns 23 days ago, may not be fixable – SDOT “does not yet know” if it is feasible “technically or financially.” If they can fix it, it might last another 10 years, but that still means replacement would be needed a lot sooner than the original 75-year projection. Even if it’s fixable, it won’t be back in use any sooner than 2022.
And here’s the current timeline:
Just to get the bridge shored up so it would be able to be repaired will cost up to $33 million. Where that money will come from, they don’t know yet. Here’s a breakout.
Those are three key slides – here’s the full slide deck from the pre-briefing:
(Added: You can view it in PDF here.)
The first thing they have to do is stabilize a problem separate from, but worsening, the cracking: The locked bearing on Pier 18. We mentioned this in our coverage of Councilmembers Lisa Herbold and Alex Pedersen getting an under-the-bridge briefing yesterday. So that has to be fixed first because “the bearings are compressed and bulging, creating additional strain on the whole bridge.”
Could the bridge fail even now, with traffic having been removed? Possibly. They are installing real-time monitoring and developing scenarios for what would be done if that seemed imminent.
Then, the shoring/stabilization of the cracked area. Then – figuring out if it could be fixed so that traffic would be able to use the bridge. Again: “It may not be possible – could be state of the bridge, could be what it would take to fix it.”
A Technical Advisory Panel will be established with experts “in bridge design, construction, working in the water, geotechnical engineering for bridge structures, and marine/maritime expertise” to help inform this work.
And yes, they are working on traffic plans, including having the signal at the Chelan/Spokane/Delridge/West Marginal 5-way “connected to citywide system for remote monitoring adjustment.” The intersection will be repaved. SDOT also will “Stripe, sign, and smooth alternative routes.” They promise they are trying to think about “every creative solution we can.” Says director Sam Zimbabwe, a West Seattle resident: “We want to thank the West Seattle community… this is a big deal and we’re working hard …this is going to be a community conversation.”
From here, we will add notes from the official news conference (which we are also recording so we can add the video afterward).
3:45 PM: We’re still waiting for the news conference to start so here are a few more notes from the pre-briefing:
*As mentioned a few weeks ago, the low bridge needs some work. Some of that will happen soon, including replacement of the pedestrian gate. Look for info shortly on how that will affect traffic.
*Speaking of traffic, SDOT expects the restrictions on the low bridge will last for the entire duration of the high bridge’s closure.
*We asked if they have a system set up for keeping the low bridge from opening for marine traffic if a medical emergency vehicle is headed that way. Nothing automated, but the bridge tender watches for approaching emergency vehicles.
*The scenarios – can it be fixed, what if it can’t be – are “happening in parallel.”
3:48 PM: The news conference is starting, with Councilmembers Lisa Herbold and Alex Pedersen as well as reps from other agencies including Metro.
The mayor starts by acknowledging an “enormously frustrating experience for the West Seattle community” and thanking everyone “for their patience.” She says, “I will not allow any car to go over the bridge until it is safe.” The mayor reiterates that they still don’t know the cause of the cracking but the newly disclosed Pier 18 problem has to be addressed first. “We know in the long term this bridge has to be replaced,” she acknowledges. “We’re going to be looking very closely with Metro at ncreasing transit, park-n-rides, water taxi service.” She says she talked with County Executive Dow Constantine today to talk about it. She says the police and fire departments are looking at possible “additional public safety needs” while the bridge is closed. She reiterates that the low bridge will continue to be restricted and urges people not to violate those restrictions; otherwise, “you will get a ticket.”
Speaking next is SDOT director Sam Zimbabwe. He’s going through some of what was presented at the pre-briefing, including the installation of monitoring and the modeling for possible bridge-failure scenarios, though he re-states that failure is not expected. … “We know people living and working in West Seattle need reliable access across the Duwamish (River),” he repeats, recapping some of the changes they’ve made already, including the new Highland Park Way/Holden signal. “We’re working hard to get you where you need to go.”
4:05 PM: Now Councilmember Herbold speaks, calling this a “very difficult turn of events.” She also acknowledges that the disclosure that the bridge will be out of service until at least 2022 moves the conversation into a new phase, for businesses as well as residents. She notes that the Seattle Squeeze lasted 8 months, while this will be longer. She mentions the bridge visit that she and Pedersen made yesterday (which we covered). He’s speaking next (his major role in this is as Transportation Committee chair).
Pedersen calls this a “massive infrastructure project” and notes the Council will have “an important role in oversight.”
In Q&A, the mayor is asked about whether federal funding will be sought. She says she hopes so, and has already spoken to both of our area’s U.S. Senators, especially if infrastructure funding is part of coronavirus-crisis relief.
Why not just proceed to replacement planning if it’s going to take $33 million just to stabilize the bridge? Zimbabwe didn’t entirely answer that.
We asked how the “community conversation” about traffic solutions can be had, in this meeting-less time? The mayor said they’ll work with the council on “virtual town halls … We know this is critical to the community, we need to hear from you. … The ground truth is being felt by the community.” Herbold adds that her office is working in fact on a “virtual town hall” focused on bridge impacts and planning ahead.
We also asked about inter-agency discussions such as whether ferries could be rerouted downtown. Zimbabwe says that while Colman Dock has capacity, now that they know this is going to be a long closure, everything needs to be on the table.
And we asked about whether they are talking with Sound Transit, given that West Seattle light rail was going to need its own new bridge across the Duwamish River anyway. “Yes,” said the mayor, that’s one thing they’d have to look at, though they don’t want to “lose time.”
Last question – a followup on the mayor’s mention of park-and-rides, which the city has frowned on in recent years. “We’re going to have to do more of everything,” said the mayor.
4:27 PM: The event is over. We recorded video and will add that when it’s ready. Also, as we reported earlier this week, note that a briefing for the entire City Council is scheduled for next Monday (9:30 am, should be on Seattle Channel, cable 21 or online).
ADDED 7:23 PM: The city’s video is now available, so we’ve added that above. Also, here’s the SDOT Blog version of today’s news; here’s a statement from Councilmembers Herbold and Pedersen.
(WSB photos. From left, SDOT’s Sam Zimbabwe and Matt Donahue, Councllmembers Alex Pedersen and Lisa Herbold)
11:56 PM: What was amnounced as a West Seattle Bridge “tour” with two city councilmembers and SDOT today was more of a visit and Q&A. We listened in as Councilmembers Lisa Herbold and Alex Pedersen talked with SDOT director Sam Zimbabwe and roadway-structures director Matt Donahue.
They looked at the underside of the bridge and its piers from two spots, near the entrance to the Jim Clark Marina parking lot, and a short distance west. A steady stream of trucks from Harbor Island provided enough constant noise that, at a safe social distance, we didn’t catch every word, but here are the highlights of what we could hear:
The discussion centered on the complexity of the task of determining how to stabilize and then repair the bridge. Donahue went into detail of the modeling that’s being used to analyze the cracks, which – as Zimbabwe told us in our April 2nd interview – continue to grow, though not at the rate that led to the bridge’s sudden shutdown 22 days ago. Cracking isn’t the only concern – parts of the bridge aren’t “sliding the way they’re supposed to.” (There’s more elaboration on the added concerns in this report by SCC Insight, which details a “locked lateral bearing” on Pier 18, the one in the next photo with a pipe running down it:)
He also explained that thoroughly understanding the problem is vital in designing the solution, because they have to take care that the stabilizing – including “shoring” – doesn’t get in the way of the ensuing repairs. All the while, they’re in a “race against time.”
What clues has the bridge’s past provided? Donahue noted he was in elementary school when the bridge was designed, but SDOT has “14 file cabinets” stuffed with documentation. The emphasis of current efforts, though, is the work being done by a “team of highly specialized (engineers),” consulting firm WSP, which has a deep portfolio of bridge work.
It was reiterated that the stabilization/shoring has to be done to make the bridge safe for major repairs – to get the cracks to stop growing.
So no new revelations, but the councilmembers do have a new perspective for when SDOT presents that moved-up briefing next Monday, which will mark four weeks to the day since the shutdown.
ADDED 11:02 AM WEDNESDAY: And we’ll get more new info even sooner – the mayor and various transportation officials plan a media briefing at 3:30 pm today.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Hours before she gets a firsthand look at the West Seattle Bridge danger zone with SDOT, City Councilmember Lisa Herbold provided an update tonight to the Pigeon Point Neighborhood Council. The neighborhood closest to the bridge’s crest held its every-other-month meeting by videoconference/phone, and we dialed in.
One major headline: After SDOT briefed the council on the bridge situation one week ago, it was expected they’d be back on April 27th. Herbold told PPNC that SDOT had asked to move the briefing up a week, to next Monday (April 20th), “I’m hoping there’ll be some news for us” about a time frame and plan for “shoring” the bridge, a necessary step before any permanent repairs can be made.
She said the biggest question she’s getting asked is why the bridge cracked so badly that it had to be closed.
10:59 AM: Just announced during the City Council‘s weekly “briefing” meeting, during which councilmembers provide various updates on their ongoing focuses: Councilmembers Lisa Herbold and Alex Pedersen will be touring the West Seattle Bridge tomorrow with SDOT leaders. (Pedersen is the chair of the Transportation Committee.) Herbold also mentioned the SFD report due by week’s end – as noted in her Friday post. (She also noted that an extra ladder truck was stationed here during the Spokane Street Viaduct project; that was Ladder 13, based at Station 11 for more than a year in 2011-2012.)
1:29 PM: For those who’ve asked, yes, we immediately asked to cover the tour. SDOT says no but promises a media tour at some future time.
8:29 PM: That decision’s been reversed.
(WSB photo, low-bridge enforcement earlier this week)
5:35 PM: If you’re not on Councilmember Lisa Herbold‘s email list, you can read her latest update on the West Seattle Bridge closure here. Along with some recaps of other recent developmenss, the roundup starts with an update on how one public-safety agency is reviewing how the high-bridge closure is affecting response levels:
With the length of the bridge closure uncertain, but not short, ensuring good access to fire and EMS services in West Seattle is of vital importance.
My office inquired with Fire Chief Scoggins about Fire and EMS response in West Seattle during the closure of the West Seattle Bridge. Chief Scoggins noted in an update,
“The Seattle Fire Department is currently conducting a comprehensive GIS analysis of the impacts on fire and EMS response times due to the closure of the West Seattle Bridge. We expect that analysis to be completed by April 17.
“The analysis includes a review of response times before and after the bridge closure, how often and when the lower bridge opens for marine traffic as well as the delays caused by rail traffic.
“During the Spokane Street Viaduct construction project another ladder truck was added in West Seattle with funding provided by the Seattle Department of Transportation. This deployment model is just one of several options we will be considering.”
Read the rest of the update here.
9:20 PM: In her post, Councilmember Herbold mentions an announcement SDOT was to make today reiterating the low-bridge restrictions. That’s finally appeared tonight on SDOT Blog.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Two weeks and two days after the sudden safety shutdown of the West Seattle Bridge, its repair plan is still a work in progress.
That’s what we heard at the latest public briefing on the situation – more of a mini-briefing, with a small slot at the Move Seattle Levy Oversight Committee‘s monthly meeting Tuesday night. The committee’s members are volunteers appointed to keep watch on what’s done with the money raised by the levy, passed by voters in 2015, meant to raise $930 million over its nine years.
The briefing was led by deputy SDOT director Lorelei Williams, with roadway-structures director Matt Donahue and department director Sam Zimbabwe also participating.
(SDOT camera image, this afternoon)
4:34 PM: With SPD enforcement starting on the low bridge this week, there’s been some confusion over who’s allowed to use that bridge and who isn’t. SDOT had said right after the March 23 high-bridge closure that the low bridge was available for “Harbor Island access.” But that has changed, with one exception. We asked SDOT today to spell out the current official policy; spokesperson Ethan Bergerson responded with this:
At this time, the Low Bridge remains closed to people driving general purpose vehicles to keep essential and life-safety services moving. Considering the current public health emergency, our top priority is emergency access to hospitals and protecting the supply chain, so we are reserving access to emergency vehicles, freight, and transit, and working with our partners at the Seattle Police Department, the Seattle Fire Department, the Port of Seattle, and Metro to determine the extent of the access limitations.
There is one exception for freight community employees. Longshore Workers Union employees who are driving westbound from the Union hall at the start of their shift to Terminal 5 may use the Low Bridge. This is for westbound trips only.
We understand the inconvenience the closure of the High Bridge poses to the community. SDOT did not make this decision lightly, but ultimately, we prioritize safety above all else. We are monitoring traffic on the Low Bridge and as new traffic patterns develop, we may be able to adjust access.
Our next report on what’s up with the high bridge, meantime, is coming up this evening.
6:51 PM: We checked out the eastbound approach to the low bridge around 5 pm. Overhead signage has now been altered:
And two officers were in the lanes directing/monitoring traffic:
(West Seattle Bridge cracks, from sdotblog.seattle.gov)
Two weeks after the sudden safety shutdown of the West Seattle Bridge, SDOT has just gone public with inspection reports chronicling the history of the bridge’s cracks, which as previously explained, were first noticed in 2013. The 14 reports are linked on the project website, and in a new SDOT Blog post which says in part:
… What we believe the reports show is our careful, proactive monitoring effort that put into place the systems necessary to make sure we could act quickly to preserve life and safety. Additionally, they show that during our frequent inspections of the West Seattle Bridge over the past several years, there was no indication that the bridge was unsafe for ordinary use or that preventative maintenance plans would impact normal use of the bridge until very, very recently.
Documents shared with the public today include:
Initial crack memo in 2013, special inspection memo in 2013, and technical assessment memo in 2014 from consultant indicated some cracking that should continue to be monitored
Inspection reports from 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and late 2019 show monitoring of cracks and recommendations from each year
Memo from consultant in 2019 suggested sealing cracks with epoxy and further monitoring of cracks
Memo from consultant on 2/21/20 suggested the bridge should be reduced to two lanes each way and repairs initiated before end of year 2020
Memo from consultant on 3/20/20 that indicates a further review of 2019 inspection report data suggests immediate closure …
We’ve just begun reading the reports – starting with the most-recent one (March 20th, three days before the bridge was closed), which says in part:
Since our initial recommendation, our biggest concern has become the extent and rate of
cracking near the quarter points of the main span could lead to collapse in the near future if
strengthening is not implemented quickly.
The 2013 details on the cracks is also of note, carrying the observation, “The cracking does influence long term durability …” We’ll add more highlights later..
Meantime, no update yet on the timeline for determining what short-term repairs are needed before long-term repairs can be done, but we’ve asked for one.
Earlier today, we showed you the new signage and bus-lane markings being installed to underscore that the low bridge is NOT for general motorized-vehicle traffic. Now, multiple texters (and Dean, who posted photos in comments) report that police have been out pulling over violators. One texter repoorted at 3 pm, “There are about six motorcycle cops down here, handing out tickets left and right.”
We don’t know whether they issued citations or warnings, but do you really want to risk it?
Exactly two weeks after the West Seattle Bridge’s safety shutdown began, two related notes so far today:
(WSB photo, today)
SIGNAGE/BUS LANE: Thanks to commenter Joe Z for the tip. SDOT crews are out right now at the Spokane/Chelan/Delridge/West Marginal intersecion, installing signage and red lane markings to make it clearer that the low bridge is primarily for buses (“trucks OK,” the signs note, and of course emergency-response vehicles too). If you’re headed that way, by the way, work crews have lanes blocked off for the work, so the backup was significant when we went through (compounded by the low bridge opening for maritime traffic).
AT THE COUNCIL MEETING: We listened in this morning to the first of the day’s two regular City Council meetings – the “briefing meeting” on Monday mornings is where each councilmember provides miscellaneous updates. Councilmember Lisa Herbold noted that SDOT had been back at Highland Park Way/Holden on Saturday installing the pedestrian signal at the newly signalized intersection – we had noticed work going on there:
(WSB photo, today)
And Counclmember Alex Pedersen, who chairs the Transportation Committee, said he expects SDOT to be back before the council with another briefing around “month’s end” since that’s when they expect the bridge assessment to be done, enabling a repair plan. (He didn’t mention a date, but the last council meeting of the month would be April 27th, three weeks from today.
P.S. Just discovered that a bridge update is also on the agenda for tomorrow night’s Move Seattle Levy Oversight Committee meeting.
While neither of these is directly related to Camp Second Chance, both bits of information emerged during this afternoon’s meeting (by videoconferencing/phone) of the CSC Community Advisory Committee (full report later): 2 elements of COVID-19 response that are dropped or on hold because the West Seattle Bridge closure has suddenly rendered our area a lot less accessible.
One is the plan for the Southwest Teen Life Center to be used as an additional shelter space for up to 50 people, so that existing shelters in the city could be made less dense. Shawn Neal of the city Human Services Department said that site is on the back burner now because transportation logistics between here and, for example, downtown services are a lot more complex without the bridge. Also, Rev. Leah Atkinson Bilinski of Fauntleroy UCC (now the camp’s sponsor) said a plan for the co-housed Fauntleroy YMCA to be used as a child-care space for medical personnel/first responders hit the same snag – suddenly it’s a lot harder to get to/from WS – so the church is now exploring “other (interim) uses” for its building.
(2 pm screengrab from SDOT’s West Seattle Bridge camera)
Tomorrow marks two weeks since the sudden surprise safety shutdown of the West Seattle Bridge. As reported here Thursday, SDOT is still working on the analysis that will enable a short-term “shoring” plan, to be followed by permanent repairs, so it’s warning the closure will be “lengthy.” One local organization that has long advocated for more attention to the West Seattle Bridge Transportation Corridor (WSBTC) is the West Seattle Transportation Coalition (WSTC). This week the WSTC sent a letter to the City Council and Mayor with its recommendations on what should be done along the corridor because of the closure. From the letter:
… Thus, the WSTC proposes the following immediate and longer-term actions to help ease strains on mobility for Peninsula workers and residents, including but not limited to:
Immediately create and install re-route plans and detour signage, to move traffic away from the WSBTC, including:. SDOT to manage SODO and the Spokane Street corridor diversions
· SDOT to work with WSDOT to manage I-5, SR 99 and SR 509 diversions, and use other statewide notification modes;
. SDOT to create individual street plans and detour signage, to reduce or eliminate cut-through traffic impacts on West Seattle neighborhoods
. SDOT to install oversized signs to highlight high bridge closure and re-route requirements in key
Peninsula centers – Alki, Admiral Junction, Alaska Junction, High Point, Morgan Junction, Fauntleroy Ferry Dock, 35th Ave. SW at Barton, Arbor Heights, Westwood Village, South Delridge, Highland Park, Pigeon Point, North Delridge, and the Junction Triangle.install traffic signals at –
. SW Holden and 9th Ave. SW-SW Highland Park Way (SDOT completed 03-29)
. SW Delridge and 21st Ave. SW, to allow L & R turns onto Delridge, and ease pressure on SW Holden from SW Highland Park Way,
. AND improve signal timing and operation on all anticipated detour routesallow (1) registered King County Van Pool vehicles and (2) medical staff vehicles to use the low bridge,
initiate SPD traffic patrols over the low bridge and authorize violation fines;Longer-term –
Re-activate appropriate Seattle Squeeze transportations options, as when the general population returns to work, the high bridge will likely still be closed. Options would include, but not be limited to:
. Increasing West Seattle Water Taxi service if demand warrants, expanding parking for Water Taxi commuters, and coordinating 773/775 with new sailing schedule,
. expanding 773/775 service to Morgan Junction, for the duration of the High Bridge closure;. adding midday bus service for Admiral area residents, who are most effected by the closure,
. helping coordinate re-routes for commuters from Vashon and Southworth-Kitsap, who drive more than 800,000 vehicles a year through Fauntleroy, and put additional pressure on Fauntleroy Way and the WSBTC. …
Read the full letter here (PDF). Your thoughts?
(Looking east under the high bridge from Marginal Place)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Ten days have now elapsed since the sudden, shocking news that the West Seattle Bridge was unsafe and would be shut down immediately. SDOT warns in a new online FAQ that “we anticipate a lengthy closure.” Monday’s City Council briefing suggested that means months, not weeks.
So, many questions remain.
We were able to ask a few of them in a brief conversation this morning with SDOT director Sam Zimbabwe (a West Seattle resident). Our allotted time was short so these are by no means all the questions that we (and you!) have – but it’s a start. (We also have questions, mostly technical, out to SDOT in writing.) Exact quotes are marked as such.
TR: What’s happening right now, today, regarding the work toward finding out what’s wrong and getting a temporary shoring plan?
SZ: “Our roadway structures division lead Matt Donahue has personally visited the bridge just about daily … we are still trying to understand what exactly is going on with cracking on the bridge … we are still inspecting every day after taking the live load off the bridge; we are still trying to understand what is causing the cracking to happen. Our repair and interim shoring plan has to respond to the structural issues that we are facing and so we still have to understand exactly what’s going on and make sure that our repair plan is responding to those issues. So we’ve got the same consultants [WSP] that have been part of this … going back to last year when we started analyzing this cracking in more detail have still been with us working on continuing to understand what’s been going on and what our repair strategy can and should be.” As for when they will know they have enough information to proceed with a temporary shoring plan, that’s dependent on their “modeling” matching “what we’re seeing in reality” during those daily inspections, to “understand where the stresses are appearing in the bridge and how we can address that.” The modeling involves analyzing how the bridge is reacting to forces including gravity, wind, load compared to how it “should be responding” to those factors, and what it can tell them about “where the bridge is going over time.”
TR: What has SDOT seen since the must-close-the-bridge-now discovery on March 23rd?
SZ: “We have still seen some crack growth.” They’re installing stress-monitoring instrumentation – real-time monitoring should be in place within a week – and are also “mapping” the cracks to see if they’re growing at the same rate as before the closure.
(Signage at west end of lower bridge, a small part of the white sheet covering the old green sign)
TR: The low-bridge restrictions are being ignored. When will a decision be made on enforcement? And when will the signage be improved?
SZ: “We implemented the detour plan [on March 23rd] extremely quickly and there are certain things that we have limited capacity, especially right now in terms of our public-health emergency response … We are working to improve the signage over the next week or so and increase some of the size, make sure there’s better signage, and hope that that in part can lead to better behavior. … Enforcing the restriction is not necessarily an easy task, and what we have been working on over the last week with the Police Department is … there has not been active enforcement of the prohibitions but police have been out there at various points, observing, having a presence, but then also figuring out… how we could safely and effectively enforce the restrictions.”
(Screengrab of SDOT camera, tweeted Sunday by @kazzmere)
TR: What about measures to keep people off the high bridge? We’ve received multiple reports of people seen walking, running, biking, skateboarding on it. Will there be better barricades (etc.)?
SZ: “There likely will.” Police were dispatched on Sunday to check out two reports of people on the bridge. “It is not … open to pedestrians, it is closed because it’s unsafe to be up there right now, for anybody; we don’t want anybody up there at all, it really is a hazard to people … We recognize that we may have to upgrade the fencing to make sure that people aren’t up there … we’ll do that as we need to.”
From there, we went back to the high bridge’s condition:
TR: Which side of the bridge are the worst cracks on?
SZ: “Both … the south side of the bridge [eastbound] is in a little bit worse condition … that’s potentially because it’s getting more solar exposure … hotter from the sun … but again, we don’t know exactly what all the causes of the deterioration are, but that could be one part of it.”
TR: Given the unique nature of the bridge, have you been in contact with anybody involved in building it?
SZ: Not sure about that but knows they’ve “reached out to folks who were part of SDOT over the years” and they’re also talking with WSDOT “and some of their bridge experts.” Part of what led to the discovery of this problem was consulting firm WSP bringing in some experts – “I believe from Toronto” – and some “academic bridge experts … so we’ve got a lot of eyes on it, and we’re looking for all the best advice and thoughts that we can get … Building a bridge like this, maintaining it, repairing it … there’s no one way to do it, and we’re looking for the best ideas of how to do it effectively.”
We were over our allotted window by then, but SDOT had indicated they wanted to clarify the pre-closure timeline a bit, so we asked about that last.
SZ: “The late February notification was an indication that we needed to think about reducing the number of lanes on the bridge by the end of 2020 – over time. It wasn’t an immediate ‘hey, do this right away’. March 19th was more of a ‘hey, this is a big issue'” and recommending full closure. That led to Donahue going to the bridge daily over that weekend and then Monday (March 23rd) morning, when he “went back inside the bridge – and a lot of this you can only see from inside the bridge – that takes some effort to actually (get) inside the bridge, make sure people can get in and out safely – so when he went back in with the WSP consultant and another one of our bridge engineers, that’s when he confirmed the growth of the cracks and also recommended full closure.”
TR: So the February 21st “think about reducing lanes by the end of 2020” wasn’t a life/safety matter?
SZ: No, and they knew what an effect even lane reductions would have on West Seattle, so they were talking about implementation, mitigation, “starting that conversation” but “in a month in the middle of our public-health emergency we had not been able to have a lot of those discussions that we would need to have to be able to implement even a lane reduction … and then it became a public-safety concern very quickly.”
As noted above, we have other questions pending with SDOT, and have requested an interview about the traffic plan – from monitoring of the detour routes to strategies that might be deployed when “stay-home” time is over and traffic starts getting back to something resembling a normal level. So watch for more followups.
Our ongoing coverage is all archived here, newest to oldest. SDOT’s project page is here, including the new FAQ.
(WSB photo from last month, MV Doc Maynard at Seacrest)
During past traffic crunches, like Alaskan Way Viaduct closures and the Viaduct-to-Tunnel transition, the West Seattle Water Taxi has seen a surge in ridership. The high-rise West Seattle Bridge closure comes at a time when the COVID=19 “stay-home order” has already dramatically reduced ridership, but we were still curious how it’s affected WT usage, so we asked King County.
Spokesperson Torie Rynning provided the newest numbers (PDF). Ridership was actually lower last week than the week before – 167 morning riders total for 3/23-3/27, 196 pm riders, compared to 173/337 for 3/16-3/20. We don’t have the exact numbers for the same period last year but in a Monday post on the Water Taxi blog, Rynning wrote that ridership is overall down 90 percent. That post also addresses the question of whether WT service will be increased because of the bridge closure: For now, it’s clearly not needed, but, “We’ve already assembled a task force that is developing various plans to ramp back up and to add service when ridership demand increases.” In the meantime, the WSWT remains on its five-day-a-week, AM/PM-commute-times-only schedule TFN (in normal times, it would be on the 7-day-a-week spring/summer schedule by now).
(West Seattle Bridge cracks, from sdotblog.seattle.gov)
As reported here last week, West Seattle/South Park Councilmember Lisa Herbold had questions for SDOT after the sudden bridge closure was announced – a surprise to the council as well as to everyone who uses the bridge. Tonight she has published an update including answers from SDOT. You can read her update in its entirety here (including a recap of Monday’s briefing, which we covered here). Below, the questions (in bold) and SDOT answers that are part of her update:
SDOT Answers to Council Questions
SDOT has answered some of the questions sent by my office and the City Council. Here’s a link to responses from SDOT so far. Below are highlights:
Has SDOT received word from the Coast Guard about flexibility re: times the bridge can remain open w/o or with limited closures?
The Coast Guard has broadcasted a notice to non-commercial vessels with a request to time transit and requests for openings during non-peak commute times. We are making a deviation request for am/pm peak close periods that, if they are not objected to by local mariners, can last for 180 days. Additionally, we can request an official rule change for a close period, but that is a 6-month process and subject to any objection from the local maritime community.
Can SDOT allow vehicle traffic on the lower bridge overnight? I have heard from more than one person whose work shift begins at 3 a.m., when traffic is lighter.
We understand the inconvenience the closure of the High Bridge poses to the West Seattle community. In light of the current public health emergency, our top priority is emergency access to hospitals and protecting the supply chain, so we are reserving access to emergency vehicles, freight, and transit, and working with our partners at SPD, SFD, the Port, and Metro to determine the extent of the access limitations. Detour signs are posted and SPD officers are stationed at either end of the Low Bridge to direct GP traffic away from the bridge. We are monitoring traffic on the Low Bridge 24-hours a day from our Transportation Operations Center. As new traffic patterns develop, we may be able to adjust access.
I have heard from several COVID-19 first responders (firefighter, ER nurse) who must leave the peninsula for work, and from an immunology researcher at UW working on COVID-19. Could the lower bridge be opened for them?
We acknowledge it is critical for doctors, nurses, researchers and first responders to get to their jobs. At the same time, we must reserve access to the Low Bridge to emergency vehicle transporting critically ill patients. Many people who live and work in West Seattle serve many kinds of essential functions – we need to maintain equity for all of them. The Low Bridge is currently open to essential workers who get to work by taking transit, walking, and biking. It’s also open to essential workers who need access to Harbor Island and T-5 and people using emergency vehicles and transporting freight as part of their jobs. For essential workers who are driving private vehicles, they are directed to the 1st Ave S Bridge.
Please explain SDOT’s procedures for providing information the Council regarding ongoing inspections for potential significant problems that could lead to closure of major roadways or structures.
SDOT regularly conducts inspections of bridges in keeping with Federal requirements. These inspections are programmatic in nature, and generally identify preventative maintenance and repair actions, while also tracking the evolution of the bridge structure over time. The load rating project for the West Seattle High-Pass Bridge started in 2019 indicated that the cracking problem was more serious than originally reported in the consultant study we commissioned in 2014 after cracking at post-tensioning anchorage points was first discovered in 2013. We performed an in-depth analysis through the consultant doing the load rating work. As part of this analysis we needed more accurate mapping of the cracked bridge sections near the anchorage points so we inspected the bridge via Under Bridge Inspection Truck (UBIT), interior inspections of the box girders at the anchorage points and additional exterior inspections in October and December of 2019 and again in March of 2020. As the analysis was coming to a conclusion in March 2020 it indicated that there was a serious load carrying capacity issue with the bridge, we simultaneously noticed that the rate of cracking was increasing at a concerning rate just within the month of March 2020. This rate of increase was unexpected compared to previous months and gave us reason to close the bridge for safety.
The closure of the bridge, while abrupt, followed SDOT’s commitment to transparency and timely communication with the Mayor, City Council and the public on all issues that will or are quite likely to negatively impact their constituents. What led to the short window of time between alerting the Council and the public and the closure of the bridge on March 23 was the rapid acceleration of cracking within an extremely short period of time.
Please provide a timeline of SDOT’s inspections of the West Seattle Bridge that lead to this decision.
We regularly inspect our bridges. The events of the past few days is a notable example of why those efforts are critical and why we take this responsibility so seriously. During a 2013 routine inspection of the West Seattle Bridge, our bridge inspectors discovered four sets of cracks in the bridge support structure. We’ve inspected the bridge every year since then; twice as frequently as required by federal guidelines. Since then, we’ve closely monitored and managed the cracks. In 2014, we installed real-time data collection equipment to aid in these efforts, which allowed us to remotely monitor the width of existing cracks on the bridge. At this time, we also began conducting more frequent inspections and implementing best-practice maintenance and repairs. Those annual inspections did not indicate a need for repairs that would significantly disrupt standard use of the bridge. During a 2019 assessment of the bridge’s ability to carry heavy loads, our structural engineering consultant mapped the cracks in the bridge and discovered that they had grown since the previous year’s inspection. We and our engineering consultant continued to closely monitor these cracks and carry out critical maintenance by injecting epoxy into them to protect the steel reinforcements. In late February 2020, our engineering consultant recommended that the rate of deterioration made it necessary to consider traffic restrictions to ensure public safety. As we came to the same conclusion late last week, while we were drafting a lane-reduction plan and preparing to initiate conversations with City leaders and the community, our structural engineering consultant notified us that they had conducted new analysis raising larger concerns. We conducted several observations over the next few days and on Monday, March 23, we found significant new cracking. This confirmed that cracking had rapidly accelerated to the point where there was no other option but to immediately close the bridge.
(in response to a question about 2013, 2016 and 2019 changes to federal bridge load rating standards):
Federal guidelines require that bridges in the National Highway System be inspected every two years (see National Bridge Inspection Standards in 23 CFR 650C). During a 2013 routine inspection of the West Seattle Bridge, our structural engineers discovered four sets of cracks in the bridge support structure. We have been closely monitoring these cracks since then, installing real-time data collection equipment in 2014 allowing us to remotely monitor the bridge condition, and began conducting more frequent follow up inspections in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020.
In an unrelated process, the FHWA issued new requirements in 2013 that DOTs reevaluate all bridge load ratings by 2022 due to the growing use of heavier trucks for specific kinds of emergency response and construction vehicles. This required SDOT to re-evaluate the maximum vehicle weight that 69 bridges could safely support. We began these load rating revaluations in 2015 and started the West Seattle Bridge reevaluation in mid-2019, according to our planned schedule.
Please provide the most recent list of SDOT’s assessment of Seattle’s bridges (including ratings).
Each year Roadway Structures updates their Project Rating Criteria List based on the previous years’ bridge condition data and rating factors that prioritize local concerns including equity and transportation system impact. The 2019 Project Rating Criteria for SDOT’s bridge inventory is being updated and will be ready the week of 3/30.
Can traffic signals at the 5-way intersection at West Marginal Way, Spokane Street, Delridge Way be adjusted to better serve new traffic patterns? One constituent said they had to wait through 5 light cycles to get to Spokane Street from West Marginal during the afternoon with relatively light traffic.
We know the 5-way intersection has been a challenge even prior to the High Bridge closure. The current intersection design is intended to maintain all potential movements and separates each leg to remove potential conflicts. With increased demand on the intersection as a result of the High Bridge closure, SDOT will re-evaluate the intersection to see whether any design or operational changes can help address congestion while maintaining safe operations.
This signal is on our high priority emergency list to be upgraded so that the signal system is interconnected to our central system. This will allow for us to adjust signal timing actively based on new traffic patterns. These upgrades also include improved detection to better facilitate new priority movements. This work will be prioritized after our work on Highland Park Way & Holden and our target is to complete it within the next 2-3 weeks.
What was the original design vehicle and what would we use today?
The bridge was originally designed for a design live load commercial vehicle designated as HS-20 (like a large commercial tractor-trailer truck but slightly less axel load than an articulated bus). Since the bridge was brought online in 1984, the size and loading of commercial vehicles have continued to increase as indicated by the much larger HL-93 design loading that is used to design new bridges today. Note that HL-93 loading is not a specific commercial vehicle type, but rather a requirement to choose the worst load combination presented by combining either an HS-20 or Heavy Tandem Trailer with a distributed lane load. The ‘93’ refers to the year that this loading type was adopted as the governing load combination for bridge load rating calculations. This load combination captures the loading of the larger articulated buses that are in use today.
Looking at the full Q&A document linked above, this one is of particular note:
The November 2018 Move Levy Workplan (i.e. levy “re-set”) noted 16 bridges scheduled for seismic improvements from 2019 to 2024; the 2020-2025 SDOT CIP “Bridge Seismic – Phase III” item noted the 16 bridges. Why was the West Seattle Bridge not included in the 16 bridges?
There is a very significant need for seismic retrofit throughout SDOT’s bridge inventory. The list of 16 bridges chosen for the current levy was based on bridge assets with the most significant seismic vulnerability and highest degree of impact if a failure under seismic loading were to occur for each region around the city. The live load capacity issues we are seeing with the WSHB are distinct from potential seismic vulnerabilities that were intended to be addressed with the Move Seattle Levy. Note that the repairs that we will need to make to return vertical live load capacity to the bridge will not necessarily address other components in the bridge that are vulnerable to lateral seismic loading.
As part of the City of Seattle’s efforts to invest in transportation infrastructure and public safety, the Move Seattle Levy is funding the replacement of the Fairview Ave N Bridge and the seismic reinforcement of 16 other bridges. The Levy is also funding replacement planning studies for 10 additional bridges to help us better understand the size of Seattle’s maintenance backlog, assess and manage roadway structure maintenance needs, and maximize future investments (for example, this includes the recently completed the Magnolia Bridge Planning Study and Ballard Bridge Planning Study currently underway).
Here are a few examples of upcoming / ongoing bridge projects funded by the Move Seattle Levy:
• Fairview Ave N Bridge Replacement Project: This South Lake Union bridge was built over 65 years ago and is the last wood-supported bridge on a major road in Seattle. The timber piles which hold up the western half of the bridge are decaying and the concrete girders which stabilize the street on the eastern half of the bridge were cracked. While safe for travel, the bridge was structurally unstable and vulnerable to earthquakes needed to be replaced. We closed this bridge in late September and construction is expected to last approximately 19 months.
• Cowen Park Bridge Seismic Retrofit Project: This Ravenna bridge was built in 1936, prior to the modernization of the seismic design code. Seismic improvements are needed to reduce the bridge’s vulnerability to earthquakes. Construction on the Cowen Park Bridge began in fall 2019 2019 and will last approximately 6 months.
• W Howe St Bridge Project – Seismic Retrofit: The bridge over 32nd Ave W in the southern portion of Magnolia was constructed in 1946 to provide access across a steep ravine. The all steel structure is tall and slender and was identified as seismically deficient. Construction began on this project in late 2019.
Our bridge-closure coverage so far is archived here.
(Seattle Channel video from meeting- bridge briefing starts 14 minutes in)
9:33 AM: Click into the live Seattle Channel stream above for the City Council‘s weekly “briefing” meeting, featuring an SDOT presentation on the decision a week ago to close the high-rise West Seattle Bridge after “exponential” growth in cracks they had been monitoring for seven years, and what happens next. As previewed Friday, here’s the slide deck prepared for the meeting:
(Or see it here in PDF.) If you can’t access the SC feed, you should be able to listen in at 206-684-8566. We’ll be chronicling as it happens, too.
9:46 AM: After Council President Lorena González‘s weekly update, the bridge briefing has begun. District 1 Councilmember Lisa Herbold opens by mentioning that there’s “universal support” for the fastest action possible, as for West Seattle this is a “second emergency” layered on the pandemic emergency. Councilmember Alex Pedersen, who chairs the Transportation Committee, notes a resolution is set for this afternoon’s meeting designating this as an urgent capital project. Then SDOT director Sam Zimbabwe starts the briefing. He’s joined by other SDOT employees – all in separate locations.
He reiterates that the bridge had been inspected previously more often than required, adding that the bridge was built to last 75 years. He says there was no indication until recent weeks/months that anything impeding the bridge’s use was going on. “All of our infrastructure ages – usually it does so in a predictable manner … with very few surprises,” although there have been exceptions such as the Argo Bridge (4th Ave. S.) and Aurora Bridge. “For reasons that we don’t yet know,” the bridge became so dangerous it had to be closed, he says. “We needed to take this action swiftly and decisively.”
SDOT’s bridge manager Matt Donahue picks up from there. He gives some background on the bridge, opened in 1984. “Reinforced concrete bridges are … made to crack,” he notes. Bridges like this are supposed to be inspected every two years. After atypical cracking was first noticed in 2013, they hired an engineering firm. 2014-2019, they inspected annually and looked at “crack width data” – the cracking “continued to grow but not at an alarming rate,” 1/1000th inch or less. Then in 2019 came the load-rating inspection required by new federal guidelines that they had until 2022 to do, but because of the cracks, they moved the load-rating inspection up to 2019. “Two things happened – we’re doing this advanced analysis …and continuing to inspect the bridge … gathering more data …” so they built two models to analyze. While gathering data for that, they saw the cracking patterns start to change. In late February, their consultant recommended going down to two lanes in each direction. They were working on a plan for that when on March 19th, the consultant said the bridge should be closed. So they analyzed that over a weekend, went up to the bridge at 9 am last Monday, and the photo shows “what they saw when we got up there.”
10:07 AM: Councilmember Herbold says there should have been public/council notice when they moved to monthly inspections. Zimbabwe counters that they didn’t think until “very very recently” that repairs would disrupt “normal traffic patterns.” CP González (also a West Seattleite) asks for further clarification on that two-lane recommendation. February 21st, responds Zimbabwe. But it didn’t seem to be something that needed to be done immediately. Nonetheless, as she noted, that was a month before this, and there was no hint to the public or council that anything was amiss. She and Herbold express disappointment. Zimbabwe says the recommendation for closure was made March 19th, and then they confirmed March 23rd that it was needed. He acknowledges there could have been some discussion in the weeks ahead but says again there was no indication “such swift action” would have been needed.
Donahue resumes his part of the briefing, pointing to the cracking growth and saying that the kind of growth he saw last Monday was the kind you see in years, not days and weeks, “completely unacceptable. … Failure happens quickly and without warning” in this type of situation. Regarding repairs: They hope to fix it while some traffic is allowed on the bridge, and they will continue to inspect the cracks, in hopes the bridge can “at least handle its own dead weight” for now.
Councilmember Tammy Morales expresses concern about whether there’s a “chance the upper bridge could collapse at any moment” – Donahue says they don’t think so.
Counclmember Pedersen “echoes” the notification concerns and saying they needed to know – even that lane closures were being planned.
Councilmember Herbold asks for more details on repair options. SDOT reiterates that they are working on a “design-build” process to accelerate. Donahue says they are gathering data on how the bridge is handling the stress and strain and that has to be known first. Zimbabwe says, “We’re looking for any possible way to restore any amount of traffic” but they have to be certain it would be safe. Herbold says she wasn’t suggesting a rush but just wants to be sure this is treated as an “emergency.”
Back to Donahue, who now moves on to the “low bridge” slide. Parts of it are getting weekly inspections; a load-rating project started recently for this bridge too. The pedestrian gates will be fixed next month.
10:28 AM: Adiam Emery now takes over to address the “traffic management plan.” 20,000 vehicles is the maximum the low bridge could handle, which would be stop-and-go, so to be sure emergency vehicles can get through, they’re limiting other traffic to transit and freight. She mentions the Highland Park Way signal, and “traffic-count stations” to watch the situation elsewhere. How frequently will they be monitored and what info will be shared? Herbold asks. She also asks about low-bridge access for health-care workers and first responders to get to work. Emery says 15,000 vehicles took the low bridge last Tuesday, the first full day of the closure, but they aren’t ready to reconsider the restrictions yet. She says the traffic counts are being used to tweak signal timing and other things “on a daily basis.” Zimbabwe adds that “right now we’re in an extraordinary (low) traffic period” so they know things will change. “This is not a short-term issue.” (But, it should be noted, there’s still been no hint in the briefing of HOW LONG the repairs will take.) Emery says many more strategies will be required to manage the future traffic and a task force, also involving Metro and the port, is looking at that.
Back to Donahue for repair options. First the temporary shoring “to make it safe” for a contractor to even do more repairs – “carbon fiber wrapping” coated with an epoxy shell is likely what they’ll use for starters, also more steel reinforcement. They have to be careful in the design that the repairs don’t affect bridge clearance on the waterway, which could trigger a need for Coast Guard permits, which would add more time.
Enforcing low-bridge restrictions? Herbold follows up. Zimbabwe mentions the signage. “Our general approach to enforcement of all our traffic rules is to have people follow the rules (and for us to) have as light an enforcement touch as possible,” but that could change … “if everybody tries to use the lower-level bridge, then nobody will be able to use the lower-level bridge.”
Councilmember Mosqueda asks about worker safety regarding COVID-19 exposure on repair crews. Zimbabwe says they have implemented safety plans for all their projects But working inside the bridge is a close space so that’s a challenge.
10:48 AM: Councilmember González stresses the importance of getting information out in multiple languages since West Seattle/South Park is “incredibly diverse” in terms of languages spoken. She also puts in a plug for WSB. “The West Seattle Blog is critical for anything that happens in West Seattle,” agrees Zimbabwe. He then gets to the org chart, with (another West Seattleite) Heather Marx coordinating the project, Dan Anderson as lead communicator – he’s had that role for several major local projects – among others (see the slide).
Re: next steps, Herbold asks about funding needed. Zimbabwe says “Yes, there will be budget impacts,” but they don’t know enough yet about the shoring and repair options – “we expect that’ll be over the next few weeks” – to address cost. “Beyond where we are with shoring and repair, we also recognize” they have to talk about the bridge’s future – “not our immediate priority” though.
González asks about timelines: Zimbabwe says they don’t know. “It’s not going to be a short duration and I don’t want to gve the impression this is something we can handle in the next few weeks …I think it’ll outlast the public health emergency we’re in now. … I am very reluctant to speculate on (timelines) … any range I give would likely have problems.”
On followup he says they’ll know “over the next month or so … what we need to do.” So basically – this s our interpretation – plan on months.
11:03 AM: The briefing has concluded (running twice as long as originally expected). TOPLINES:
-They don’t know what caused the cracks to worsen
-They knew a month ago that they had worsened to a point where lane reduction was advised
-They don’t know how long it’ll take even for short-term repairs – it’ll take up to a month before they know.
We’ll get the archived video up as soon as possible (we recorded the briefing too in case the Seattle Channel turnaround takes longer).
1:35 PM: Video added. Advance the Seattle Channel recording to 14 minutes in to get to the start.
12:11 PM: SDOT crews have continued to work through the weekend installing the “temporary signal” at Highland Park Way and SW Holden (map), announced Wednesday as one of the first traffic-tackling measures to deal with the detous forced by the West Seattle Bridge closure. The picture above is what we saw about an hour ago. SDOT told us on Friday they expect to be done sometime in the coming week. Until the bridge’s sudden shutdown, the city had been in the early stages of designing a “fully signalized intersection” after many years of community pleas (here’s the plan posted earlier this month). We should find out more about the bridge situation and traffic-mitigation plan when the City Council is briefed Monday morning at 9:30 am (here’s how to watch/listen).
5:38 PM: Just went through to confirm what a commenter reported – it’s now operational.
(WSB photo, Thursday)
As noted here earlier today, the City Council will get a briefing Monday morning on what’s newly dubbed the West Seattle High-Rise Bridge Safety Project – to address the cracking problem that led to the bridge’s sudden closure four days ago. Tonight, we have a preview, via the slide deck published on the city website:
(Or see it here in PDF.) Among the new information the slide deck reveals:
-Further details on the monitoring of cracks dating back to 2013
-One month ago, “Engineering consultant recommends reducing traffic load” so SDOT began “preparing for discussions with City leaders and community outreach”
-After an inspection on Monday morning, “Public and private sector engineers agreed that the bridge was no longer reasonably safe for ordinary travel” so the closure decision was made and announced “within hours”
No repair plan timeline or estimate, but it DOES appear they think it can be fixed. The presentation includes:
• Seek interim repairs with a goal of restoring some traffic
• Accelerate major maintenance/repair to extend bridge life by 10+ years
Also revealed: The low bridge needs some work: it’s described as the “deteriorating primary alternate
route” to the high bridge, with the recommendations:
• Continue weekly inspection and monitoring
• Complete load rating project
• Complete ped gate replacement
• Complete controls upgrade project
• Complete rehabilitation of the Pier
6 and Pier 7 lift cylinders
The slide deck also has an org chart of key members of the project team. West Seattle-residing Heather Marx, who most recently has served as “downtown mobility director” amid a construction crush, is listed as the project chief. (That wasn’t mentioned during our phone interview with her for this Wednesday night followup.) And the presentation’s last page, listing “next steps,” includes this one: “Conduct study to determine the structure’s remaining useful life (start fall 2020).”
| 34 COMMENTS