10 weekends of Aurora Bridge lane closures begin Friday night

SEATTLE — Starting Friday night, only one lane in each direction will be open on the SR 99 Aurora Bridge in Seattle for the next 10 weekends.

The lane reductions begin at 7 p.m. Friday, May 31, and last until 5 a.m. Monday, June 3.

KIRO 7 Traffic Anchor Tracy Taylor said drivers should expect 15 to 20 minute delays.

Crews will clean and sandblast away the peeling lead-based paint and then and repaint the bridge’s trusses. They will also be scraping and repaving the driving surface. An expansion joint will be repaired, and six others will be resealed.

The bridge was built in 1931, last painted in 1985, and last repaved about 20 years ago.

The Washington State Department of Transportation said the work is the second phase of rehabilitating the 90-year-old bridge.

The bridge's floor beams and stringers were cleaned and repainted in 2016 as part of the first stage of the project. WSDOT said floor beams and stringers are sections of steel located immediately under the concrete bridge deck.

The work is weather-dependent, but if everything goes as scheduled, it should be completed by fall of this year.

WSDOT said drivers should also be prepared for occasional nighttime lane closures on the bridge and Westlake Avenue from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. nightly, Monday-Thursday, while crews secure platforms beneath the bridge.

For more information about the project, see the WSDOT page for the project.

Cox Media Group