The Aurora Bridge will be down to one lane in each direction on Sunday night as SDOT crews makes repairs on expansion joints. Then next week, two lanes will be open in each direction from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. (the inside lanes will be closed) as maintenance crews work.

Updated: Despite daunting traffic warnings, a big barge carrying construction materials for the I-90 bridge project only briefly closed the Fremont Bridge when it passed underneath on Friday evening.

The barge, seen here heading down the Ship Canal from the Ballard Bridge to Fremont, was carrying two 65-ton steel joints and a crane.

The new traffic light on N 46th St. at Aurora Ave. is now in operation.  

SDOT installed the light after noticing the steady increase of traffic jams in the intersection due in large part to westbound traffic that stacks up on 46th waiting to turn left on Aurora. There’s also that dangerous crosswalk on the Aurora on-ramp (where we’ve seen a couple of close calls.) With the addition, there are now three traffic lights within a thousand feet of each other, but SDOT says they’ve coordinated timing across all three.

With the demise of the Elliott Bay fireworks show, Fremont and Wallingford are expecting record crowds this 4th of July for the Chase Family Fourth at Gas Works Park. Today, Seattle Police released its traffic plan for Wallingford which strictly limits traffic to “residents and others with legitimate business in the community” beginning at noon on the 4th. Police officers will be assigned to screen vehicles at numerous streets, roughly from Stone Way to Corliss Ave., and from 34th to 39th (full list here). “Residents that are expecting guests should provide their guests with an invitation showing the address they are going to,” Seattle Police explains. At 6 p.m., the lockdown zone expands out a block, and access will be controlled at Stone Way on the west and 40th Street on the north. In short, if you’re not planning to attend the fireworks show, you should make every attempt to avoid the area.

SDOT’s bridge maintenance crews plan to close lanes and sidewalks on the Fremont Bridge while they replace traffic gates over the next few days. In each case, pedestrians and bicycles will be detoured to the sidewalk on the opposite side of the bridge. The closure schedule:

May 27, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. - Northbound right lane and eastern sidewalk
May 28, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. - Southbound right lane and western sidewalk
June 2, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. - Northbound right lane and eastern sidewalk
June 3, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. - Southbound right lane and western sidewalk

The City of Seattle plans to remove one lane of traffic each way on Nickerson St. to make it safer and improve pedestrian access and bicycle usage.

The changes will be on Nickerson between the Ballard Bridge and W. Etruria Street, just a couple blocks from the Fremont Bridge. The lanes will be replaced with a center turn lane and a new westbound bicycle lane, leaving one lane of traffic in each direction. Magnolia Voice has more details and illustrations.

The lane lines on the Aurora Bridge that disappeared during the snowstorm, creating some confusion, are being re-painted today (Wednesday).

Seattle Department of Transportation crews are closing one lane in the northbound direction this morning and will move to the southbound lanes later on. Crews plan to be off the roadway by 3 p.m. in time for the afternoon commute. Drivers are asked to not drive over the wet paint.

We read in comments recently (our apologies, we don’t remember who posted it) that the snow plows and sanders had inadvertently eliminated a lane from the Aurora Bridge. Today, we drove over the bridge and snapped a photo:

Going in either direction, the reflectors and lines separating the second and third lanes have vanished. We found some drivers were swerving a bit, confused if there were really three lanes or two. (Reminds us of that Seinfeld episode when Kramer adopted a stretch of roadway and converted it into wide lanes, throwing traffic into chaos.) The same thing happened on the West Seattle Bridge. SDOT says it’s a priority to replace the reflectors and paint, so stay tuned.

Updated: At 2:30 this morning, a speeding car hit the median on Highway 99 just south of the Aurora bridge, ripping the car into two and killing the driver. All southbound lanes of 99 were closed until around 7:15 a.m.

Twelve-thousand people are expected to converge on Fremont tonight and through the weekend for the annual Oktoberfest event.

(Photo from last year, courtesy of the Oktoberfest.) With all the people and a couple of street closures, traffic and parking is bound to be a mess. N 35th St. and N Canal St. are closed from Phinney Ave. N to 1st Ave. NW. The roads closed Thursday night and will reopen at 11 p.m. Sunday.

Stay tuned to Fremont Universe for Oktoberfest coverage…

A “pass up” is when a Metro bus is so full, it skips a stop. Or more. Metro drivers reported 640 “pass ups” in May, compared with 443 a year earlier, reports the Times. The busiest? Route 358 up Aurora Ave. N.