Street closures as Seattle prepares to replace Fairview Bridge
Jul 23, 2019, 10:42 AM
Patients and employees at the Fred Hutch Cancer Center in South Lake Union need to be prepared for delays and detours, as the city of Seattle begins work to replace the Fairview Bridge.
Preparations for that closure began this week with construction along Aloha Street, which runs through the Fred Hutch campus. The Fairview Avenue Bridge runs about 500 feet before the road meets Eastlake Avenue. It is going to be closed for up to 18-months during construction. During that time, all the traffic will be detoured onto Eastlake and down Aloha Street, which is a tiny street that can’t handle much traffic.
The city needs to prepare Aloha Street so it can serve as the primary detour route for local traffic.
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“Aloha Street is just a local street,” project manager MariLyn Yim said. “It is not an arterial. We’re closing an arterial and putting all that traffic onto this much smaller road.”
Fred Hutch patients and employees need to be prepared for some full and some partial closures of Aloha Street during the two months of prep work to get it ready for the bridge closure. Most of the work will be done at the roundabout in the middle of the campus, where Yale Avenue crosses Aloha. That roundabout will be replaced with an all-way stop.
The city will also add a new traffic signal at Eastlake and Aloha. The signal timing will also be changed at Eastlake and Fairview to help get more traffic through.
Drivers need to be prepared for a full closure of Aloha Street between Valley and Minor this week. That will last between two and three weeks. There will then be a partial closure, in the eastbound lanes, from Valley to Eastlake to follow.
Once that work is done, the city will shut-down the avenue for the Fairview Bridge replacement project. That is expected in the fall.
When will weather cooperate for work on Highway 2?
Fairview Bridge is a bit of a hidden bridge that not too many drivers realize they are on. It runs between Eastlake and South Lake Union.
