Sign up for 520 drawspan opening alerts
As I'm sure you know by now, the 520 drawspan opens periodically to let marine traffic pass through. The most recent opening, which happened on a Monday at 9:30 a.m., prompted the following tweets. "It's too early, you're affecting north and southbound I-5 with that timeframe."
"20 minutes for one sailboat???"
"Scheduled my a**. During the morning commute? Really?"
"I hope it costs them a ton of cash to waste all our time this morning. This is stupid."
"How bout making boats pay to open 520 or not charge the cars who have to wait. Bad form."
Needless to say, people weren't pleased. And I don't blame them. Sitting in traffic is bad enough when it's due to normal gridlock you encounter every day.
I've learned in any given year, you'll see about 8 to 20 bridge openings along the 520 floating bridge. This year, there have already been 25.
But wait. There is a method to the madness. The Washington Department of Transportation says there's a reason for that. The new bridge they're building, remember? Because of additional construction, the east channel, which ordinarily allows boats to pass through (there's a space of 64 feet below where boats can pass) is closed. That's why they need to open the drawspan from time to time.
When they can open the drawspan is also closely regulated, by Coast Guard rules. For instance, they aren't allowed to open it between the hours of 6-9a and 4-7p weekdays, during the height of rush hour.
Boats need to give wsdot advance notice of at least two hours during certain times of the day, one hour notice during others.
AND, as for the argument of making boats pay to pass through the span...I'm told maritime law predates laws on land. Boat traffic was here first, therefore, they get the right of way.
Here's some solace. The new bridge they're building won't have drawspan openings. In the meantime, you can sign up for text or email alerts from wsdot that give you ample warning BEFORE one of these drawspan openings so you can plan ahead, or avoid the bridge altogether. You can find it on
"20 minutes for one sailboat???"
"Scheduled my a**. During the morning commute? Really?"
"I hope it costs them a ton of cash to waste all our time this morning. This is stupid."
"How bout making boats pay to open 520 or not charge the cars who have to wait. Bad form."
Needless to say, people weren't pleased. And I don't blame them. Sitting in traffic is bad enough when it's due to normal gridlock you encounter every day.
I've learned in any given year, you'll see about 8 to 20 bridge openings along the 520 floating bridge. This year, there have already been 25.
But wait. There is a method to the madness. The Washington Department of Transportation says there's a reason for that. The new bridge they're building, remember? Because of additional construction, the east channel, which ordinarily allows boats to pass through (there's a space of 64 feet below where boats can pass) is closed. That's why they need to open the drawspan from time to time.
When they can open the drawspan is also closely regulated, by Coast Guard rules. For instance, they aren't allowed to open it between the hours of 6-9a and 4-7p weekdays, during the height of rush hour.
Boats need to give wsdot advance notice of at least two hours during certain times of the day, one hour notice during others.
AND, as for the argument of making boats pay to pass through the span...I'm told maritime law predates laws on land. Boat traffic was here first, therefore, they get the right of way.
Here's some solace. The new bridge they're building won't have drawspan openings. In the meantime, you can sign up for text or email alerts from wsdot that give you ample warning BEFORE one of these drawspan openings so you can plan ahead, or avoid the bridge altogether. You can find it on
