Seattle Commuters Hit by Bridge Sinking

Commuter traffic backed up for miles on icy roads today after a weekend deluge sank a floating bridge across Lake Washington, which separates Seattle’s eastern suburbs from downtown.

Still, it could have been worse, the Washington State Patrol said. Most commuters were aware the Interstate 90 bridge was closed and got an early start, patrol communications supervisor Vickie Crawford said.

“It’s really not as bad as we thought it would be,” she said. But, she added, “It was pretty much gridlocked earlier this morning.”

About 2,100 feet of the 2-mile-long Mercer Island floating bridge sank into the lake Sunday after a weekend of high winds and record rains. The bridge, next to the year-old I-90 floating bridge, was being renovated for eventual use as I-90’s eastbound lanes.

Officials said the new bridge will probably be closed for weeks. As the main link between Seattle and its suburbs east of the lake, the bridge normally handles 110,000 cars a day.

Freezing temperatures overnight caused icy roads, which resulted in numerous fender-benders, Crawford said. No serious injuries were reported.

Metro, the regional transit agency, added extra buses to try to ease the commute.

Floodwaters started to back down today after the weekend storm left thousands of people scrambling for higher ground.

Twenty rivers overflowed their banks and high-water marks for five of them set records. Rainfall set records too, with 5.82 inches in Olympia and 3.56 inches at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport during the 24 hours ending Saturday afternoon.