Biking and walking access will be maintained during E Marginal Way construction

Construction crews are preparing to begin work on a major, multi-year rebuild of E Marginal Way S as soon as March 11, according to SDOT. The project includes building an entirely new roadbed built to withstand heavy truck traffic as well as new protected bike lanes. Work is not expected to be complete until 2026.

Walking and biking access will be maintained throughout the multi-year project, which is good news because there is no viable alternative land route between the Spokane Street Bridge and downtown Seattle. The exact route will move around and change as the work zone changes.

The project will rebuild E Marginal between S Spokane Street (West Seattle Bridge) and S Atlantic Street (start of the Alaskan Way Trail), passing by several major Port of Seattle access points. I addition to maintaining walking and biking access, the project will also maintain freight-only access to these major Port driveways. General purpose traffic will be detoured to 1st Ave S as necessary.

When the street finally opens, it will likely be the final piece of a complete and connected Seattle Waterfront Trail (not its official name) that links the Alki and Duwamish Trails through SoDo and downtown to the Elliott Bay Trail in Myrtle Edwards Park and beyond.

The project recently overcame a complicated railroad ownership hurdle and is finally ready to start. SDOT has secured more than $38 million to build the project, $20 million of which is from a federal RAISE grant, $5 million from the Port and the rest from the Move Seattle Levy and state funding.

Below is a more detailed look at the final design:

More construction details from SDOT:

To complete our work as quickly and safely as possible, we are closing East Marginal Way S to general purpose traffic. Detour is not yet active and we will notify the community prior to the detour taking effect. When the detour is active, we will:

• Convert East Marginal Way S to one-way northbound and access will be limited to freight vehicles and Port of Seattle traffic only. See the above route map for freight and Port-bound traffic.
• Detour all non-Port of Seattle vehicle traffic to nearby streets
• Maintain access for people walking, biking, and rolling along East Marginal Way S using different routes to avoid active construction areas. Detour routes may change to accommodate project work.

Detour routes for non-Port of Seattle vehicle traffic and for people walking, biking, and rolling may be in place before construction activities start in areas between S Atlantic St and S Spokane St.