West Seattle Bridge

Traffic on the West Spokane Street Bridge in 1930

The bridge that preceded the "West Seattle Bridge" as we know it today was called the "West Spokane Street Bridge".[5] "Spokane Street" has long been used as designation for the streets running along the latitude of the current West Seattle Bridge.[6] Before any permanent bridge was built along the line of Spokane Street, there had been three temporary bridges, built c. 1900, c. 1910, and c. 1918. The first one was basically a swinging gate in what had been primarily built as a water main; the second was a swing bridge that also carried a water main, and the third was a swing bridge after the water main had been rerouted elsewhere.[7]

A more permanent bascule bridge was constructed in 1924, which lasted for several decades. In 1945, one of Seattle's oldest freeways (the "Spokane Street Viaduct") connected the bridge to Beacon Hill. Prior to the construction of Interstate 5 in Washington, the viaduct was separated from the bridge by the main north-south corridor: U.S. Route 99 in Washington.

By the 1970s, the West Spokane Street Bridge was one of Seattle's worst bottlenecks, due to the large number of ships in Duwamish Waterway and the frequent bridge openings. City leaders began planning a higher bridge, without a drawbridge, in the 1960s.

Planning for the bridge was hampered by difficulties in receiving funding. In large part, this is because the bridge was not a designated highway. A 1968 Forward Thrust ballot measure included $16.7 million in funding for the bridge, largely to receive votes from West Seattle residents. Other funding sources included a state program for funding urban streets and money from a maintenance fund.

After a long drawn-out process, three companies eventually bid to design the bridge for $1.5 million. However, the city engineer chose a fourth company that was financially connected to the speaker of the state house. The price from this fourth company was triple the cost of the other three. This was a result of a series of bribes involving the head of the House Transportation Committee, the city engineer and others. Despite the 68 percent support in the 1968 ballot measure, the state withdrew its urban streets money due to the scandal. In 1976 and 1977, the conspirators were placed on trial and imprisoned.

After the scandal, the project was considered dead. Norbert Tiemann, a federal highway regulator, stated that there would essentially be no chance of the project receiving federal funds for completion. Tiemann also quipped, "Short of a tug knocking it down (which could trigger federal special bridge replacement funds), there is nothing else. And you certainly wouldn't want to go that route."[8] In March 1978, several prominent West Seattle residents filed a petition to organize a secession referendum, with the hopes of finding state funding for a new bridge to serve their independent city.[9] The secession campaign was required to gather 29,000 signatures for a ballot measure, but were unable to meet the threshold before the drawbridges were permanently closed two months later.[9][10]

The Antonio Chavez, the ship that hit the old bridge

On June 11, 1978, a ship struck the old bridge, which left it open and unrepairable. Because of this, the project qualified for funds from the federal Office of Special Bridge Replacement. However, with many other damaged bridges to replace, this program alone did not have sufficient funding. While federal lawmakers were opposed to appropriating funds to a high-level bridge, Seattle City Council member Jeanette Williams, who served on the council from 1970 to 1989, lobbied Congress for the bridge and successfully secured funds with help from Senator Warren Magnuson.[11][12] The smaller Spokane Street Bridge which parallels it was built at the same time. Before the bridge opened, many of the neighborhoods in West Seattle had low property values because of the difficulty in getting downtown.

The replacement bridge was opened in 1984.[11][12] The West Seattle Bridge was renamed as the Jeanette Williams Memorial Bridge on July 6, 2009, in honor of councilmember Williams, who had been instrumental in securing political support for the construction of the bridge.[11][12] All directional signs still carry the name "West Seattle Bridge", many of which had formerly borne the designation "West Seattle Freeway".

The bridge caused an increase in property values as well as a development boom, as developers constructed new multi-family housing. This new development also led to an increase in traffic volumes throughout the neighborhood.

West Seattle Bridge seen from the 12th Avenue South viewpoint on Beacon Hill in 2010.

A monorail extension to West Seattle in the early 2000s was planned to use the West Seattle Bridge, with elevated columns over the center barrier.[13] The plan was later scaled down to a single-track guideway over the bridge and abandoned entirely in 2005 over cost concerns.[14][15]

West Seattle in the background, with the West Seattle Bridge (and the Spokane Street Viaduct) in foreground

On March 23, 2020, SDOT began a long-term closure of the bridge for emergency repairs after cracks in the deck were discovered during a routine inspection.[16][17] The girder wall cracks had grown to 2 feet (0.61 m) within a month, while the hollow girder cracks had been noticed during inspections. An earlier report from 2014 speculated that earlier cracks had been caused by the 2001 Nisqually earthquake.[18] On April 15, SDOT announced that the bridge will be closed until at least 2022 because of more extensive damage found and estimated time to complete bracing for the repair project.[19] Following the closure of the bridge, some people, including Seattle-based architectural firm Wittman Estes called for the bridge to be replaced,[20] but in November 2020, mayor Jenny Durkan said that the city would continue focusing on repair rather than any replacement.[21]