The Spokane Street swing bridge (AKA the lower West Seattle Bridge) is closed to biking, walking and driving until 10 p.m. Sunday (October 27). There is no official bicycle detour.
The only bike route alternative without the Spokane Street Bridge is to ride many miles out of the way through busy industrial streets to the 1st Ave S Bridge in Georgetown. SDOT did not bring back the amazing temporary bike lanes on 1st Ave S from January 2023. The good news is that once you reach the bridge from the east, it’s smooth sailing along the west side of the Duwamish River thanks to the Duwamish Trail connections SDOT completed in 2023 on W Marginal Way.
SDOT is breaking ground on the Georgetown to Downtown bike route today (groundbreaking celebration is 3 p.m. October 30 near Airport Way S and S Vale St), but that’s not going to help anyone this weekend.
The closure is needed so SDOT can reinstall a broken turn cylinder, which as the name implies is critical to the bridge’s movement. When the bridge has broken unexpectedly in the past, it has often been due to these turn cylinders. Though this bridge is not very old in bridge terms (it opened in 1991), SDOT has had to do a ton of rehab work in recent years. They had to strengthen it to fix cracks, revamp the control system and communication wiring, make seismic upgrades, and engage in a never-ending effort to fix these turn cylinders. And they are not finished yet. There will be more closures in 2025.
You know, I’m beginning to think this whole swing bridge design was a bad idea. We’ve got bascule bridges more than 100 years old that seem much more reliable and easy to maintain. I know the span lengths are shorter, but I dunno, bridge engineers of 1991, maybe you’re thinking about this a little too hard.
Editor’s Note: I apologize for being slow to post this alert. SDOT noted the closure in a blog post last Friday, and I totally missed it. That’s on me. I apologize if any readers got surprised by the closure this morning.
The Spokane St Swing Bridge, commonly known as the low bridge, was built in 1991 and serves as a crucial link across the West Duwamish Waterway, especially for pedestrians and bicyclists.
To keep the bridge reliably operating, we’re closing the low bridge on October 25-27 topeople driving, biking, and walking. The West Seattle High-Rise Bridge will remain open while the low bridge is closed, and is the primary option for people getting to and from West Seattle by car or bus.
During the low bridge closure, crews will reinstall a turn cylinder that we removed from the west side of the bridge in April 2024 for repairs. There are several types of cylinders which work together to lift and rotate the bridge.
This is one of several aging cylinders which we are repairing over time to prevent issues like the 3-week bridge closure in January 2023. We will continue work to repair the remaining cylinders in 2025.
Leave a Reply