Mercer Street opens to two-way traffic on Aug. 27
SEATTLE -- It's a day many Seattle commuters have been waiting for... Mercer Street is about to finally become a two-way street.
The Seattle Department of Transportation announced Tuesday that Mercer Street will open to two-way traffic on Aug. 27 following the full weekend closure of the I-5 on- and off-ramps on August 24-27.
The new roadway will then accommodate three lanes of westbound traffic that will travel straight off the I-5 off-ramps. Eastbound Mercer Street will maintain three lanes onto the I-5 on-ramps, in addition to a left turn lane onto northbound Fairview Avenue N as well as travel across Fairview Avenue N that allows eastbound access to Eastlake and Capitol Hill.
However, the expansion of Mercer Street comes at a temporary price for Fairview Avenue N. which will have severe lane restrictions for the next phase of construction. That phase is expected to last into early 2013 and will include underground electrical and communication line work and movement of gas, sewer and water lines, SDOT said.
For more information: Seattle.gov
The Seattle Department of Transportation announced Tuesday that Mercer Street will open to two-way traffic on Aug. 27 following the full weekend closure of the I-5 on- and off-ramps on August 24-27.
The new roadway will then accommodate three lanes of westbound traffic that will travel straight off the I-5 off-ramps. Eastbound Mercer Street will maintain three lanes onto the I-5 on-ramps, in addition to a left turn lane onto northbound Fairview Avenue N as well as travel across Fairview Avenue N that allows eastbound access to Eastlake and Capitol Hill.
However, the expansion of Mercer Street comes at a temporary price for Fairview Avenue N. which will have severe lane restrictions for the next phase of construction. That phase is expected to last into early 2013 and will include underground electrical and communication line work and movement of gas, sewer and water lines, SDOT said.
For more information: Seattle.gov
This is all merely UN-doing what was done to Mercer in the late 1960's. Same-ol'-same-ol' all over again.
Doesn't Mercer dump most of the people onto Fairview to head north? If Fairview will be under construction then it will cause a back-up on Mercer. The Mercer mess continues...
 @hi61izq Eastbound Mercer will still be (as it was as a one-way street) primarily a freeway access route.  Westbound Mercer, in the new configuration, will take vehicles directly from I-5 - instead of turning right (or left) on to Fairview, now you exit I-5 and go straight west on Mercer.
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It appears from the maps on the seattle.gov project site that unless you're going somewhere along south Lake Union, you won't be affected, and alternate routes will still get you there.
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This alternative eliminates the airview/eastlake/valley/broad mess when exiting I-5, and once Mercer is two-way all the way to Elliott, it will help alleviate traffic on Denny as well.
None of this would be necessary if the city's, and for that matter, the entire region's population was changed to the demographics of 1964.
I think what I'm waiting for is for all the damn construction to be done!
what difference does it make? Its a typical busy downtown seattle road, under construction; not much more to see.
That's the best photo KOMO can get for this story?