How long does a Seattle drawbridge stay up?

A single sailboat clears a bridge in a few minutes. A tug with a barge, a run of boats on a summer Saturday, or a bridge that lifts and holds for a second boat takes longer. Most openings are over inside 15 minutes.

The city's feed does not say when a bridge went up. MileCheck polls it every two minutes and stamps each transition itself, so the app and the bridge pages here can say "up for 9 min" and keep a log of every lift. That log is what the 15, 20 and 30 minute alerts run on.

What makes a lift run long

• A tug and tow. The tender cannot hold the bridge for traffic, and a barge moves slowly.
• Boats in both directions. The bridge stays up until the canal is clear.
• Montlake's hour and half-hour windows in the early afternoon bunch boats together.
• Opening Day of boating season and the Ballard Locks summer traffic.

Which bridge lifts most

Fremont Bridge. It is the lowest bridge on the Ship Canal, so it lifts for boats that pass under Ballard and University without an opening. Seattle DOT has called it the most frequently opened drawbridge in the United States.

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