Traffic & Transit
Heat In Seattle Causes Roadway To Pop Open
Amid 90-degree temperatures on Wednesday, several lanes of 4th Avenue in Sodo buckled.
SEATTLE, WA — A section of 4th Avenue in Sodo popped open during the Wednesday evening rush hour, most likely due to the high heat felt in Seattle.
The northbound lanes of 4th Avenue buckled at around 5 p.m., forcing Seattle police to close most lanes along near Industrial Way, including one southbound lane. SDOT will be working to repair the roadway, and hopes to have it fixed by Thursday.
An SDOT engineer told multiple news outlets Wednesday after that heat caused the concrete to expand — and voila, buckled roadway.
Find out what's happening in Seattlewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
“In 15 years, I’ve only seen this a few times.” —SDOT engineer, on the heat buckle of 4th Ave S. He said old concrete materials expanded and popped at the joint. They hope to have the road patched and passable by Thursday morning. pic.twitter.com/gSgY7Ki64J
— Gary Horcher (@GaryKIRO7) June 13, 2019
Puget Sound broke multiple heat records on Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service. At the NWS office near Magnuson Park, the temperature hit 90, beating the old record of 79 measured in 2002. At Sea-Tac Airport, the temperature reached 95, the hottest in Puget Sound.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
