The 1^st Ave on-ramp to the West Seattle Bridge (S Spokane St Viaduct) closed yesterday as promised – and…traffic is still moving.  The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) was planning for the worst and hoping for the best, with uniformed police officers and traffic operations spotters stationed at key intersections (W Marginal Way/Chelan/Delridge/Spokane intersection near Terminal 5; 35th Ave SW and Avalon; and S Hanford St and E Marginal Way S).  The afternoon commute is the main concern, and did see some adjustments yesterday at the 5-way Delridge/Chelan/Marginal intersection – tweaks made in less than 20 minutes thanks to fast reporting by those experts on the ground.  With the detour route running fairly smoothly, the police officers did not have to step in Monday but they’re on hand again today and as needed moving forward as the team continues monitoring traffic flow.

Other elements in place to help guide traffic include coordination with the maritime industry to provide advance of bridge closures (via Twitter); paint and signage updates at Spokane Street intersections; and parking Restrictions at key portions of affected major routes.  As done this morning, SDOT will send out Tweets when lower swing bridge openings are imminent.  Sign up for Twitter at twitter.com and follow twitter/seattledot to receive updates, or text follow seattledot to 40404 to receive updates via SMS.