The Seattle Department of Transportation will begin intermittent nighttime lane closures on Mercer Street today, Monday, August 29, as part of ongoing work on the Mercer Corridor Project.

Commuters should expect even more lane restrictions along Dexter Ave N on Wednesday, July 27 and Thursday, July 28 of this week – SDOT and its contractor will be repaving the construction ridden thoroughfare between McGraw Street and Garfield on both days, weather permitting.

Crews will begin paving work at 7 a.m. on Wednesday on the west side of McGraw Street, moving south as work progresses. Work should conclude by 5 p.m. each day. From SDOT:

Shortly after paving is complete, temporary traffic markings and striping will be applied.

During working hours one lane in each direction will be maintained.  There may be times when traffic will be reduced to one lane for both directions with flaggers at either end.  Parking and loading zone restrictions will be in place near the work zone and its approaches. Pedestrian access will be maintained.

Also on July 27, Dexter Way North between State Route 99 and Dexter Avenue North will be closed from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

This project is funded by the “Bridging the Gap” transportation levy approved by Seattle voters in November 2006.

To learn more about the Dexter repaving project, check out SDOT’s project website.

During these closures, the I-5 on-ramp at University Street will be concurrently closed to provide more efficient traffic flow around the closed Mercer Street exit lane. Fairview Avenue N will also be closed between Mercer Street and Valley Street, and Mercer Street will be closed to through traffic between Westlake Avenue N and Fairview Avenue N. All detour routes will be clearly marked.

The Washington State Department of Transportation will be concurrently closing all lanes on SR 520 from 11:00 p.m. Friday, July 8, to 5:00 a.m. Monday, July 11, between Montlake Boulevard in Seattle and Interstate 405 in Bellevue. SR 520 from I-5 to Montlake Boulevard will remain open to traffic. Details of the closure and detour maps are available at: www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/SR520Bridge/WeekendClosures.htm.

Travelers are encouraged to carpool and use alternate modes of transportation. Transit information can be found at:

• King County Metro at www.kingcounty.gov/metro or by calling 206-553-3000
• Sound Transit at www.soundtransit.org
• Community Transit at www.commtrans.org

There are going to be added congestion and possible traffic delays around Queen Anne over the next few days due to some construction work at two different sites in the neighborhood.

On Thursday, July 7 and Friday, July 8 Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) crews will be grinding and removing existing asphalt on Dexter Ave N between McGraw and Garfield streets, as part of the Dexter repaving project. There will be one lane of travel in each direction, and parking and loading zone restrictions near the work zone, with periodic cross-street and driveway interruptions. SDOT will have uniformed police officers on site to direct traffic. From SDOT:

Drivers should reduce speeds when traveling through the area. Bicyclist should consider utilizing sidewalks or alternate routes. When riding on Dexter Avenue North, bicyclists will share a lane with motor vehicles and should expect grooved pavement and loose asphalt as well as raised utility casting and man holes in the street. There will be increased construction truck traffic.

Once the asphalt removal is complete, crews will begin to repair Dexter Ave’s base pavement and repave the street, which is scheduled to take place later this month. After repaving, SDOT will continue the Dexter Ave N street channelization, installing bus islands, a buffered bike lane, applying new traffic markings and other finals steps.

On Thursday, July 7 SDOT crews will also be performing maintenance work along the eastbound ramp of the Emerson Street Viaduct Bridge to Nickerson Street. From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Thursday traffic flaggers will be on hand to help direct traffic as crews repair expansion joints on the bridge. Commuters should be mindful of the work and allow extra time during their regular commutes.

Beginning today and for the next six weeks 11th Avenue W between W Nickerson Street and W Ewing Street will go down to one northbound lane so that a contractor working for the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) may relocate a water line needed before the construction on the final segment of the Ship Canal Trail begins.

From SDOT:

The change along this one block section of 11th Avenue W is necessary for safety reasons, while the roadway is temporarily narrowed. Local access will be allowed.

In March BNSF removed a set of railroad tracks in preparation for this utility relocation.  SDOT’s contractor will now install a new water line and complete earthwork for railroad track relocation.  The contractor will also remove the asphalt driveway, maintaining access with a gravel surface that will be adjusted throughout construction.  Following installation of the water main, BNSF will reinstall mainline tracks closer to the existing spur track.

For more information on the Ship Canal Trail construction project, see SDOT’s project website.

The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) has canceled repaving work planned along Dexter Ave N on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week due to unfavorable weather conditions.

The road work would have decreased traffic down to one lane in each direction between the hours of 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. today and tomorrow, as well as limited on-street parking.

SDOT has not yet set a new time for the paving to take place, but we’ll keep you posted when those dates are scheduled. SDOT plans to complete the paving portion of the project by the beginning of May.

To read more about the Dexter repaving project, which will stretch from Fremont Ave N to Roy Street and will be completed in September of this year, check SDOT’s Dexter Paving project page.

The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) began pulling up the pavement along Dexter Ave N between Fremont Ave N and McGraw Street last week, and now it’s time to repave. SDOT crews are planning to lay new asphalt along the stretch of Dexter that marks the eastern edge of Queen Anne hill on Monday, April 25 and Tuesday, April 26, weather permitting. Traffic will be limited to one lane in each direction from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on those days, and on-street parking will be limited in the construction zone. From SDOT:

Drivers should expect additional traffic congestion and delays and are advised to consider using alternate routes. Uniformed police officers will be present to keep traffic moving at the intersection of Westlake Avenue N and Dexter Avenue N. Bicyclists will merge and share the lanes with vehicles on Dexter or they may use the sidewalks or alternate routes.

The repaving of Dexter is one piece of a multi-part plan intended to help ease traffic congestion caused by car, bus and bicyclist overlaps along the thoroughfare. After the paving is completed, crews will install bus islands, a buffered bike lane, and apply new traffic markings and street channelization along the road. This phase of the work  is expected to be complete by early May. The entire project, which will extend from Fremont Ave N to Roy Street, will be completed in September of this year.

For more information on this project, check SDOT’s Dexter Paving project page.

The Seattle Department of Transportation let us know in February about the upcoming changes to Dexter Avenue intended to help ease congestion caused by car, bus and bicyclist overlaps as well as improve the pavement condition by repaving the street.

That work began Monday as SDOT’s contractor began grinding and removing the existing asphalt pavement on Dexter Avenue North between Fremont Avenue N and McGraw Street.

During the work, one travel lane in each direction will be open on Dexter. There will be parking and loading restrictions near the work zone as well as periodic cross-street and driveway interruptions.

Paving will commence in April. Drivers and bicyclists are urged to seek out alternative routes when possible. For more information on this project, visit the SDOT web site.

This is a reminder that up to three weeks of nighttime lane closures on Mercer Street and 9th Ave N will begin tonight, so that the Seattle Department of Transportation may install some underground utilities. According to SDOT, there may be as many as three lanes closed from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. near the intersection. While work is going on, at least one lane will remain open on Mercer Street for eastbound traffic.

Though the weather report is predicting rain for the weekend, you never know what Seattle weather will do at the last minute. Whether it ends up being a sunny spring weekend or a cloudy one, for those who feel like roaming around town there are going to be a few areas with of lane closures and traffic congestion to avoid:

The Seattle Department of Transportation is closing the northbound right lane of the Battery Street Tunnel from 10 p.m. tonight until 6 a.m. tomorrow, Saturday, March 26 while crews perform electrical work on behalf of the Washington State Department of Transportation.

Drivers should expect temporary lane closures on Aurora Ave N on tomorrow. SDOT crews will be repairing the paving along Aurora, between N 47^th and N 48^th streets, from 7:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Saturday, March 26.

The Ballard Bridge will also have lane closures throughout the day on Saturday, March 26 to accommodate SDOT crews, who will be grinding down and paving the northbound and southbound lanes at the north end of the bridge (weather permitting). The work will be taking place between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., and at least one lane will remain open in each direction.

And on Sunday, March 27 the southbound lanes of the Ballard Bridge will be blocked for most of the morning, from 6 to 10 a.m., for a commercial film shoot.

Starting on next week SDOT will be closing the southbound right lanes on the Alaskan Way Viaduct at Jackson Street from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. every weekday from Monday, March 28 to Friday, April 8 so that crews may repair railing that was damaged by accidents, though this work is subject to change in the event of emergency work.

You may have seen the illuminated signs announcing lane closures on the Ballard Bridge and Aurora on Saturday. The Seattle Department of Transportation has canceled the work because of an unfavorable weather forecast.

Night work on the SDOT’s Mercer Corridor Project is scheduled to begin tonight. From SDOT:

Nighttime work for Seattle Department of Transportation’s Mercer Street project will begin as early as March 3 and will continue for approximately two weeks. Up to three lanes of Mercer Street will be closed overnight at Ninth Avenue North. This closure is required for the installation of underground utilities. Night work hours will be from approximately 7 p.m. to 5 a.m.

For more project information, please see SDOT’s project Web site.

The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) announced this afternoon that the lane closures on the Ballard Bridge planned for this Saturday, February 12, have been canceled “due to an unfavorable weather forecast.” Crews have tentatively planned to resume the scheduled bridge maintenance on Saturday, February 26.

The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) has closed down the right southbound lane of Elliott Ave W at W Thomas Street from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. today, Friday, December 17. From SDOT:

Qwest will be splicing a fiber optic cable and the lane closure is needed for safety.

Engineers with the Seattle Department of Transportation will be inspecting the Ballard Bridge on Thursday. This means the right-hand, southbound lane of the bridge will be closed from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The sidewalk will remain open.

Beginning yesterday, Thursday, September 16, the city began lane closures and tree removal in conjunction with the Mercer Corridor project, which we reported on a few weeks ago. Much of the work is taking place along key corridors going to and from Queen Anne, so keep this in mind when planning your morning commute over the next few weeks. From SDOT:

Intermittent lane closures will occur on Fairview Avenue North and will continue for approximately two weeks. The curb lanes on both sides of the street will be closed at two locations. One location is just north of Valley Street between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. The other location is between Harrison and Republican streets, from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. for the northbound lane, and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for the southbound lane. At least one lane on Fairview will remain open in each direction. There will also be temporary sidewalk closures and pedestrian detours.

The lane closures are necessary for the installation of Metro transit poles. King County Metro expects to move the existing overhead trolley lines to the new poles in October to accommodate construction.

Crews also began removing previously-marked trees along Westlake Avenue N, 9th Ave N and Broad Street. These particular trees are being removed temporarily due to their proximity to the Mercer Corridor project work area and will be replaced after construction is completed.

The final design of the east phase of the Mercer Corridor Project includes planting two new trees for every one removed, in accordance with City of Seattle standards, as well as planting more than 10,000 new shrubs and other plants throughout the project area.

For more information, please visit the Mercer Corridor project website.

WSDOT’s work on the Aurora Bridge continues and drivers who plan on crossing it this Sunday could face closures, this time going both ways.

This Sunday crews will continue work to remove and replace more than 1000 rivets and bolts for the construction of a safety fence to deter suicides. Drivers can expect additional closures for rivet removal in September. Crews are working Sundays because rivet busting is too noisy to do at night. Nearby residents can expect to hear construction noise from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.

• From 6 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 29, crews working for WSDOT will close two of three northbound lanes to remove and replace rivets on the east side of the bridge.
• From 1:30 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. all six lanes on the bridge and the southbound Fremont Way on-ramp will be closed while crews move construction equipment to the west side of the bridge. WSDOT scheduled this brief full closure at 1:30 p.m. to help southbound traffic heading to Sunday’s Mariners’ game.
• At 1:45 p.m. crews will reopen all northbound lanes and one southbound lane.
• Two southbound lanes and the southbound Fremont Way on-ramp will remain closed until midnight while crews work on the west side of the bridge.

If that’s not confusing enough, WSDOT has these suggestions on what to do to avoid closures and delays:

• Taking southbound SR 99 across the bridge before 1:30 p.m. Another option is using southbound SR 99 after 7:30 p.m., when delays caused by the closure will be very short.
• Taking northbound SR 99 across the bridge after 2:30 p.m. Drivers also should consider using northbound SR 99 in the morning before traffic volumes increase.
• Checking traffic conditions before hitting the roads. Check SR 99 traffic and I-5 traffic and tune into to radio traffic reports.

For the second Sunday in a row, the Washington State Department of Transportation crews will be closing lanes on the Aurora Bridge this weekend while crews work on the ‘rivet buster’ suicide fence. Commuters planning a trip downtown on Sunday should plan for delays or take an alternate route.

Photo from WSDOT’s Flickr page.

Crews will be working on the east side of the bridge, closing down two northbound lanes.

Access to northbound SR 99 from Halladay near Canlis will be open. Lane closures will be from 6 a.m. to midnight again, with the noisy work beginning as early as 7 p.m. and continuing until 11 p.m. Since they will be on the east side of the bridge, the sound will likely travel further into Lake Union this time.

WSDOT has been posting some pretty incredible photos of the work, which will continue through September 5, on its Flickr page. Check those out here.

The lane closure on the Ballard Bridge, which has been impacting traffic this week, will continue  into next week.

Photo courtesy the Seattle Department of Transportation

Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) crews have been installing brackets for light poles on the bridge. Marybeth Turner with SDOT tells us the work will continue on Friday and Monday. The curb lane in the northbound direction has closed each morning until 2 p.m.

“Four light poles are being replaced as a temporary measure until next year when all of the lighting on the bridge will be replaced,” Turner writes in a press release. “When SDOT has completed this preparatory work, Seattle City Light crews will install the four replacement poles.”