After a week of clogged and congested highways and city streets, commuters are back on the State Route 99 Alaskan Way Viaduct this morning, albeit traveling at a slower construction speed and navigating curves that will take some getting used to, according to a Washington state Department of Transportation press release.
The Washington State Department of Transportation reopened all lanes of the viaduct at 12:44 p.m. Saturday after more than a week of demolition and construction.
Slower speed limits are posted on the SR 99 viaduct and on a new construction bypass, and as drivers adjust they could see delays of about 10 minutes during busy peak travel times through downtown. Much of the viaduct is now posted at 40 mph from the Battery Street Tunnel to the West Seattle Bridge, and a 25 mph recommended speed limit is in effect through a new curving construction bypass near the sports stadiums. Even though speeds will likely be slower on SR 99 for the next few years, the bypass roadway allows this critical corridor to remain open until the new SR 99 tunnel is completed at the end of 2015.
“Drivers should be ready to slow down through the new construction bypass and pay careful attention to all of the changes on the new SR 99,” said Matt Preedy, WSDOT Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement program deputy administrator. “Drivers likely will be distracted as they look at Seattle’s changed landscape without the southern end of the viaduct, and it will take time to get used to the curving route near the stadiums.”
WSDOT also opened a new southbound SR 99 off-ramp to SODO last night at South Atlantic Street, replacing the previous southbound exit to South Royal Brougham Way. This exit will now be a key route to the stadiums.
The changes come after an intense week of demolition and construction. Crews demolished 2,825 feet of the seismically vulnerable southern mile of the viaduct, turning it into thousands of tons of concrete rubble and steel rebar. Crews also completed the new construction bypass, which sets the stage for construction of a new SR 99 tunnel to replace the viaduct through the downtown core. Drivers will use the construction bypass until the tunnel is open to traffic at the end of 2015.
