SEATTLE – Councilmembers Alex Pedersen (District 4, Northeast Seattle) and Lisa Herbold (District 1, West Seattle & South Park) reacted to the announcement from SDOT today that the West Seattle Bridge is scheduled to reopen in three months, as soon as the week of September 12, 2022.
“We know that all of West Seattle, South Park, and Georgetown have had the bridge reopening top of mind since it closed. I am still holding out hope for a summer re-opening, but I appreciate SDOT’s announcement today; it lets us know that we’re close – just three months away,” said Councilmember Lisa Herbold.
“I’m relieved we finally have a safe and certain reopening date, and I know it’s disappointing to many that the concrete strike delays could not be overcome. I urge the project managers to consider extra shifts so the bridge re-opens before schools re-open,” said Councilmember Alex Pedersen, Chair of the Transportation and Seattle Public Utilities Committee. “While I look forward to re-opening this vital regional bridge after more than two years of repairs, this must also be a wake-up call to reprioritize and reinvest in all our aging bridges. In a growing city carved by waterways, forged by the harsh experience of the West Seattle Bridge closure, and armed with the audit of our aging bridges that I obtained for SDOT, all leaders should prioritize the proactive fixing of Seattle’s bridges and so we’ll look to the Executive’s budget proposal this Fall, because the people and businesses of Seattle cannot afford another bridge closure.”
The West Seattle Bridge was promptly and unexpectedly closed in 2020 due to safety concerns, as inspectors saw cracks growing rapidly in the 40-year-old bridge. Since then, the City of Seattle has been working to remediate the closure, and ultimately decided to repair the bridge in lieu of replacing it. Repair work has been underway for two years but was delayed due to the recent, regional concrete strike.
As part of their announcement today, the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) released a tentative schedule for the remaining work, while simultaneously cautioning that large-scale projects like the repair of the West Seattle Bridge are complex and additional delays are still possible. Regardless, SDOT has pledged to continue transparently sharing information about the project schedule going forward.
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