West Seattle, Washington
23 Monday
If you’re interested in light rail, the time to speak up – or, speak up again – is here. Sound Transit will soon make major decisions on what to take to voters, seeking money that will shape the next generation of its projects. West Seattle needs more planning, and needs you to advocate for that, says the West Seattle Transportation Coalition:
Dear West Seattle, South Park, White Center, and Burien Residents,
The West Seattle Transportation Coalition (WSTC) is made up of your neighbors. We are community volunteers who have been tracking mobility issues for the Peninsula and White Center since September 2013. We have been successful in bringing attention to our transportation challenges by banding together and asking for solutions.
In the Sound Transit 2 package, money was set aside to study potential corridors for Sound Transit expansion (ST3). Sound Transit has been studying the Ballard transit expansion since 2012. The three years of comprehensive citizen outreach and planning sessions have culminated in multiple routing and delivery options for Ballard. However, West Seattle and points south have not had the benefits of the same planning sessions. On December 4, 2015, Sound Transit presented to the Sound Transit Board (STB) a proposal for expansion of Sound Transit light rail.
The WSTC has raised a question (see attached letter) to the STB and the City of Seattle. The proposed three options are in direct conflict with projects voted on in Move Seattle. With a draft proposal set for March 2016 and a final draft set for June 2016, how can we get three years worth of planning done in three months?
We need your help. Our next meeting is Thursday, January 28, 2016. We want to have a brainstorming session on ways we can help Sound Transit and the Cities of Seattle and Burien hold successful accelerated planning sessions.
You don’t need to be a transportation planner, you just need to want light rail to come to West Seattle, White Center and Burien!
Date: January 28, 2016
Time: 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Location: (new location) The Kenney, 7125 Fauntleroy Way SW
Hello! As of tonight, January 15th, WSB is emerging from its first-ever major technical overhaul, in “beta” mode. It’s our next chapter, in partnership with you. Packing up 10 years worth of news, information, and discussion and moving it into a new shell turned out to be mightily complex; it had to be done to get to a point where we now have the ability to add, expand, improve. What you’re seeing now is just the start of WSB’s next chapter; much of what happened is “under the hood” but the look is different as well because the one we’d had since 2005 wouldn’t work with current upgrades. WSB has always been “community-collaborative news” – your tips, your comments, your events, your concerns – and now we will appreciate your collaboration on tweaking what’s live now, and then as the weeks and months go on, your ideas for what more is needed to truly serve our community. For now the biggest change is that we’re using more of the screen and surfacing more of what’s always been happening “inside” WSB – comments, forum posts, lost/found pets – and alongside in social-media channels. We look forward to talking with you here and/or via e-mail at editor@wsb.blackfin.biz. P.S. Thanks to the thousands of readers who have joined us on our backup site as we continued covering the news there this past week.
Two West Seattle Crime Watch reader reports. First, from Brooke:
(At mid-afternoon today) while a contractor was on break, someone stole the tools from his truck, and kicked in the door of the house he was working on and stole the tools from inside as well. The tools were taken from the 9000 block of 14th AVE SW. He is really distressed, and just called the police after much urging from several of us on the street and him being pessimistic that they could do anything. I was hoping we could be awesome neighbors and keep our eyes peeled to see if we can reunite him with his tools. If anyone sees anything or notices someone unloading or trying to sell a large number of tools, please call the police and tell them you think it might be related to this case.
And from Heather:
I am contacting you so you can remind our West Seattle community to be vigilant about checking their mail every day. I live at on the 6000 block of California Avenue near the Morgan Junction and a row of mailboxes was broken into last night.
We found out the hard way that a new credit card had been in the mailbox: At about 6:00 (Thursday) evening, the thieves went to a gas station and then tried to buy merchandise at Nordstrom’s. For once, the fact that the card was at its limit saved us because the transaction was denied. The only way we found out was an email from Amex apologizing for not being able to complete the purchase.
I strongly urge everyone to check the balances on debit and credit cards regularly for suspicious charges. Check your mailbox every day. And keep your eyes peeled for these criminals. Something as simple as stealing mail can cause quite the headache, financial and otherwise.
And a reminder – the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council resumes its monthly meetings next Tuesday, January 19th, 7 pm at the Southwest Precinct (2300 SW Webster). Along with local police, an insurance-industry expert will be there to talk about current trends in car break-ins and thefts, in hopes the information can help reduce your chances of becoming a victim.
By Randall Hauk
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
Guadalajara Mexican Restaurant is vacating its longtime Fauntleroy-area location (9214 45th Avenue SW) after this Sunday.
Jose Prieto and Maria Rodriguez say they were unable to negotiate an extension of their lease with property management, after nearly 13 years near the Fauntleroy ferry terminal, and were forced to seek alternatives for continuing operations. The husband-and-wife restaurant owners looked at Morgan Junction as a possibility, but ultimately decided paying a third more rent was more than their business could handle.
“It’s sad, you know,” says Prieto. “I have all my regulars. I even have people who come all the way from Lynnwood and Des Moines. It’s a really great neighborhood. We hurt, you know?”
Prieto says he has no idea what the current property owners have planned for the space, but is already working hard to reopen in a new Federal Way location as El Mariachi (29100 Pacific Highway S.).
Before they leave West Seattle, however, Prieto plans to say goodbye to the neighborhood by running Happy Hour specials all weekend long, offering buy-one-get-one-for-half-off entrée deals, and opening earlier than their normal 12 noon Sunday start time to accommodate those who want to watch the Seahawks-Panthers playoff game.
“Hopefully, we’ll clear out all our food and be out of here after Sunday,” says Prieto. “We’ll open up and start fresh down there. Our goal is to be open March 1st.”
Got something about Seattle Public Schools on your mind? Tomorrow is your first chance to join an informal community conversation with your new School Board rep for West Seattle and South Park, Leslie Harris. She’ll be at Southwest Library (35th/Henderson) 3-4:30 pm on Saturday – just drop in.
A new bakery and café is on the way to South Delridge – an expansion for Fresh Flours, which already has three locations, on Phinney Ridge and in Beacon Hill and Ballard. Fresh Flours proprietors Etsuko and Keiji happen to be West Seattle residents and are “so very excited” to be opening a location here in their neighborhood, at 9410 Delridge Way SW. Etsuko tells us via email that it’s more than another café:
We will bake all breakfast pastries such as croissants, danish, scones, muffin, macarons, and cookies, out of our Delridge kitchen to cater to other locations. Of course we will have an espresso bar – serving Stumptown coffee. The cafe will be small but there will be nice seating space. We are planning to do some landscape work to install outdoor seating after taking down an old house next to our bakery.
They expect to open the new Fresh Flours in the spring, possibly April, and Etsuko promises: “It is going to be fun!” If you’re not familiar with what they offer, take a look here.
10:32 AM: We mentioned the other day that the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) was scheduled to deploy from Bremerton today – and a texter sends word that it’s in view (or will be shortly) from West Seattle, rounding south Bainbridge Island as it comes out of Rich Passage. The Navy says the Stennis is headed for the Western Pacific.
11:54 AM: Added photos, courtesy of Greg Snyder – above, we had heard the Stennis would be flying a 12th Man flag, and indeed it did.
Seattle Public Utilities confirms there’s a water-line break in Fauntleroy. We checked with them after hearing from Danielle that she had lost water service near 44th and Barton and that water was in the street. SPU says a crew is making emergency repairs and they expect to have more information for us to add shortly.
10:21 AM: Our crew reports that 44th SW is closed south of Wildwood (Barton) while repairs are under way.
11:18 AM: From Ingrid Goodwin at SPU: “Water is off to about 28 homes to allow SPU crews to repair the broken 4-inch water main that runs ups 44th Ave SW to the dead end. Excavation has occurred and crews estimate that the repair will be done and water back on to customers by 3 pm today. The water was turned off about 9:45 am today.”
2:05 PM: SPU had hoped to get the repair finished earlier than expected, but then, Goodwin updates us: “Unfortunately, as crews were back filling the hole and preparing to leave the site, the water main sprung another leak. So crews are digging up the pipe again and have turned off the water. I will let you know when we expect to have the water back on, but it will likely be off through the remainder of the afternoon.”
3:05 PM: Update – SPU says they made the original 3 pm estimate after all.
6:23 AM: Good morning – we start another morning with no incidents reported in/from West Seattle so far.
WEEKEND REMINDER … If you drive Highway 99 north of downtown, WSDOT wants to be sure you know about this: “2 right lanes of SB SR 99/Aurora Ave N at Aurora Bridge closed 6:30 am-noon Sat. and Sun. for bridge inspection work.”
THEN STARTING MONDAY NIGHT … that’s when a month-plus of lane closures begin, also on Highway 99 north of downtown, but both ways – details here.
ALSO ON MONDAY: Transit changes for the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Day holiday include a “reduced weekday” schedule for Metro buses and no service for the West Seattle and Vashon Water Taxi routes. (And remember that school’s out on Monday.)
NIGHTTIME ROAD CLOSURE REMINDER: Nightly work on SW Alaska between 40th and Fauntleroy is scheduled to continue into next week.
7:05 AM: Megan tweets that her RapidRide C Line bus is stuck on the eastbound bridge, in the bus lane.
9:14 AM: Texter says there’s a crash at West Marginal Way S. and Holden/599. The SFD response is closed, though.
9:20 AM: WSDOT says it’s blocking the two right northbound lanes.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Tending a community garden requires more than planting, weeding, harvesting.
This week, members of the Barton P-Patch community gathered to talk about problems and solutions.
The meeting was mediated by neighborhood district coordinator Kerry Wade of the city Department of Neighborhoods, which runs the P-Patch Community Garden Program and worked with local gardeners to turn this site from dream to reality four-plus years ago. It’s full of special touches, not the least of which is its community pizza oven, which has been at the heart of neighborhood events.
Someone stole Brent‘s 1996 black Honda Accord EX: “It was last parked at 42nd and Edmunds, parked next to Safeway on the street. It had a handicap placard hanging from the mirror. There was a brand-new Britax car seat (1 week old) in the back seat.” The license plate: AHF 0976. Call 911 if you see it.
(Photo courtesy Kevin Maloney, South Seattle College)
5:59 PM THURSDAY: You know Northwest Wine Academy at South Seattle College (WSB sponsor) for its reds, its whites … and today, its blues and greens. The photo was taken while reps of Mayor Ed Murray‘s office were visiting NWWA this afternoon – there to pick up some choice NWWA wine for the mayor’s impending coast-to-coast bet with his counterpart in Charlotte, NC, over Sunday’s Seahawks-Panthers game.
ADDED 9:55 AM FRIDAY: We asked the mayor’s office which wines – here’s the photo:
Their announcement this morning:
Mayor Ed Murray has entered into a friendly wager with Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts ahead of Sunday’s NFC Divisional Playoff game between the Seattle Seahawks and the Carolina Panthers. Sunday’s game marks the second consecutive year the two teams have met in the Divisional round, with the Seahawks winning last year 31-17.
“I’m looking forward to celebrating another Seahawk playoff win with another package of prizes from yet another Mayor of Charlotte,” said Mayor Murray. “We have never lost to the Panthers in the playoffs and I know Coach Carroll has the team ready for this road playoff game. Last week’s game is proof that the Seahawks can beat any opponent, in any weather, in any stadium.”
“As much as I’d love to share our fine southern cuisine with our cross-country colleagues, they will have to settle for eating crow after we beat the ‘Hawks’,” said Mayor Roberts. “Coach Rivera has the team prepared to defeat anyone standing in their path to the Super Bowl. Pete Carroll will be sleepless in Charlotte trying to develop a game plan to stop Cam Newton.”
If the Seahawks beat the Panthers, Mayor Roberts will send Mayor Murray barbeque from Mac’s Speed Shop, beer from The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery, and salted caramel brownies from Amelie’s French Bakery.
If the Panthers defeat the Seahawks, Mayor Murray will send Mayor Roberts beer from Pike Brewing, wine from the South Seattle College’s Northwest Wine Academy, and Chinese barbeque from Kau Kau in the Chinatown-International District.
Sunday’s game kicks off at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte at 10:05 a.m. Pacific time.
Miss the November open house regarding the renovation of the north play area at Lincoln Park? You have one more chance to get involved – and the date has just been announced: Tuesday, February 2nd, 6:30-8 pm, at Gatewood Elementary (see the flyer here). You’ll have a chance to see the “schematic design” and offer your thoughts about play equipment – at least some of which is expected to facilitate the inclusivity discussed with Seattle Parks by the former Explorer West Middle School (WSB sponsor) students whose ongoing work we’ve been covering. Find the LPN Play Area project info here, including the photos/drawings of potential play equipment as shown at the November open house.
ORIGINAL REPORT, 12:13 PM: Just in from WSDOT:
The Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Program (WSDOT) is in the process of notifying Seattle Tunnel Partners to suspend tunneling operations involving the tunnel boring machine, a “Suspension for Cause” in contractual terms, until such time as WSDOT lifts the suspension in writing. We will provide a copy of the letter after it is delivered to STP.
The following is a statement from Secretary of Transportation Lynn Peterson:
“In light of recent incidents on the SR 99 Tunnel Project, WSDOT is notifying the contractor that they must suspend tunneling work for cause. I share the Governor’s concern for public safety and we want to ensure that the contractor has the right protocols in place to proceed with their work safely.
We are asking that the contractor complete root cause analysis and take the appropriate steps to ensure that incidents, such as the sinkhole near the repair pit, do not occur again. STP will not be allowed to resume tunneling until their analysis and work plans meet the satisfaction of our experts.
I want to remind everyone that replacing the viaduct is critical to public safety. We have conducted surveys of the viaduct and no movement has been observed; surveys will continue. The tunneling work must proceed, but it must proceed safely.”
This week alone, besides the 35′ x 20′ x 15′ sinkhole, there also was trouble with the barge being used for excavation spoils. WSDOT stresses, however, that other work – such as the Highway 99 lane closures starting next week for tunnel-related sign installation – goes on. More as we get it. Per WSDOT’s “Follow Bertha” page, as of Tuesday, 1,280 feet of tunneling had been completed, of 9,270 feet in all.
P.S. Checking our archives – available via Google cache until our full site is up – we note that yesterday was the seventh anniversary of the announcement by then-Gov. Gregoire, then-Mayor Nickels, and then-County Executive Sims that a deep-bore tunnel had been chosen to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct.
4:02 PM UPDATE: As promised, WSDOT has made public the letter sent to Seattle Tunnel Partners. You can read it in its entirety here. Here’s what’s at the heart of it:
WSDOT has determined that STP has failed to correct conditions unsafe for the Project personnel or general public, and failed to comply with Governmental Approvals, Law, or otherwise carry out the requirements of the Contract Documents. Therefore, WSDOT has the authority to suspend work for cause, pursuant to Contract Sections 14.2 (a) and 14.2(b) and Technical Requirements Section 2.52.7.3.5.
On the night of January 12, 2016, a sinkhole was detected over the tunnel. The full extent of ground loss is not yet determined and settlement is increasing. STP has yet to provide a detailed analysis of the cause of the observed ground settlement, or a plan for modifying tunneling operations to ensure positive ground control at all stages of tunneling (TR 2.32), and to prevent settlement outside of tolerance in the future (see TR 2.52).
On Tuesday January 12, 201 6, STP’s barge filling operation resulted in a barge listing beyond STP’s control. As a result the barge was either let go or broke free from the pier, spilling tunnel spoils into Elliott Bay, and drifted out of control damaging both Terminal 46 and Pier 48. These events created an unpermitted spill of material and posed a hazard to project personnel and the public.
WSDOT requests a meeting with STP within 24 hours to address this matter.
Highlights for tonight:
‘TRAFFIC GARDEN’ MEETING: Our area’s first “traffic garden” is in the works for Dick Thurnau Memorial Park in White Center. You’re invited to a community meeting at 5:30 pm at TAF’s Bethaday Community Space at the park. (605 SW 108th)
WEST SEATTLE ART WALK: 6-9 pm! Here’s the map and venue list:
Go see the previews of art/artists at wsartwalk.com.
WESTSIDE SCHOOL: 6:30 pm, it’s the lower-school Exhibition of Learning at Westside School (WSB sponsor), featuring the projects/demonstrations the students are showing off. (10404 34th SW)
LAFAYETTE ELEMENTARY PTA: 6:30 pm in the school cafeteria (child care in the gym) – meeting info here. (California SW & SW Lander)
BAKED POTATO DINNER: Another notable event to the south – the New Start Alternative High School Key Club in the Highline School District will again, in conjunction with the Kiwanis Club of White Center, hold its Annual Baked Potato Dinner complete with loaded baked potatoes, salad, beverage and dessert and music. 6:30-8:30 pm, adults $15 or two for $25.(614 SW 120th)
FIRST REPORT, 8:09 AM: After numerous texts and other messages overnight and early today asking what we knew about a rumored threat of violence at Chief Sealth International High School, we have just talked with Seattle Public Schools. District spokesperson Stacy Howard says it appears to have originated with some angry words overheard after a fight; a student told a parent who posted about the rumor on Facebook, and screen grabs started circulating widely among students, spreading to their parents (and to us), and on it went. Of course the district is taking it seriously, Howard said, and is working with Seattle Police, as well as talking with the students who were reported to have been involved in the fight that preceded the threat/rumor. There is extra security at the Sealth/Denny shared campus as a result, she says, and if they feel there is any reason to put the schools into shelter-in-place, they will. So far, though, she says, they have found no concrete evidence – no written threats, for example. We asked if the district and/or schools will be sending a message directly to families; how that will be handled, she said, is still under discussion.
8:52 AM: Sealth principal Aida Fraser-Hammer has just sent families this message, forwarded to us by a parent:
Good Morning Chief Sealth Families and Staff
This is to let you know that school will continue as normal today. We are aware of the rumors on social media about the possibility of violence on campus. We have investigated the facts and will continue to do so. As a precaution, Seattle Police and SPS security will be in the area and on campus. School will proceed in a shelter in place format until we know that it is safe to resume normal operations. This means that all educational programs continue as normal internally but all external doors will be locked and monitored.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Aida Fraser-Hammer, Principal
ADDED 9:03 AM: SPS says Denny will follow the shelter-in-place policy as well TFN.
10:34 AM UPDATE: The schools no longer are sheltering in place. SPS tweeted this, saying Seattle Police determined the threat to be “non-credible.”
10:41 AM UPDATE: Per district spokesperson Howard, this message will go out to families:
Update: School staff in partnership with the Seattle Police Department have thoroughly investigated the rumor posted on social media about potential violence on campus. As an update, we have not found any evidence of any actual threat of violence happening at school. We have determined how we believe these rumors started on Social Media and will respond accordingly to that. The Police Department confirmed that we should lift the Shelter-in-Place, which we did at 10:05am, and continue with a normal school day. We would like to express our thanks to many scholars and families who made us aware of these rumors so that we could address with right away.
6:25 AM: Good morning – no incidents in/from West Seattle so far.
NIGHTTIME ROAD CLOSURE REMINDER: This work on SW Alaska between 40th and Fauntleroy is scheduled to continue nightly, into next week.
LOOKING AHEAD TO MONDAY: Transit changes for the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Day holiday on Monday include a “reduced weekday” schedule for Metro buses and no service for the West Seattle and Vashon Water Taxi routes.
BUT FIRST, THIS WEEKEND … If you drive Highway 99 north of downtown, here’s a reminder from WSDOT: “Reminder to Weekend Drivers: 2 right lanes of SB SR 99/Aurora Ave N at Aurora Bridge closed 6:30 am-noon Sat. and Sun. for bridge inspection work.”
Three notes in West Seattle Crime Watch tonight:
CAR PROWLS: Two notes at midday today briefly mentioned car prowls along Beach Drive – one near Me-Kwa-Mooks Park, one in the 5900 block of Beach Drive, both involving windows that appeared to have broken in.
WHAT METHODS ARE CAR PROWLERS/THIEVES USING? Next Tuesday’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting will include a guest from the National Insurance Crime Bureau to talk about the latest methods used to get into cars, as well as “which vehicles are the most and least likely to be stolen,” according to WSCPC president Richard Miller. The meeting is at 7 pm Tuesday, January 19th, at the Southwest Precinct (2300 SW Webster).
VANDALISM: From the Stop ‘N Shop store at the Senior Center of West Seattle in The Junction:
On December 30th, the Stop ‘N Shop sold a Pennsylvania House bedroom set for $1,500. The buyer arranged to pick the set up on January 6th. When they came to pick up the furniture, we took off the protective sheets only to discover that someone had scratched / keyed the surfaces of several pieces in the set. I believe the act of vandalism occurred (in the store) on Wednesday, January 6th, 2016. We don’t understand why someone would behave in such a manner. What we do know, is that the loss of income from this kind of crime only hurts low-income seniors who we are trying to help.
The buyer did end up accepting the damaged furniture anyway, the store notes. If you have any info, contact police.
(March 2015 photo taken from Alki Point by Gary Jones)
Sometimes we don’t hear about notable sightings at sea, off West Seattle shores, until afterward – but this time, we have an advance alert. The Kitsap Sun reports that the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis will head out on deployment Friday. The departure time is generally not announced in advance.
4:10 PM: More news today from WSDOT, the day after the Highway 99 tunneling machine had to stop while they sorted out a problem with the barge that was collecting excavation spoils. The barge problem isn’t fixed yet, but they brought in some trucks, and digging resumed. Then came a sinkhole. Here’s the WSDOT update sent this afternoon:
Seattle Tunnel Partners resumed mining Tuesday evening, using trucks to remove excavated material while they continued working to resolve an issue with a soil-removal barge. STP crews resumed excavation at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
(WSDOT graphic)
Approximately two hours later, a sinkhole developed within STP’s work zone near South Main Street, about 35 feet north of the access pit. It is located more than 100 feet south of the cutterhead’s current location, in ground that crews mined through last week. STP filled the sinkhole overnight with 250 cubic yards of concrete.This section of the tunnel drive is protected by an underground wall built by STP before tunneling. The wall was designed to isolate ground movement and protect the nearby Alaskan Way Viaduct. A manual survey of the viaduct conducted after the sinkhole developed found no movement. WSDOT and STP will continue surveying and monitoring the ground, viaduct, utilities and other structures.
The cause of the sinkhole is still under investigation. STP is analyzing the portion of the tunnel that crews have excavated since mining resumed. There is no indication that any other locations have experienced ground loss.
STP is reviewing their daily operations as a result of this incident. Immediately they will enhance monitoring protocols by requiring crews to manually verify the amount of soil removed during excavation of each ring.
The protocols STP outlined to enhance monitoring were used in the first 1,000 feet of tunneling and WSDOT is disappointed they were not used when STP restarted tunneling in December 2015. STP has several hundred feet of mining before they reach the next planned maintenance stop. Before leaving the maintenance stop, STP’s operational protocols will undergo an additional review by an expert to assure public safety.
STP has temporarily stopped mining to prepare the muck storage pit to receive excavated material. They plan to resume tunneling this week using trucks to remove excavated material. …
Safety remains our top priority as we work to replace the seismically vulnerable Alaskan Way Viaduct. We expect STP to further investigate this incident and take the appropriate corrective action as they continue to build this important project.
ADDED 6:31 PM: We asked WSDOT’s project spokesperson Laura Newborn about the sinkhole’s size: “According to Chris Dixon, the dimensions of the sinkhole were 35 feet long, 20 feet wide and 15 feet deep.”
3:47 PM: West Seattle High School‘s #1 is Nate Pryor, photographed during the team’s Saturday night home win over Stadium HS. Today, he received a statewide honor, announced by WSHS athletic director Trevor Leopold:
Congrats to Nate Pryor, who was named WIAA Player of the Week! Pryor averaged 21.5 points, 6.5 assists, 5.5 rebounds, and three steals per game last week, in victories over Stadium and O’Dea. The point guard hit a buzzer beater to defeat O’Dea by one, 70-69.
Also today – you can help Nate get regional recognition by voting in a Western Washington-wide online competition – go here.
ADDED 5:50 PM: In case you wondered – WIAA says the weekly honoree receives “a congratulatory letter from WIAA Executive Director, Mike Colbrese, a commemorative WIAA State Athlete of the Week t-shirt, and a certificate.”
Thanks to Amanda Kay Helmick from the Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Council for the photo and word that the playground at Roxhill Park is fenced off for the start of work to enable returning the play structure’s turret. It’s been more than 14 months since the custom-crafted turret was removed for safety concerns; it was created and installed during the 2013 community-powered project that replaced the park’s old wooden “castle,” but Parks determined reinforcement would be required to be sure the structure could safely hold it. We’ll be checking with Parks on the expected timetable for this closure and the reinforcement/restoration work.
(2012 WSB photo by Christopher Boffoli, from original pad-replacement work beneath the bridge)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Another big road project is on the way. This one isn’t new – but it’s a year later than first planned. It’s the re-replacement of earthquake-safety cushioning under the Fauntleroy Expressway of the West Seattle Bridge, expected to happen last year, delayed until this year, now set to start in a few months.
If you don’t recall the backstory: Back in 2014, we reported on the revelation that 600 “bearing pad” cushions had been installed two years earlier on the Fauntleroy Expressway end of the West Seattle Bridge with a design flaw that made them too soft. The city caught the flaw; the design consultant didn’t fix it, and they paid almost $2 million for that error. In the meantime, the city decided that since the pads were going to be re-replaced anyway, they should be built to a newer standard of toughness.
The city insists the too-soft pads are not a safety risk; it’s just a matter of how long they will last.
We lost track of the project until it came up at the Southwest District Council meeting earlier this month, with a mention that SDOT was about to start community outreach about the work. The brief discussion that ensued involved some confusion – others at the meeting thought the re-replacement had already happened, and wondered if this were a round of re-re-replacement.
So we went to SDOT, which confirmed this is the work that was expected to start in April 2015. “City crews were on site for several weeks around that time doing some early preparation work for the installation,” acknowledged SDOT spokesperson Marybeth Turner. But – “We didn’t begin the installation when we had first planned because it took longer than anticipated to reach agreement on the design for the new and improved replacement pads, to work through the related design implications, and to reach agreement on the construction cost with the contractor.”
674 pads are to be re-replaced, and that will require up to 50 nighttime closures of the Fauntleroy Expressway – toward the west end of the bridge. Turner says they’ll probably be 9 pm-5 am weeknight closures, and more information will be available when scheduling is finalized. The work involves – as shown in the 2012 photo atop this story, from the original replacement work – jacking up sections of the bridge to remove the existing pads and place the new ones.
We have asked a followup about how – or whether – these closures will be coordinated with the eventual expected two-week Alaskan Way Viaduct shutdown, when the Highway 99 tunneling machine goes under the AWV. No reply yet.
ADDED: That reply is in now. SDOT’s Turner says, “We are aware the construction schedules for SR99 closures (for tunneling under the viaduct) and work on the Fauntleroy Expressway may coincide. We are now assessing the traffic impacts of the Fauntleroy Expressway project.”
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