West Seattle Bridge Program

Updated March 20, 2024

What's Happening Now?

West Seattle Bridge is open

The West Seattle Bridge reopened on September 17, 2022 after 2 ½ years of closure, repairs, and comprehensive testing. At that time, the bridge was determined to be safe and strong enough to support the thousands of vehicles expected to cross it each day for years to come.  

Since reopening, the bridge has also undergone regular visual inspections of the carbon fiber wrapping and post-tension repair systems, which show no signs of distress.  To ensure that all repaired systems were performing as expected, we conducted these inspections at a higher frequency than is required by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) for a bridge after being returned to service.  
 
In September 2023, we released a one-year monitoring report showing that the bridge is structurally sound and performing as expected after extensive observations. Based on these results, we will continue to operate the bridge structural health monitoring system at all times and visual inspections will shift back to the 2-year cycle required by FHWA.  

Learn more about the bridge repairs 

Watch our construction recap video of highlights from the West Seattle Bridge repairs. 

Project Overview

On March 23, 2020, we closed the West Seattle High-Rise Bridge (high bridge) to all vehicle traffic. The sudden announcement to close the bridge stemmed from regular inspections that indicated accelerated growth of new and existing structural cracks. 

Historically, the high bridge is the city's most-used bridge, carrying an average of over 100,000 cars, trucks, and buses every day. The closure has caused a significant disruption to traffic in West Seattle, Duwamish Valley neighborhoods, and in Seattle as a whole. 

On November 19, 2020, Mayor Jenny Durkan announced that she instructed the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) to restore travel across the Duwamish by repairing the high bridge. She also directed SDOT to continue early design work for an eventual replacement of the bridge. Watch the Mayor's announcement on YouTube.  

The West Seattle Bridge reopened on September 17, 2022.

Project materials

Transportation

Greg Spotts, Director
Address: 700 5th Ave, Suite 3800, Seattle, WA, 98104
Mailing Address: PO Box 34996, Seattle, WA, 98124-4996
Phone: (206) 684-7623
684-Road@seattle.gov

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The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) is on a mission to deliver a transportation system that provides safe and affordable access to places and opportunities for everyone as we work to achieve our vision of Seattle as a thriving, equitable community powered by dependable transportation.