Ahoy there, drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians, the opening day of boating season will keep the Montlake Bridge open only to floating vehicles Saturday.
The Seattle Yacht Club celebration will keep the bridge raised from 10 AM to 4 PM Saturday to keep boating traffic moving through the Montlake Cut below.
Montlake Bridge closure this weekend!
Closure is for the @SYCSeattle Opening Day of Boating season.10 am-4 pm Sat., May 4
Montlake Bridge CLOSED to ALL traffic
WB SR 520 to Montlake Blvd CLOSED
EB SR 520 2 left lanes to NB Montlake Blvd CLOSEDPLAN ahead. Use ALTERNATE routes. pic.twitter.com/t3aMLuUcZS
— WSDOT Traffic (@wsdot_traffic) May 2, 2024
In addition to the tradition of the bridge serving as the site of the city’s opening day of the boating season, the Montlake Bridge is a vital northern connection for the 23rd Ave corridor — and can be a major pinch point for traffic. There were concepts for an eventual expansion with the addition of a second bridge possibly dedicated solely to transit, cyclists, and pedestrians but the city backed off those plans in 2019.
The nearly 100-year-old bridge has a center clearance of around 48 feet meaning it must be raised regularly for tall-masted sailboats and large watercraft. The 344-foot bridge first opened on June 27th, 1925
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People complain that anti-genocide protesters shut down transportation routes and cause inconvenience, but where’s the outrage when the YACHT CLUB shuts down a major bridge for the majority of a day?
Obviously because it is a longstanding and deep-rooted local tradition that always takes place the first Saturday in May, and the predictability and location render it easy to plan around. Whereas chaos agents randomly blocking freeways and major airports are just assholes.
The second bridge would have been a “bascule bridge”, i.e. it would need to open just like the current one.
The proposed second bridge would cover “three northbound lanes” and a dedicated HOV lane, with the original bridge then being converted to southbound lanes.
I have no idea why you would be advocating this, though since it was pushed by the Urbanist, otherwise known as the bros in spandex, I guess it is unsurprising.
Just to refresh your memory.
https://web.archive.org/web/20190926222620/https://seattletransitblog.com/2019/09/24/adding-vehicle-lanes-on-a-new-montlake-drawbridge-makes-transit-worse-not-better/