Seattle’s old Yesler Bridge shuts down for an entire year
May 17, 2016, 5:21 AM | Updated: May 23, 2016, 7:36 am
A year-long road closure of the Yesler Bridge is guaranteed to add traffic on other surface streets in Seattle. (SDOT)
(SDOT)
Yesler Bridge to Seattle’s Pioneer Square is closed for at least a year.
The Yesler Bridge is 106 years old, making it one of the oldest steel bridges in the city. Its age also means it’s time for seismic upgrades and new steel.
“The only way to maintain Yesler, in the long run, is to take care of the bridge now before it’s a really big problem,” explained Lorelei Williams, capital projects and roadways division director for the City of Seattle. “It’s a temporary pain for a long term gain that keeps both our Fourth Ave and Yesler arterials working the way they should.”
Yesler Way between Sixth and Third avenues will to be closed 14 to 16 months. The closure began today at 4 a.m. Williams says they are preserving the historic appearance of the bridge, which adds time to the construction schedule.
“Even though we are replacing the girder’s interior to the structures that support everything and that give it the new permanent structure it needs and the seismic integrity it needs, we are preserving these outside steel girders so that when you approach the bridge from either side, it’ll look the same that it does today.”
As with the closure of any major arterial in Seattle, a closure of Yesler means the surrounding streets will be congested.
“Third and Fifth both for transit and the vehicles will be the way you essentially get around,” Williams said. “A lot of people will use James, I suspect. Even Washington will get used.”
Sixth and Second avenues downtown will also be impacted.
In addition to the Yesler closure, crews will periodically shut down Fourth Avenue for safety.
“Not only will we have the closure of the bridge itself, but then we have lane closures on Fourth Ave. at various times and we are going to have a sidewalk closed on either side during the time,” Williams. “But we’ll switch it and maintain pedestrian traffic.”
Drivers can expect full nighttime and weekend closures of Fourth Avenue, but Williams says they will be paying close attention to keep the impact manageable.
“We will be keeping an eye every hour, every day to figure out if there’s signal timing changes we need to make,” she said. “Worst case scenario, we put a (uniformed police officer) out somewhere to help move traffic. Any time you close an arterial, we’re not kidding ourselves, so we will be keeping an eye on it throughout the project and looking at different ways to respond.”
