West Seattle Bridge to reopen Sept. 18

The West Seattle Bridge will open Sunday, Sept. 18, according to the Seattle Department of Transportation.

The date is the most specific milestone set by the city since the bridge closed more than two years ago due to safety concerns and provides weary West Seattle travelers with a beacon of hope.

The city previously set the week of Sept. 12 as its window for reopening the bridge but hedged the announcement with caveats about possible unanticipated hiccups in the final stretch of construction.

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The date provided Thursday reflects the progress crews have made in recent months, most notably the final post-tensioning of nearly 50 miles of new cable, which compress the span of the bridge to strengthen the concrete, The Seattle Times reported.

The cables are anchored by concrete blocks capable of holding 20 million pounds of force.

SDOT previously hoped to open the bridge in July, but a labor strike of concrete workers delayed progress.

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The 40-year-old bridge is among the city’s most important, previously allowing 100,000 drivers and 20,000 transit users to move between West Seattle and the rest of the city every day.