SEATTLE — The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) is expected to announce an updated timeline for reopening the West Seattle Bridge Thursday.
Thus far, the SDOT has maintained that the bridge will reopen in 2022. The West Seattle Bridge has been closed for more than two years after engineers discovered cracks in the structure and it was deemed unsafe.
Crews completed pouring structural concrete on the bridge last month, and post-tensioning work continued on Tuesday.
This comes as the Seattle City Council heard final recommendations from the department for the Sound Transit line through the heavily populated isthmus.
The SDOT said it would like a tunnel near the West Seattle Junction and lower spans near Delridge and the Duwamish water crossing.
However, the SDOT and Seattle City Councilmember Lisa Herbold, who represents the neighborhoods of West Seattle and South Park, both expressed lingering reservations about the impact of the Duwamish crossing. However, that is likely needed in order to complete the below-grade solution at the Junction.
The Seattle City Council is scheduled to vote on a resolution on the matter this month before the Board votes on a Final Environmental Review in July. It would then proceed to final approval in 2023. The West Seattle route is not scheduled for completion until 2032.
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