Template revised April 12, 2018.
COMMISSION
AGENDA MEMORANDUM
Item No.
7b
BRIEFING ITEM
Date of Meeting
May 12, 2020
DATE: May 5, 2020
TO: Stephen P. Metruck, Executive Director
FROM: Pearse Edwards, Senior Director, External Relations
Lindsay Wolpa, Senior Manager, Waterfront Redevelopment Programs, External
Relations
SUBJECT: Update on the West Seattle Bridge Closure
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This briefing outlines the current status of the ongoing interagency response in which the Port of
Seattle and the Northwest Seaport Alliance staff participate related to the closure of the West
Seattle Bridge (WSB). A representative from Seattle’s Department of Transportation (SDOT) will
be providing an overview and background on how the City came to the decision to close the
bridge as well as the next steps with their response. In addition, Port staff will be outlining our
internal next steps, in coordination with the Northwest Seaport Alliance, to respond to the issue
on multiple fronts.
BACKGROUND
The WSB was the busiest city-owned roadway and carried 100,000 cars and trucks and nearly
25,000 transit riders on a typical weekday until its closure by the City of Seattle on March 23,
2020. Out of an abundance of caution, the City decided to close the WSB to all traffic due to
accelerated concrete cracking that was identified during a regular bridge inspection. Upon
further inspection the City later announced that the WSB will remain closed until further notice.
Along with the Spokane Street Bridge, also called the “low bridge,” the bridge played an
important role in commuter and freight mobility. According to the Port’s 2014 Container Access
Study, that corridor carried approximately 12,000 vehicles per day, of which approximately more
than 2,000 were port trucks (with a two-berth international container operation at Terminal 5).
With the WSB closure all vehicles are prohibited from crossing the high-rise span of the bridge
between I-5 and Fauntleroy Way SW. Buses, freight and emergency vehicles were moved to
Spokane Street Bridge. All other vehicular traffic must find alternate routes to their destinations.
Even with the limited permitted vehicular uses, the low bridge experiences congestion especially
when ships are being on-/off-loaded and the swing bridge opens to allow for maritime traffic
COMMISSION AGENDA – Briefing Item No. 7b Page 2 of 5
Meeting Date: May 12, 2020
Template revised September 22, 2016.
passage. Vehicular traffic will be exacerbated once commuters return to the roadways this
summer as the COVID-19 pandemic eases.
The WSB was originally designed for three lanes of travel in each direction. As Seattle grew, the
bridge grew to three westbound lanes and four eastbound. This added traffic, combined with the
significant increase in size and weight of commercial vehicles and transit, compounded the long-
term maintenance challenges posed to the bridge structure WSB. Further, 80 percent of the
bridge load is dead load, meaning deterioration is possible even when all traffic is removed.
In 2019, however, the Federal load rating for this type of bridge changed and the City assembled
a team of engineers and experts from the public and private sectors to begin actively assessing
the extent and growth of bridge cracking, create safety recommendations, and a short-term
repair plan. As a component of that review, the City has been regularly inspecting concrete cracks
in the high bridge. During a late March inspection, one of their engineers found known cracks in
the concrete had worsened at a rate that the City and outside specialists found unacceptable,
hence the decision to close the WSB to all traffic.
In the immediate aftermath of the bridge’s closure, Port and NWSA staff engaged with the City
and other stakeholders to ensure access to Terminal 5 (T-5) to support cargo operations and
continues to acknowledge the importance of continual freight access through the SW Spokane
Street corridor.
With respect to the NWSA-managed container terminals and freight access – the City
acknowledges the importance of the NWSA’s container terminals to the regional economy
through the “Container Port Element” of their Comprehensive Plan. More specifically, it calls for
them to: “Monitor, maintain and improve key freight corridors, networks and intermodal
connections that provide access to cargo container facilities and the industrial areas around them
to address bottlenecks and other access constraints. Provide safe, reliable, efficient and direct
access between Port marine facilities and the state highway or interstate system, and between
Port terminals and railroad intermodal facilities …”
The policy is implemented through Seattle’s Freight Master Plan, which lists the SW Spokane
Street, including the low bridge, as “Major Truck Street.” It is also part of the City’s designated
freight network, providing access to the freeway system and rail intermodal facilities in Seattle.
In addition, it is a key corridor on the City’s heavy haul network, enabling trucks with up to 98,000
gross weight to move between T-5 and the railyards and transload facilities in the surrounding
Manufacturing Industrial Center.
CURRENT STATUS
The City will be providing an overview of what led to closure of the WSB and how they have
responded to date, including ongoing emergency contingency efforts, the near-term timeline on
shoring and other engineering work and initial traffic mitigation plans.
COMMISSION AGENDA – Briefing Item No. 7b Page 3 of 5
Meeting Date: May 12, 2020
Template revised September 22, 2016.
The City does not yet know if repair of the bridge is feasible technically or financially. If repair is
feasible, it’s likely this would only restore up to an additional decade of life to the bridge. In either
case, the high bridge will need to be replaced much sooner than its anticipated 75-year design
life when it opened in 1984. Further, should repair prove feasible, under a “best case” scenario,
the City does not anticipate traffic returning to the bridge in 2020 or 2021.
Additional activities underway by the City include, but are not limited to:
• Working to stabilize the bridge and prevent further cracking by fixing bearings on Pier 18
and constructing shoring support structures;
• Exploring long-term solutions to see if it’s feasible to repair the bridge;
• Enlisting help from experts across the country and forming a Technical Advisory Panel;
• Working with local transit agencies to keep people moving to and from West Seattle; and
• Installing intelligent sensor equipment to monitor any changes to the bridge and send
real-time alerts 24/7.
External Engagement
The interagency structure used under the Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Program is being
reconfigured to support the WSB response/replacement. The Port and NWSA already has a seat
at each of those conversations. They now include:
• Executive Oversight – other agencies include representatives from Washington State
Department of Transportation (WSDOT), SDOT, Seattle’s Office of the Waterfront, King
County Metro, the U.S. Coast Guard and Sound Transit.
• Interagency Leadership – staff from the different agencies discuss key issues and set
strategy for executive meeting.
• Communications Group – Public Information Officers address media and public facing
issues.
• Traffic and Operations – Traffic planners and engineers address long-term and near-term
flow issues.
• Performance Monitoring – Planners, analysts and engineers review travel times and
volumes and develop reports for public digest.
In addition, two new efforts have already begun with consistent involvement from Port and
NWSA staff:
• Twice weekly interagency check-in – agency staff coordinate planned actions and review
recent traffic flows and outcomes.
• Emergency Continency Planning – SDOT facilitating, includes Seattle Police Department
(SPD), Seattle Fire Department (SFD), Office of Emergency Management, utilities, The US
Coast Guard (USCG), BNSF, Washington State Ferries and many other agencies
COMMISSION AGENDA – Briefing Item No. 7b Page 4 of 5
Meeting Date: May 12, 2020
Template revised September 22, 2016.
Finally, staff is engaged in maritime and industrial stakeholder facilitation as well as with the West
Seattle community and SODO, South Park and Georgetown neighborhoods. Staff held two
separate meetings with these stakeholders from around Harbor Island and along the Duwamish,
as well as key labor and association partners. This coalition work will continue and has already
proved to be a reliable outlet for the City in understanding impacts to our sectors. The City has
already committed to hosting this group on a monthly basis and will be convening its first meeting
on the morning of May 9. The Port and NWSA expects to convene another regular meeting as
well to focus on waterside issues and will participate in a community effort led by the West
Seattle Chamber.
Port and NWSA Internal Working Groups
The Port and NWSA continue to play a role in the City’s response to the high bridge closure. This
involvement is expected to deepen in the coming weeks and months as the City identifies next
steps on repairs to and/or replacement options for the WSB. Given the implication to both Port
and NWSA managed properties, as well as the broad maritime economy and supply chain, this
effort will be closely coordinated between the Port and NWSA at all levels.
Because of the multiple tentacles related to this project, Port and NWSA staff has begun to
organize into several different internal working groups to meet regularly to address a host of
issues relating to the bridge’s closure. Each of those groups is tasked to define strategies and
workplans within the next couple of weeks, at which point we would seek broader executive
and commissioner input, including a communications and outreach plan.
These groups include:
• Executive Committee: ensure senior management is well informed and can provide
regular input as the response and replacement process unfolds
• Emergency Contingency Planning: will focus on establishing a safety management plan in
the unlikely event of a catastrophic failure of the high bridge.
• Operational Strategy and Performance Monitoring: will focus on keeping our cargo
terminal operational and freight moving thru the gateway and throughout the Duwamish
MIC. This includes collecting and developing the data and analysis that will be needed to
work productively with the City to ensure adequate landside access and egress for Port
and NWSA facilities beyond emergency/contingency planning.
• Water Transportation: will draft a proposal as to how Port/NWSA can support the
broadened movement of people and goods via water routes such as fast ferries. This will
include, but not be limited to, establishing which shoreline properties could be used to
support access, determining what uses could be provided at each property and
establishing what external partners to engage on this effort.
• Transit: coordinate strategy with external partners on expanded transit needs in light of
the closure and provide guidance around Port/NWSA employee mobility and commuting
needs. The working group will also external working group with other partners around
Harbor Island and the Duwamish to expand transit options.
COMMISSION AGENDA – Briefing Item No. 7b Page 5 of 5
Meeting Date: May 12, 2020
Template revised September 22, 2016.
• Replacement Strategy: draft Port/NWSA strategy for the eventual bridge replacement.
This will include, but not be limited to, working with our congressional delegation on
federal funding, coordinating with WSDOT, SDOT, the County and Sound Transit
establishing guidance on replacement options and financing, especially as to how the
replacement intertwines with ST3.
• Outreach and Communications: set the recommended strategy for external outreach and
communications activities.
Staff will be preparing workplans for each of these groups in the coming weeks and sharing them
with the commissioner as they are interested.
ATTACHMENTS TO THIS BRIEFING
(1) Presentation slides
PREVIOUS COMMISSION ACTIONS OR BRIEFINGS
None
