When WSDOT announced the schedule for its second phase of repairs to the northbound 1st Avenue South Bridge, they warned, “Additional night or weekend closures are possible depending on the pace of bridge repairs.” Along with the nightly closures already planned, they’ve also just announced the northbound bridge will be closed all weekend again starting this Friday night (May 15). Here’s the new plan, with a reminder first about the weeknight closures:
Up to three lanes of northbound State Route 99 will close across the First Avenue South Bridge in Seattle from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. nightly Monday, May 11, through Friday morning, May 15. At least one northbound lane will remain open each night.
The following northbound SR 99 ramps also will close at the same times each night:
On-ramp from South Holden Street.
On-ramp from Occidental Avenue South.
Off-ramp to South Michigan Street.Contractor crews working for the Washington State Department of Transportation will move scaffolding on the northbound SR 99 First Avenue South Bridge to prepare for a second consecutive weekend closure across the northbound bridge from [10 pm] Friday night, May 15, to [5 am] Monday morning, May 18.
Crews replaced five failing steel grid deck panels during the May 8-11 weekend closure of the northbound SR 99 First Avenue South Bridge. They will replace five more panels during the weekend closure May 15-18 to finalize Phase 2 emergency bridge repairs.
Phase 3 will be a full replacement of the northbound bridge deck, WSDOT has said, likely sometime next year.
P.S. SDOT had announced the West Seattle low bridge would close this weekend – to driving – for work, and we already had an inquiry out regarding specific times, so we’re asking if this closure will change the plan at all.