With the new 4th Avenue Off-ramp construction on schedule to open this fall, the long-awaited Spokane Street Viaduct Widening project is now breaking ground. The $168 million viaduct effort is the largest project the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) currently has in construction. It is expected to be finished by May of 2012. When complete, the project will have nearly doubled the width of the elevated roadway. Seattle commuters and the freight community will enjoy improved access between I-5, the area south of downtown (SODO) and West Seattle, and benefit from significantly improved traffic flow and safety on this key east-west route.
The work by SDOT and its contractor to widen this 60-year-old elevated roadway that connects I-5 to the West Seattle Bridge will have traffic impacts beginning Friday, January 22. If you are driving into or out of the SODO area or West Seattle this weekend, allow yourself extra time! The ramps leading to the West Seattle Bridge from northbound I-5 and Columbian Way will be closed this weekend; the westbound Fourth Avenue S off-ramp will be permanently closed and Spokane Street westbound will close from Sixth to First Avenue for the duration of the project.
For all the details about the closures and detours, please visit our website.