Those driving through Sodo, take note: Sixth Avenue South and East Marginal Way South will both be closed overnight tonight and some nights next week at South Spokane Street, so that workers can complete construction in the area for the Spokane Street Viaduct widening project.
Sixth Avenue South will be closed at South Spokane Street tonight, Thursday, December 8, and also on Monday and Tuesday, December 12 and 13. Closures will begin at 9 p.m., except on December 12, when work will begin at 11 p.m. The street will reopen at 5 a.m. each morning.
Northbound drivers on Sixth Avenue South will have access to I-5 on-ramps at Sixth and Spokane during the closures.
Northbound East Marginal Way at South Spokane Street will be closed tonight, December 8, from 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. tomorrow morning. The street will be closed to both northbound and southbound traffic next Monday-Thursday, December 12-15 from 11 p.m. until 5 a.m. each following morning.
On Tuesday, December 13, the southbound to westbound turn to the West Seattle Swing Bridge will also be closed from 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. the following morning. Drivers will be directed to a detour via the First Avenue South Bridge.
Further information on the viaduct widening project, which is scheduled to complete in Spring 2012, can be found at the project website.
The westbound lanes of the Spokane Street Viaduct will be closed next week between I-5 and SR 99 for continued work on widening the structure. The closures will start each weeknight from November 7-11 at 10 p.m., and will end by 5 a.m. the next morning.
During the closures, southbound traffic from I-5 will detour to the South Forest Street exit, then to to the lower Spokane Street Swing Bridge. Northbound traffic from I-5 and traffic from Beacon Hill via Columbian Way will detour via Sixth Avenue South. Be aware there may be occasional congestion.
Going to West Seattle late tonight? It will be a bit more complicated than usual. The Seattle Department of Transportation is closing the westbound lanes of the Spokane Street Viaduct between I-5 and SR99 from 10 p.m. tonight, Thursday, October 20, until 5 a.m. tomorrow morning, October 21, to test techniques for preparing old deck for new paving.
Traffic from Beacon Hill via Columbian Way will be detoured onto 6th Avenue South to a route leading to the lower-level Spokane Street swing bridge.
Jefferson Park is a wonderful community gathering space located in the heart of Beacon Hill.  It offers amazing views, brand new tennis courts, playground, cricket, lawn bowling, golfing, a community center, and soon we will have a skate park and spray pad (which would not have gotten much use this summer, somewhat diminishing the sting of construction delays).  But the irony is this community nexus acts as a physical division within our neighborhood. The golf course is not permeable by car or foot, while the park is surrounded by arterial and collector streets (Spokane, Columbian, Beacon) that are wide and unsafe to cross except at stoplight-controlled intersections.  Due to the current configuration it is difficult to access the park in a safe and efficient manner without getting in your car and driving there, which I must say, though I love my car, does take the neighborhoodiness out of things a bit—when was the last time you had a meaningful interaction with a neighbor when driving past them on 15th?
Neighbors have noticed that many people try to access the park by foot by crossing Spokane between Beacon and 15th Ave. S. (at 16th, 17th, Lafayette, and Alamo).  Though legal, crossing Spokane at these intersections across 4 lanes of fast-moving traffic with no marked crosswalks and difficult sightlines is not the most relaxing stroll to the park.  A solution proposed in Beacon Hill’s Bike and Pedestrian Circulation Plan is to create a safe pedestrian crossing at Lafayette Ave. S.  The first step to adding a new pedestrian crossing is data collection.  Within the past month folks from Beacon B.I.K.E.S. have conducted pedestrian crossing counts and even shot a nice video at the proposed crossing.
The results from the counts indicate that during peak hours around 20 people per hour will cross Spokane at these dangerous intersections.  This is considered a high enough rate by SDOT to justify a pedestrian crossing.  SDOT will soon be conducting their own counts and studies and hopefully we will get the crossing installed next year!  Of couhttp://youtu.be/dvqw7D8-6aYrse, it won’t happen without a lot of community support, so if you are interested please contactBeacon B.I.K.E.S. and send an email to Peter Hahn (SDOT director) letting him know this is something the neighborhood needs.
The Seattle Department of Transportation advises that the westbound lanes of the Spokane Street Viaduct will be closed just west of I-5 for three nights, August 16-18. During these closures, southbound traffic exiting I-5 will be detoured to the S. Forest St. exit. Northbound traffic and westbound traffic from Columbian Way on Beacon Hill will be detoured to surface streets at 6th Ave. S. Drivers on southbound Highway 99 will still be able to access West Seattle as usual.
On August 15, the right lane of the westbound Spokane Street Viaduct will be closed overnight. The I-5 westbound ramps will remain open.
Beacon neighbors who travel through Sodo should be aware that Fourth Avenue South will be reduced to one lane in each direction each night for up to three weeks beginning this Wednesday, August 3, as part of the work to widen the Spokane Street Viaduct.
Lane reductions on Fourth Avenue South on either side of the South Spokane Street intersection will run from 9 p.m. each night until 5 a.m. the next morning, except for event nights, at which time work will start at 11 p.m. The lane closures are needed for the painting of steel girders.
Beaconians heading west from the Hill take note—The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) will close the Spokane Street viaduct (formerly known as the West Seattle Freeway) overnight for three nights for work related to the Spokane Viaduct widening project.
Eastbound lanes of the viaduct will be closed from 11 p.m. tonight, February 25, until 5 a.m. on Saturday, February 26. The westbound lanes of the viaduct will be closed overnight on February 27 and 28 from 10 p.m. until 5 a.m. the following day to remove portions of the old structure. During this closure, southbound I-5 traffic will be directed to the Forest Street exit to access surface streets. Northbound I-5 traffic and westbound traffic from Columbian Way will be detoured to surface streets at 6th Avenue South.
Bicycle commuters on Dexter Avenue near Seattle Center. Photo by Oran Viriyincy via Creative Commons.Sarah Bronstein of the Cascade Bicycle Club writes,
“As part of a greater initiative to get more people biking in SE we will be implementing the Green Bike Project. The Project gives away Novara commuter bikes to employees who fulfill a 3-month pledge to reduce their drive alone commute trips by 50%. Last year, the GBP was done county-wide, but this year it will be targeted only at SE Seattle employers in the Rainier, Beacon Hill and Columbia City area. Interested employers need to be able to recruit about a half dozen employees from their work site (company or building) to participate, and then serve as a site-contact for the duration of the project.”
Health Department inspectors have been in the area again, visiting Mac Pherson’s and the 21st Avenue South Cash & Carry. The Cash & Carry should be congratulated for scoring a perfect score of zero, which they have done for at least the last four inspections (the only ones shown on the county’s website).
ROCKiT space also has some new activities, including sculpting classes and a knitting club (at which you may see a certain BHB editor, once it gets started). See the ROCKiT space website for details.
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The ongoing work on the South Spokane Street Viaduct continues. Permanent closure of the First Avenue South on-ramp to the westbound lanes of the viaduct is tentatively scheduled for May 17. For the next year and a half after that, there will be no access to the Spokane Street Viaduct from surface streets in Sodo, and vehicles from Sodo will be detoured to the low level bridge to get to West Seattle. We’ll post more info as the date approaches.
On March 22, the First Avenue off-ramp from the eastbound viaduct will be reduced to one lane for up to five months, and First Avenue South will also be restricted to one lane for northbound traffic from South Spokane to South Hanford.
Next week will be the exception—the Alaskan Way Viaduct will be closed for inspection, so First Avenue will stay open to keep Sodo from becoming complete gridlock for the weekend. See SDOT’s Spokane Street Project page for more.
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If you didn’t get enough dodgeball as a kid in gym class, Jefferson Community Center is the place for you this spring. Adult dodgeball league games will be held at both Jefferson and West Seattle’s Delridge community centers. It’s open to teams of all abilities, and the cost per team is $180. Spring team registration closes on April 7, 2010. For more information, contact Antoinette Daniel at 206-684-7092, or email Antoinette.daniel@seattle.gov.
Some big changes are coming as the Seattle Department of Transportation continues the process of widening and improving the South Spokane Street Viaduct (formerly known as the West Seattle Freeway).
The westbound off-ramp to Fourth Avenue South from Columbian Way/Beacon Hill is closing permanently on January 22. From that point on, drivers will need to take alternate routes to SoDo:
From southbound I-5, exit at South Forest Street (before the West Seattle Bridge exit). Turn right on Sixth Avenue South. Turn left on South Lander to access Fourth Avenue South.
From northbound I-5, take exit 163 for the West Seattle Bridge. At the fork, stay right to exit toward Spokane Street/Safeco Field/Qwest Field. Merge onto lower South Spokane Street. Continue until Sixth Avenue South and then follow the detour signs to Fourth Avenue South.
From South Columbian Way, head towards I-5. Follow signs for the West Seattle Bridge. Follow the signs for South Spokane Street/Sixth Avenue South then follow the detour signs to Fourth Avenue South.
In late 2011, a new ramp will open at First Avenue South to replace the Fourth Avenue ramp.
Some other changes are coming in the next few weeks. On January 22, westbound
South Spokane Street (lower roadway) will be closed between Sixth Avenue South and Fourth Avenue South. From January 22-24, the southbound I-5 off-ramp to the West Seattle Bridge will be closed at night. And sometime in February, westbound South Spokane Street (lower roadway) will be closed between Fourth Avenue South and East Marginal Way.
Later, in the spring, the ramp to the viaduct from First Avenue South will be closed and removed.
