SEATTLE -- The Spokane Street swing bridge did something that frustrated drivers smack in the middle of Thursday's morning rush hour: it opened.
What's more, Seattle's Department of Transportation, or SDOT, had been encouraging drivers to take that route all morning since an accident blocked three lanes of the upper West Seattle bridge.
Drivers stuck in the gridlock tweeted their anger, calling it "unacceptable" and demanding an answer from the city why it would open the swing bridge for a boat considering the "crisis" on the upper bridge.
Why did SDOT open the bridge during rush hour, anyway?
"We have to open it when boats request it," said SDOT spokesman Rick Sheridan. "Federal law says boats have the right of way."
The city of Seattle has asked the federal government twice for permission to refuse to open the Spokane St. bridge during morning and evening rush hour.
Both times, as recently as 2010, the U.S. Coast Guard said no, according to Sheridan, deciding that SDOT must continue to open the bridge whenever a boat requests it.
"We wish we could have a restriction," said Sheridan. "But it's a decision the Coast Guard gets to make."
The Coast Guard made a different decision for two of SDOT's other bridges that open.
When boats approach Ballard or Fremont bridges, the city of Seattle is allowed to refuse to open them during morning and evening rush hours.
The Coast Guard granted SDOT a special waiver to keep the Fremont and Ballard bridges closed during morning and evening rush hours.
The Coast Guard could not immediately answer why it refused SDOT's similar request for the Spokane St. bridge, saying it needed time to research the decision.
