West Spokane Street Bridge

Traffic on the West Spokane Street Bridge in 1930

The West Spokane Street Bridge crossed the Duwamish River from Harbor Island to West Seattle.[1] "Spokane Street" has long been used as designation for the streets running along the latitude of the current West Seattle Bridge.[2] Before any permanent bridge was built along the line of Spokane Street, there had been three temporary bridges, built c. 1900, c. 1910, and c. 1918. The first one was basically a swinging gate in what had been primarily built as a water main; the second was a swing bridge that also carried a water main, and the third was a swing bridge after the water main had been rerouted elsewhere.[3]

A more permanent bascule bridge was constructed in 1924, which lasted for several decades. In 1945, one of Seattle's oldest freeways (the "Spokane Street Viaduct") connected the bridge to Beacon Hill. Prior to the construction of Interstate 5 in Washington, the viaduct was separated from the bridge by the main north-south corridor: U.S. Route 99 in Washington.

By the 1970s, the West Spokane Street Bridge was one of Seattle's worst bottlenecks, due to the large number of ships in Duwamish Waterway and the frequent bridge openings. City leaders began planning a higher bridge, without a drawbridge, in the 1960s.

Planning for the bridge was hampered by difficulties in receiving funding. In large part, this is because the bridge was not a designated highway. A 1968 Forward Thrust ballot measure included $16.7 million in funding for the bridge, largely to receive votes from West Seattle residents. Other funding sources included a state program for funding urban streets and money from a maintenance fund.

After a long drawn-out process, three companies eventually bid to design the bridge for $1.5 million. However, the city engineer chose a fourth company that was financially connected to the speaker of the state house. The price from this fourth company was triple the cost of the other three. This was a result of a series of bribes involving the head of the House Transportation Committee, the city engineer and others. Despite the 68 percent support in the 1968 ballot measure, the state withdrew its urban streets money due to the scandal. In 1976 and 1977, the conspirators were placed on trial and imprisoned.

After the scandal, the project was considered dead. Norbert Tiemann, a federal highway regulator, stated that there would essentially be no chance of the project receiving federal funds for completion. Tiemann also quipped, "Short of a tug knocking it down (which could trigger federal special bridge replacement funds), there is nothing else. And you certainly wouldn't want to go that route."[4] In March 1978, several prominent West Seattle residents filed a petition to organize a secession referendum, with the hopes of finding state funding for a new bridge to serve their independent city.[5] The secession campaign was required to gather 29,000 signatures for a ballot measure, but were unable to meet the threshold before the northern or westbound drawbridge was permanently closed[6] and all east-west traffic was funneled over the southern span.[5][7]

The Antonio Chavez, the ship thatstruck the old bridge in 1978,

As mentioned, the "West Spokane Street Bridge" predated two other bridges: the "West Seattle Bridge" and the "Spokane Street Bridge". On June 11, 1978, a ship struck the West Spokane Street Bridge, which left it open and unrepairable. Because of this, the project qualified for funds from the federal Office of Special Bridge Replacement. However, with many other damaged bridges to replace, this program alone did not have sufficient funding. While federal lawmakers were opposed to appropriating funds to a high-level bridge, Seattle City Council member Jeanette Williams, who served on the council from 1970 to 1989, lobbied Congress for the bridge and successfully secured funds with help from Senator Warren Magnuson.[8][9] The smaller Spokane Street Bridge which parallels it was built a few years later. Before the bridge opened, many of the neighborhoods in West Seattle had low property values because of the difficulty in getting downtown.

The high-level West Seattle Bridge, officially the Jeanette Williams Memorial Bridge, is a cantilevered segmental bridge that serves as the primary connection between West Seattle and the rest of the city. It was built between 1981 and 1984 after the previous bascule bridge was deemed inoperable as a result of being struck by the freighter Antonio Chavez in 1978.

The bridge spans the east and west channels that form the mouth of the Duwamish River at Elliott Bay, crossing over Harbor Island. Its main approaches are Fauntleroy Way S.W. from the west and the Spokane Street Viaduct from the east. The viaduct continues east to Interstate 5 at Columbian Way (exit 163), forming a three-mile (5 km) arterial between West Seattle and I-5. The navigational clearance height of the high-level West Seattle Bridge is 140 feet (42.6 meters).[10]

The low-level Spokane Street Bridge of swing-span design spans the west channel of the Duwamish River immediately north of the high-level bridge. The low-level bridge carries the surface-level Spokane Street and has a navigational clearance of 45 feet (13.7 meters).

The bridge was closed in March 2020 after cracks in the underside were found to be growing rapidly, necessitating a major repair amid the COVID-19 pandemic. SDOT has since announced that the bridge will remain closed until at least 2022.