Back on Monday, when WSDOT issued its two-week warning of the impending Big Squeeze on the Alaskan Way Viaduct between the West Seattle Bridge and the stadiums (our reports are here and here), Metro told us they would have info out by week’s end, regarding how this would affect Metro, Water Taxi, etc. And now it’s here. What follows the jump is the Metro news release, which is somewhat generalized, but we have followed it with West Seattle-specific tips provided courtesy of Linda Thielke at the King County Department of Transportation:Read More

(See 2:06 pm update at bottom of story, with bus info from Metro)
New information about the Alaskan Way Viaduct lane reduction that starts May 16th, according to WSDOT’s announcement this morning (here’s our earlier story). The media briefing wasn’t a presentation type of briefing but rather a Q/A opportunity availability with Viaduct project boss Ron Paananen. Here’s what we learned beyond what this morning’s announcement included:

*KEY POINT – THIS IS FOR A LONG, LONG TIME: The “2013” mention in the announcement is NOT the actual expected end date for this. Barring something unusual like a project stall, 99 will be down to two lanes each way, at least for this stretch, till the Central Waterfront replacement opens. If that’s the deep-bore tunnel, possibly late 2015. (And if the tunnel is tossed, Paananen warned, that would add at least 2 years to the replacement process.)

*FEWER LANES, SLOWER SPEED: The speed limit will drop as well as the number of lanes – to 35 mph. Heading north, toward downtown, the lane reduction and speed reduction will kick in, WSDOT says, just as soon as you get off The Bridge and get onto 99. It continues until roughly Royal Brougham Way (the street between the stadiums) before opening to three lanes each way again. Heading back south toward West Seattle, approximately the same stretch – Royal Brougham to the north, until Lander (which is a bit north of Spokane, the street The Bridge parallels).

*TRANSIT LANE DOESN’T RUN THE ENTIRE STRETCH: The mentioned-earlier northbound transit lane will NOT be through the actual work zone – it will be a partial stretch enabling buses that use The Viaduct to get a bit of a jump on traffic, but once they get to the actual work zone, it will be two lanes for everyone. (See the map atop our earlier story.)

*WHY DO THIS NOW? The reason one lane is being lost – on the west side of The Viaduct, in both directions – is because a few pillars for the new southbound replacement structure actually have to go through the footprint of the current one. So there will be pile-driving work right next to the travel lanes. How will that affect Viaduct stability? Paananen says they will monitor it carefully – the southern stretch has not had settling trouble in the past, but on the other hand, it’s technically more vulnerable, since the “fill” that changed the area from tidelands decades ago is deeper than it is under the rest of the viaduct.

We have a few other notes to add shortly. And if you have a “how is this going to work?” question that neither our coverage nor the WSDOT website is answering – PLEASE ask in comments, and we will do our best to pursue answers; WSDOT has a large and responsive media-relations team who (regardless of your view of the actual project merits) whom we are sure will pursue the answer for us/you.

2:06 PM UPDATE: Checked with Linda Thielke at King County Department of Transportation regarding Metro and the upcoming AWV lane reduction. For one – she says they will be out later this week with some information specifically targeted for bus riders whose routes will go through the construction zone. In the meantime, here’s the latest on bus-service increases past and possibly future as part of the “viaduct mitigation”:

To date, WSDOT has funded an additional 31 trips on routes: 21X, 56X, and 121. These trips were added a while back to make transit a good alternative for folks during the construction. Metro has seen ridership increase 11 percent on those trips (fall 2009 compared to fall 2010).

Right now, there is a proposal (not finalized yet) that would add more trips in October 2011. This would increase trips on the Rt. 120 funded by WSDOT and the Rt. 54 funded by Metro. And, the additional trips on the 21X, 56X, and 121 would continue.

Also, we’re seeing an uptick in inquiries about vanpooling and vansharing from the West Seattle area.

Here’s where you can find out more info about that.

Among the many ongoing changes related to Alaskan Way Viaduct and Spokane Street Viaduct construction, here’s one that starts tomorrow, affecting bicyclists:

Starting Wednesday, March 30 through Friday, April 8, crews will route bicycles off of both directions of Alaskan Way S. between S. Atlantic Street and S. Royal Brougham Way while they rebuild the entrance into the Port of Seattle’s Terminal 46. Cyclists will need to follow a signed detour route via East Frontage Road S.

Find more information about the detour – including a map – by going here.

Three weeks ago tonight, much fanfare accompanied the start of demolition for part of the original Alaskan Way Viaduct (WSB coverage here), which more recently served as the northbound onramp to The Viaduct from 1st Avenue South in the stadium zone. Work on a temporary onramp was scheduled to be done by April 1st – but it’s so far ahead of schedule, the new temporary onramp is opening tonight! WSDOT says that by 7 tonight, they’ll open the newly complete “temporary detour onramp” to northbound 99, with access from Royal Brougham Way.

Ever check the city’s “Construction Lookahead“? It lists what’s in the works for road closures, as we continue steering through the maze of Spokane Street Viaduct work, Alaskan Way Viaduct work, and more. Checking it last night, we noticed the dates have quietly been set for the next Alaskan Way Viaduct semiannual inspections – since those are almost-all-weekend shutdowns, you might want to mark your calendar now: Saturday and Sunday, March 19-20, 6 am-6 pm both days.

Not far from where the Kingdome demolition drew a massive crowd 11 years ago, the start of Alaskan Way Viaduct demolition drew a much-smaller — albeit high-powered — crowd tonight. Our video from about an hour ago shows the first bites coming out of the northbound onramp from 1st Avenue South, which was part of the Viaduct mainline when built in 1953, as we were reminded by the viaduct south-end-replacement project’s leader, West Seattleite Matt Preedy (seen below to the right of Ron Paananen, who leads the entire Viaduct project):

Also watching from 1st Avenue South by Qwest Field, along with us and the citywide media – City Councilmembers Sally Bagshaw, Tim Burgess, Richard Conlin, Jean Godden, and Tom Rasmussen, as well as Port Commissioner Rob Holland. (Apologies to any dignitaries we missed.) Preedy tells us that if all goes well, it will only take till tomorrow morning to bring down the entire ramp; then a new ramp will be finished and connected, feeding traffic onto The Viaduct northbound from Royal Brougham, by April 1st, preparing for a longer detour while south-end-replacement work proceeds. (More info-links in our preview from earlier today.)

SATURDAY UPDATE: Looks like all went as planned, according to the state’s update. And Preedy got a souvenir:

(Photo courtesy Fiona Preedy)
The background on the ramp work is here.

Another turn in the tunnel tussle tonight: Two West Seattleites and 15 other “stakeholders” who served on the committee that helped choose the proposed Highway 99 tunnel two years ago have released a letter to Mayor McGinn. They’re asking him not to go through with his threat to veto the actions the City Council has taken to join the state in proceeding with the project (which won’t be final until and unless it passes environmental muster later this year – and then, there are the two ballot initiatives looming this fall). “While we respect your preferences for a different Viaduct replacement approach, this compromise is the only feasible way to move forward,” says the letter, recapping how the stakeholders first went on record backing two other options, then the tunnel. The letter adds, “We believe that the time has long passed to second guess the bored tunnel decision made by the Governor, state legislature, County, Port and past and present City Councils. Whether or not it was our initial choice, all of us agree that the citizens of Seattle, the region, and state are best served by moving forward.” And they ask for a meeting with the mayor. No word yet on his reaction, but you can read the full letter here (Word doc). Its 17 signers include West Seattleites Pete Spalding and Vlad Oustimovitch.

ADDED 11:11 PM: For those who can’t read docx, here’s the plain-text version:Read More

Reminder from the Alaskan Way Viaduct south-end replacement team: The weekend closure of the southbound SR 99 Alaskan Way Viaduct off-ramp to First Avenue S. starts at 7 tonight, and when the ramp reopens by 5 am Monday, it’ll put you onto Royal Brougham, not 1st Avenue South. Also in the announcement:

Starting Monday, drivers will be able to use a new street connecting S. Royal Brougham Way and S. Atlantic Street between First Avenue S. and Alaskan Way S. The new street is temporarily called East Frontage Road S.

Then as of 7 pm next Friday (February 18th), the northbound Alaskan Way Viaduct onramp from 1st Avenue South will close for up to six weeks. That closure will kick off with a surface-street closure too:

With the exception of access for local businesses, the following streets will be closed from 7 p.m., Friday, Feb. 18 until 5 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 22:
* First Avenue S. between S. Royal Brougham Way and S. King Street
* Railroad Way S. between Occidental Avenue S. and S. King Street

All this is explained here. But wait – there’s more:

Starting Monday morning, Feb. 14, both directions of Alaskan Way S. between S. Atlantic Street and S. Royal Brougham Way will be closed to traffic until 5 a.m. Monday, Feb. 21.

We’ll provide drivers with a signed detour around the closure via the new East Frontage Road S. Learn more about the detour and the reason we’re closing Alaskan Way S. on our website. The Alaskan Way S. bike and pedestrian path will remain open during the closure.

At 5 a.m., Monday, Feb. 21, one southbound lane will reopen. All northbound lanes will remain closed through 2013 while crews incorporate the area into our existing long-term construction zone.

(Screengrab from clickable online simulation of south-end construction, step by step)
We’re at the Sound Transit board room on the south side of downtown, where the Alaskan Way Viaduct South Portal Working Group has just wrapped up its first meeting in 3 1/2 months. This is the group charged with keeping updated on what’s planned for, and happening in, the SODO-to-West Seattle area, as the various components of the project continue. West Seattle members of the working group (full roster here) who were at today’s meeting included Jerome Cohen and Vlad Oustimovitch.

Most WS-relevant part of today’s discussion: Updates on the progress of the “south-end replacement” project – aka Holgate to King Street – which is well under way, and not dependent on what happens with the ongoing tunnel controversy. The project is headed by WSDOT’s Matt Preedy (a West Seattleite), who briefed the working group. Key points ahead: A frontage road to take pressure off 1st Avenue South will be open “in about a week”; between Atlantic and Holgate, foundations are being built for the new southbound bridge – the replacement will be side-by-side elevated sections, not the current doubledecker style – that’s why you’re seeing several large cranes; Preedy says they’ll be there for months.

Biggest of all: Over the Presidents Day weekend, according to Preedy, the first actual piece of Alaskan Way Viaduct to be demolished – the northbound 1st Avenue onramp to 99 – will come down. All lanes of 1st Avenue South will be closed between Royal Brougham and King for that work. Then up to six weeks of work are ahead while a new northbound onramp is connected. Before that, WSDOT is also working to realign the southbound offramp from 99 to the stadium area; that will be done over Valentine’s Day weekend, and when it’s complete – by the morning of Monday, Feb. 14th – you’ll exit onto Royal Brougham instead of 1st Avenue South.

Preedy also asked the working group if they have advice on whether information about the project is getting out efficiently and promptly. He mentioned one key tool – the weekly construction update (see it here if you haven’t seen it before). One group member said it might be helpful for a billboard to be up along the route with key dates; the project team noted that 99 will soon have the Intelligent Transportation Systems messaging that you’ve been seeing elsewhere (the lighted boards). West Seattle rep Oustimovitch mentioned that he’s concerned GPS systems aren’t keeping up with all the detouring and rerouting that’s just begun – he mentioned an out-of-town visitor “going in circles” trying to figure out how to get from Point A to Point B. 99 project leader Ron Paananen said a “highway advisory” radio station might be helpful. Summarized Oustimovitch – “You almost need a sign that says, ‘Ignore your GPS’!”

Back to the construction timetable – you can see the latest version by going here.

The second half of the meeting featured a presentation by the company that has won the contract to continue designing – and then, if environmental reviews are passed, to build – the deep-bore tunnel that is the state’s “preferred alternative” for replacing the central waterfront section of The Viaduct. It was mostly a recap of what’s happened in the months since the working group last happened; during Q/A, the state team was asked, what if one or both of the two anti-tunnel initiatives makes it to the ballot? WSDOT’s Paananen said he’s been tasked with proceeding with the project, and noted that, even if there is a vote in November, assuming the tunnel passes environment review and becomes the official plan in August, “We’ll be under construction by then.”

The South End Working Group’s next meeting will be sometime this spring; you can watch this page in the next few days for materials from today’s meeting.

To “educate our membership,” as board chair Dave Montoure put it, the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce invited them to come learn about the potential benefits of the Highway 99 tunnel – a project the Chamber has officially endorsed. Dozens of members filled a community room at The Kenney to hear from a pro-tunnel panel – Port Commissioner John Creighton, Manufacturing Industry Council‘s Dave Gering, and South End Advisory Group member Vlad Oustimovitch, who also was a member of the original Stakeholders’ Advisory Group that reviewed multiple alternatives before the tunnel became the “preferred alternative.” Above, our video of the first half-hour of their remarks and Q/A. Each panelist listed what they considered the most appealing aspects of the tunnel; a common theme was the fact it can be built without shutting down the existing viaduct. They fielded a variety of questions, including concerns about the tunnel’s capacity, which they contended tends to be underestimated.

The audience included more than just curious lunchgoers; it also included WSDOT‘s project leader Ron Paananen and tunnel opponent Elizabeth Campbell, whose group Seattle Citizens Against the Tunnel plans to submit its initiative petitions to the city next week. As for the tunnel’s official status, it’s still under environmental review.

(WSDOT photo via Flickr: Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond signs tunnel contract Thursday)
Even as the Alaskan Way Viaduct Central Waterfront Project marked a milestone – signing the tunnel design-build contract – a team from the AWV front lines debunked some misperceptions in Q/A during an appearance before the Southwest District Council Wednesday night, hours before the signing. First and foremost: No, this does NOT mean the tunnel is “no going back” final, and it does NOT mean construction is about to start, as some may believe. The construction that’s starting now is a separate phase of the project, its Holgate-to-King-Street segment (formerly known as South End Replacement Project). After the jump, the Q/A/myth-debunking on that:Read More