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MileCheck / Drawbridges / Seattle Drawbridges
Seattle · seven bridges · five live

Is the bridge up right now?

For anyone who crosses Ballard, Fremont or Montlake on the daily drive. Every Seattle drawbridge on one page. Live status for the five the city publishes, the federal opening rule for all seven, and no guessing when the feed goes quiet.

The app

Seattle Drawbridges

The Now screen shows which bridge is up at a glance. Premium unlocks every bridge's own page: live status, the rule, alerts and lift history. $9.99 a year (about 83 cents a month) or $0.99 month to month. No ads in the app.

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Seattle · live
Checking
Checked …Source Seattle DOTRefreshes every 2 min

Seattle Drawbridges

At a glance: which of the five monitored bridges is up right now, and for how long. Premium, $9.99 a year (about 83 cents a month) or $0.99 month to month, unlocks every bridge's own page: its opening rule, its live status detail, a push when a bridge you chose goes up, the lift history MileCheck keeps for it, and four more colour schemes. No account needed. No ads in the app. Your location stays on your phone.

Ship Canal

Ballard Bridge

15th Ave NW over the Ship Canal. Live status.

Fremont Bridge

Fremont Ave N over the Ship Canal. Live status.

University Bridge

Eastlake Ave E over the Ship Canal. No live feed.

Montlake Bridge

Montlake Blvd over the Ship Canal. Live status.

Duwamish

First Avenue South Bridge

SR 99 / 1st Ave S over the Duwamish. Live status.

South Park Bridge

14th Ave S over the Duwamish. Live status.

Southwest Spokane Street Bridge

SW Spokane St over the Duwamish. No live feed.

How we know

Seattle DOT publishes the state of five bridges. MileCheck reads it every two minutes, stamps the moment a bridge goes up and the moment it comes down, and keeps the log. That is where "up for 9 min" comes from. The city's feed has no timestamps of its own.

The opening rules are federal law, 33 CFR 117, quoted word for word on each bridge page and put in plain words above it.

The app

Seattle Drawbridges carries all seven bridges. The Now screen names which is up, at a glance. Premium, $9.99 a year or $0.99 a month, unlocks each bridge's own page: its rule, its live status, a push when a bridge goes up, its lift history and more colours. It never says a bridge is closed when nobody is publishing its status.

Questions

Which Seattle bridges have live status?

Five: Ballard, Fremont, Montlake, 1st Ave S and South Park. Seattle DOT publishes their up or down state. University Bridge and the SW Spokane St swing bridge are not in the feed, so no app or website can show them live.

How long does a Seattle drawbridge stay up?

Most lifts are over inside 15 minutes. A sailboat takes a few minutes; a tug with a tow or a run of boats on a summer weekend takes longer. The app times each opening and shows how long it has been up.

Do the bridges open during rush hour?

Usually not for small boats. Weekdays the Ship Canal bridges do not have to open 7 to 9 a.m. and 4 to 6 p.m. (Montlake has longer hours). Large vessels, 1,000 tons and up, get an opening at any time.

Why not just use Waze or Google Maps?

They show traffic. Neither one tracks drawbridges, so they cannot tell you Fremont is up until the cars behind it stop. Seattle Drawbridges reads the city's bridge feed directly and can push you a note the moment a bridge you chose goes up.

How do I cancel Premium?

It is an App Store subscription. Settings on your iPhone, your name, Subscriptions, Seattle Drawbridges, Cancel. No account with us, nothing to email.

Why does the site say "no live reading"?

Seattle's feed has no timestamps. When it reports no bridge movement for over 12 hours we stop calling it current, because five busy bridges do not sit still that long. "No live reading" is honest. "All down" would be a guess.

Live status from Seattle DOT via the MileCheck API. Opening rules from 33 CFR 117, the federal drawbridge regulations. Not affiliated with the City of Seattle, WSDOT or the Coast Guard.