With one northbound lane of the Ballard Bridge closed all week, drivers are getting stuck the backup.
Our network editor, Doug, took this photo around 1 p.m. on Tuesday from the Dravus Street overpass. With a combination of SDOT crews closing the right lane to install light pole brackets and boat traffic, crossing the bridge can take much longer than normal. As a reminder, the lane will be closed from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. through this coming Friday.
Lane closure means heavy traffic into Ballard
This is work that needs to be done at off hours. Lame!
Just a small taste of what’s to come with the mayor’s never-ending war on anyone who dares to own a car. The goal of the crusade is to make you suffer as much as possible. Expect more of this.
“make you suffer” is a bit heavy handed i think…luckily i don’t need to cross either way during these odd hours they keep doing stuff. wasn’t it 9-2 or something last time? how about sunday 10pm – 2am?
must be even better when the bridge goes up!
“make you suffer” is exactly the mayor’s goal. He believes you should be on the bus, and the only way he can get you out of your car is to make anyone in a car suffer.
It’s not a secret. He just spins it as a “road diet” so the simpletons don’t notice.
It’s a bitch, but sumertime is when the streets and bridges get fixed or maintenance done. The bus drivers have as tuff a time with it as everyone else. Our driver on the 17 worked miracles squeeking the bus through tight situations today. I drive, ride the bus, and walk a lot. At least walking in Ballard is easier, the city repainted some of the cross walks on 2oth and 24th Ave. NW which makes it safer + the sidewalks on both sides of 24th are all fixed up and open again. Scooters has a new sidewalk in front, the parking lot is fixed up and restriped, and they have nice new picnic tables, pretty cool place to take the family for burger, fries, & milkshake. Everybody needs to just be nice, and enjoy summer while it lasts.
Road diets have been happening in this city since the early 70s. One of the recent ones, Stone Way, happened under the former mayor. The study on this “road diet” was published by SDOT (not part of the mayors office) in May. To summarize the study for you, speeding has declined, collisions have declined, pedestrian crossings are safer, bicycle volume has increased, motor vehicle traffic has not diverted to neighborhood streets, and peak hour capacity has been maintained. Not really sure how these “diets” are supposed to make drivers suffer.
I think that it makes sense. We need to upkeep structures. Seagull poop is very bad for metal structures plus it’s a marine environment. Paint protect the structure. It’s better to have a bridge painted rather then have the bridge closed for weeks or months for repair or worse.
Painting the bridge during normal house and during the summer makes sense so that it will cost less, be safer, and the paint will dry better and last longer. There still is a budge crunch.
Lastly, the Ballard bridge is turning 100 years old in 7 years, it deserves some TLC. Show some respect and quit your whining.
Blah Blah Woof Woof,
Road diets don’t cut capacity and they improve flow.
Those are proven facts. But something tells me you are not somebody who cares about facts.
Simpleton, indeed.
I actually don’t like the “road diet” description. “Re channelization” is a lot more accurate as a diet implies less capacity which isn’t the case.
I guess. Heaven forbid we even float the very notion of driving less…
The simpletons are funny when they revolt though. They are being forced to suffer!!!
Yeah Taxpayer,
Forbid the mayor from following STATE LAW and giving us options to reduce annual per capita vehicle miles traveled. Without improved bicycle infrastructure, better transit, and pedestrian improvements any reduction would out of reach. HOUSE BILL 2815 requires an 18 percent reduction in per capita VMT by 2020, 35 percent by 2035, and 50 percent by 2050.
aren’t they just closing one lane to install streetlights on the bridge and conduct other routine and necessary maintenance? i swear that’s what i read in this article. didn’t see anything about road diets or the mayor…
doing this work on a sunday or at night would probably cost way more money since it would likely mean overtime pay for those doing the work.
“Just a small taste of what’s to come with the mayor’s never-ending war on anyone who dares to own a car. ”
yeah, i guess putting streetlights on and conducting maintenance on the ballard bridge is intended to make car drivers “suffer” as part of the mayor’s “war on cars”
So glad I am getting outta here before they tear down the Viaduct…the city is gonna be screwed!!
JB – that always struck me as one of the funniest/silliest recent state laws. I’d like to the see the state try to prevent me from driving as far as I’d like to.