South Park Bridge, East Marginal Way South reopen after storm damage
Oct 27, 2021, 12:38 PM
(Photo courtesy of SDOTtraffic/Twitter)
It has taken more than two days, but both Seattle’s South Park Bridge and East Marginal Way South are back open.
Weekend storm knocks down trees, power lines
Fallen utility poles, power lines, and trees came down on East Marginal Way South during this weekend’s storm. This also resulted in a closure of the South Park Bridge, which can only be accessed from East Marginal Way South.
East Marginal Way South in Tukwila is back open as of 8:30 a.m. Wednesday after it was closed on Sunday afternoon when severe winds knocked down 15 utility poles and connected power lines. On the bridge, crews had cleared a safe path as of 3:45 p.m. Tuesday. The remaining section of East Marginal Way South southeast of 16th Avenue South, however, remained closed overnight to in order to keep repairing damaged traffic signal equipment.
Both routes are now open and safe to drive on.
Drivers should be careful and give any remaining crew members space to work safely as they restore permanent power connections to some traffic signals that are running on generators.
Two dead after tree crushes car in Fall City
In addition to closing these two routes, the windstorm caused widespread power outages throughout Seattle, impacting about 44,000 customers at its peak. The Seattle Department of Transportation says it also received more than 175 reports of storm damage affecting roads, mostly fallen trees and branches.
The KIRO Radio Newsdesk contributed to this report.