Mercer Mess progress means headaches for South Lake Union
Jan 30, 2012, 5:09 AM | Updated: 9:29 am
Two-way traffic on Mercer Street in Seattle should be a reality by the end of the year, but progress comes with some headaches and street closures.
Two-way traffic on Mercer Street in Seattle should be a reality by the end of the year, but progress comes with some headaches and street closures.
Boren, Westlake, and Terry Ave. in South Lake Union are now dead-end streets. Drivers can no longer access Mercer Street from them.
The City of Seattle’s Rick Sheridan says that drivers heading north out of South Lake Union must use 9th Ave. or Fairview Ave.
Those closures will last for about 11 months.
“At the end of this year, we will actually begin two-way operations on Mercer,” Sheridan said.
Starting Monday, eastbound drivers on Mercer Street are using the new westbound lanes that will go into regular operations at the end of the year.
Once this second phase of the Mercer Mess fix is complete, the city will begin its transformation of Valley Street along the south end of Lake Union. It will be turned into a bicycle-friendly, tree-lined parkway.
