The high-level West Seattle Bridge is a cantilevered segmental bridge that serves as the primary connection between West Seattle and the rest of the city. It was built between 1981 and 1984 after the previous bascule bridge was deemed inoperable as a result of being struck by the Chavez freighter in 1978. The West Seattle Bridge was renamed as the Jeanette Williams Memorial Bridge on July 6, 2009, in honor of Jeanette Williams, who served on the Seattle City Council from 1970 to 1989, and was instrumental in securing political support for the construction of the bridge. However, all directional signs continue to carry the name, "West Seattle Bridge."
The bridge spans the east and west channels that form the mouth of the Duwamish River at Elliott Bay, crossing over Harbor Island. Its main approaches are Fauntleroy Way S.W. from the west and the Spokane Street Viaduct from the east. The viaduct continues east to Interstate 5 at Columbian Way (exit 163), forming a three-mile (5 km) arterial between West Seattle and I-5. The navigational clearance height of the high-level West Seattle Bridge is 140 feet (42.6 meters).
A low-level West Seattle Bridge of swing-span design spans the west channel of the Duwamish River immediately north of the high-level bridge. The low-level bridge carries the surface-level Spokane Street and has a navigational clearance of 45 feet (13.7 meters).
As of 2011, the Spokane Street Viaduct section between Interstate 5 and WA 99 is being rebuilt and widened. The Spokane Street Viaduct section was one of Seattle's first freeways, built in 1940. The project began in the summer of 2008. The widened roadway will have 3 lanes in each direction and shoulders. A new westbound on and off ramp will be built at 1st Ave S to replace the existing dangerous 4th Ave S off ramp. A new eastbound off ramp to 4th Ave S opened Aug. 16, 2010. The entire Spokane Street project is scheduled to be complete by 2012. The new roadway may be considered for an interstate designation after the upgrade as it connects to the Port of Seattle.
Read more about West Seattle Bridge: Original West Seattle Bridge & Ship Incident, Exit List
Famous quotes containing the words west, seattle and/or bridge:
“Personality is the glitter that sends your little gleam across the footlights and the orchestra pit into that big black space where the audience is.”
—Mae West (1892–1980)
“The air is precious to the red man, for all things share the same breath—the beast, the tree, the man, they all share the same breath. The white man does not seem to notice the air he breathes. Like a man dying for many days, he is numb to the stench.”
—Attributed to Seattle (c. 1784–1866)
“Crime seems to change character when it crosses a bridge or a tunnel. In the city, crime is taken as emblematic of class and race. In the suburbs, though, it’s intimate and psychological—resistant to generalization, a mystery of the individual soul.”
—Barbara Ehrenreich (b. 1941)