The US$140 million South Lander Street Bridge project had been on hold for several years but Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) has now secured funding for the project and so the design is being refreshed. As part of this, an 'open house' event is being held this week to solicit community input on key design features.
The street is currently closed for almost five hours a day to allow about 100 trains to cross. The closures impact the mobility of tens of thousands of people and affect freight access to manufacturing facilities and the port. The bridge will be built over the railway tracks so that road vehicles will no longer be affected by rail movements.
Updates are needed to the design as the local transport system has changed since the previous design process in 2007. New bridges and ramps have been completed and the Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement tunnel and road alignments are now known, all changing the way the area is used.
