These improvements include replacing bridge joints that allow the structures to expand and contract during hot and cold weather safely; paving; replacing all signs and the structures that hold them with signs that are easier for people driving to read and withstand high winds and storms.

While the final West Seattle Bridge repairs are underway, the Seattle Department of Transportation also is planning additional maintenance work on the entire West Seattle Bridge corridor from the connection at I-5 to Fauntleroy Boulevard.

These improvements include:

• Replacing bridge joints that allow the structures to expand and contract during hot and cold weather safely;
• Paving to give people driving a smooth and predictable surface that will last for years;
• Replacing all signs and the structures that hold them with signs that are easier for people driving to read and withstand high winds and storms.

Performing major maintenance work now — while the bridge is closed — iwill benefit the contractor teams. SDOT has sequenced the work, so it won't affect the schedule of returning traffic to the bridge or lead to construction delays or detours for people driving and transit once SDOT reopens it to traffic.

Washington's federal delegation have been important advocates for funding these repairs in the interest of the reginal economy and getting people back to work. Sen. Patty Murray, Sen. Maria Cantwell, Rep. Pramila Jayapal and Rep. Adam Smith were instrumental in securing more than $39 million in federal transportation funds for the West Seattle Bridge program, and the Port of Seattle committed an additional $9 million.

The city has committed the balance of funding in the $175 million overall program to bring the bridge back into service and mitigate the impacts of the closure. SDOT was also just awarded a federal grant through the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) discretionary grants program to rebuild the critical freight and bicycle connection on East Marginal Way S.

The repair program is a massive undertaking that involves adding 91 tons of steel cable to the West Seattle Bridge — totaling more than 46 mi. in length if stretched end-to-end. Crews also will add the equivalent of more than 2 football fields of carbon fiber reinforced polymer and raise 10,000 sq. ft. of work platforms along the 1,300-ft.-long bridge.

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