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Lane closures scheduled on Seattle's Aurora Bridge Friday night for safety assessment work

Crews will be installing vertical posts along the center line between northbound and southbound traffic.

SEATTLE — The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) is closing the four middle lanes of the Aurora Bridge Friday night into Sunday morning to install vertical posts as part of a safety assessment.

The vertical posts will be installed between the northbound and southbound lanes to create a more visible center line, according to SDOT.

Lane closures are expected to begin Friday at 10 p.m. and last through 6 a.m. Saturday. Traffic will be reduced to one lane in each direction during the installation.

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The work was initially slated to take place overnight on June 11-12, but severe weather forced SDOT to postpone.

The vertical posts will be in place for at least a year, SDOT said. They will serve as a temporary safety assessment while the department gathers speed and traffic volume data, which could lead to long-term improvements for the Aurora Bridge.

"The Aurora Bridge is an iconic part of Seattle's history, but it's also incredibly dangerous," said State Sen. Reuven Carlyle, of the 36th legislative district.

Carlyle, who helped secure funding for safety projects along Aurora Avenue N, said speed is a major factor on the Aurora Bridge, and he would like to see more signage for speed limits at both the north and south ends of the bridge.

The assessment project taking shape this weekend is one part of SDOT’s large-scale safety initiative along the State Route 99-Aurora Avenue corridor.

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