According to Greg Phipps of the Washington State Department of Transportation, the Rivet Buster is back on the Aurora Bridge – and Sundays for the next four weeks will require a little driving strategy for Fremont.
As work continues on the safety barrier for the historic George Washington Memorial Bridge (also known as Aurora), it requires removal of more than 1,000 rivets and bolts. Work was delayed when the original method – the Rivet Buster – was determined to be too loud for work at night. After trying several other methods, the Rivet Buster was declared the only one that actually worked in this tricky, environmentally delicate, heavily populated area.
As a result, rivets will be removed – but during day time hours when, it is hoped, the noise will be less noticable for those living near the bridge. This work will be done over four Sundays – August 15, August 22, August 29 and September 5 – and require closure of two lanes of traffic on the bridge from 6a – midnight.
Additionally, this will require closure of the southbound on-ramp to Aurora on this Sunday, August 15th.
The lane closures will start with southbound ramps, switching to northbound later in the month and on September 5th.
What does this mean to Fremont? Traffic will be seriously icky across Aurora for the next four Sundays – and across the Fremont Bridge as well.
So, stay here, stroll the Fremont Sunday Market, have brunch at Costas and a beer at the Buckaroo – and if you MUST leave the ‘hood, take I-5, please.