SDOT, Seattle police employing new tactics to avoid port backups

City of Seattle and Port of Seattle officials say they’ll try new tactics to reduce the traffic backups that have caused two days of slowdowns and safety hazards as cargo trucks try to reach a port terminal.

“We aren’t going to allow these vehicles to actually stage on roadways like the Spokane Street Viaduct or the West Seattle Bridge or block intersections thus creating delays,” said Rick Sheridan with the Seattle Department of Transportation. “Police officers will be aggressively moving these vehicles along and not allowing them to block traffic.”

Port slowdowns have plagued the West Coast for months, but West Seattle really felt the burn Thursday with backups on all major routes in and out of the area. Truckers waited as long as five or six hours on South Spokane Street just to reach the port.

Port spokesman Peter McGraw explained why everything came to a head.

“What we’ve been seeing here the past couple of a days is a surge of export commodities, those are agricultural goods from Eastern Washington,” says McGraw. “So between the extra loads and the ongoing work slowdown that we’ve had for the past couple of months we’re seeing an unusually high amount of backups.”

SDOT is investigating additional locations where the commercial vehicles can line up for access to Terminal 18.

Sheridan says police will be out patrolling areas to help keep roadways clear and says they will be trying to notify drivers of any potential travel delays.

“The Seattle Department of Transportation will be monitoring this situation. We will work to alert travelers to any truck created delays via both social media and our fixed message boards,” says Sheridan.

Mayor Ed Murray tweeted Thursday night that the traffic corridor is critical “for thousands of workers and residents.” He says the city will monitor traffic Friday and take additional steps as needed.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.