Although the posted hours for the Ballard Locks are 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., they’ve been opening much earlier until this week..
“For the past four years, we have been opening the gates at 5:30 a.m. for the Muckleshoot Tribe to conduct fish counts and other research,” Andrea Takash with the Army Corps of Engineers tells us. “The Locks’ staff recently conducted a security review. As a result, we are opening the gates closer to the posted hours. The Locks’ staff will now open the gates at 6:30 a.m.” (Thank you for the emails and dsomers posting this in the forum.)
Ballard Locks now opens at 6:30 a.m.
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Crossing the locks is the only safe option for bike commuting downtown so I hope they don’t go any later. I know a lot of commuters that cross before 6:30 am.
Yes I am among those commuters who always crossed at just after 6 AM. I have done this for over five years, as have lots of others. In fact, so many people use this route that it has never seemed unsafe, even in the dark.
there will probably be an increase in bike accidents as many are forced to go over that death-trap AKA the ballard bridge.