South Lander Street Bridge project releases updated design

A long-dormant project to build an overpass in SODO came back to life last year, and has been chugging right along ever since. The South Lander Street Bridge design is going to its last open house on Thursday with a few updates.

The overpass will carry cars, pedestrians, and bikes over a railway between 1st Avenue South and 4th Avenue South, which causes frequent delays in the neighborhood.

Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) says that currently, that stretch of SODO is closed for rail crossings more than 115 times per day, adding up to more than four hours per day of closures.

In the past five years, 85 collisions have occurred at SODO rail intersections—including three fatalities.

The $140 million overpass project, in the works for decades, was revitalized thanks to a $45 million federal grant back in July. The project also secured funding from the 2015 Move Seattle levy and from the State Legislature, plus funding from the Port of Seattle and BNSF Railway.

SDOT appears to have met halfway between the two design options presented back in September, with a curved barrier design and a blocky wall pattern.

SDOT

The public open house for the new design will be Thursday, March 30 from 4 to 6:30 p.m. at Metropolist, 2931 1st Avenue South, near one end of the proposed bridge.

After Thursday’s open house, SDOT will make their final design recommendation to the Seattle Design Commission. They hope to have a final design in July.

The bridge is scheduled to begin construction in 2018 and be ready for traffic in 2020.

• South Lander Street Bridge project [SDOT]