West Seattle, Washington
01 Tuesday
1 more week or so to go till we can stop hearing about I-5, for better or for worse, for now. Remember, the WS Bridge ramp to NB 5 is closed this weekend, like last weekend. Other WSDOT updates are here. Meantime, some related notes to share:
-On the citizen-group proposal for a new Water Taxi dock/terminal, one of the group’s leaders, Vlad Oustimovitch, posted a comment that you might have missed (scroll down on this post), answering some of the questions about the plan, which also got some exposure at the Seattle Weekly blog, Daily Weekly.
-Hey, what ever happened to the dithering over the future of The Viaduct? The Discovery Institute’s Cascadia Project for Regional Development is suggesting a new tunnel idea — under downtown. (Whatever the case, this page seems to suggest WSDOT believes The Viaduct will be coming down in 2012. Its next public meeting about The Viaduct’s future is next Wednesday in Pioneer Square.)
-Catching up with the 83 sites on our Other Blogs In WS page, we came across a few people’s I-5 tales: Esprit de l’escalier wrote about the Chicken Little-ness of it all, Mountain Songs says even her bus was early, 1000 year headache recounts his first week of FF ’07.
-Last but not least, some cruise-ship passengers missed their boat on Saturday, and Freeway Fright ’07 is fingered as the possible cause.
… most recently, this morning from the top of the Argosy Cruises ramp after a Water Taxi ride, where it’s just that concrete annoyance across the street …
We decided to take our car out of the ever-threatened Freeway Fright ’07 congestion this morning, and commute via Water Taxi and bus instead. We discovered some surprises; if you want to hear about them, and our other musings, here goes:Read More
Coincidentally, even before last night’s big announcement, we had been planning to try a Water Taxi/bus combo to get into the heart of the city this morning. More on that experience later (pros & cons from the perspective of someone who usually just drives out to help clog the road). Right now, however, we have the promised link for you to see what the WT terminal/dock area at Pier 2 would look like.
You heard about it here first last month, after the Alki Community Council got briefed on it … tonight, supporters have just made their official announcement, press release and all, about the proposal to move the Water Taxi to Port of Seattle land next to Jack Block Park, with lots more room than its current Seacrest home …
… The idea will have to make it past a lot of governmental entities, to say the least. Ultimately, the people behind the proposal think it would be part of the newly created King County Ferry District. Click ahead to read the full text of tonight’s press release, hot out of our inbox …Read More
Again this morning, here are 6 live cameras (refresh this page any time for the latest images and info), and commute updates below them:
(l to r below: latest from cams over WS Bridge midspan looking east, WS Br. I-5 ramps, I-5 @ Spokane Street in whichever direction WSDOT chooses to point it)
(l to r below: latest from cams looking east @ Low Bridge approach, Alaskan Way @ Washington, 99 @ 1st Avenue S bridge)
6:04 AM: WSDOT says the work is one-fourth done. And it’s sharing good news for people who travel through Renton: the Rainier Avenue South work there is finished, two days ahead of schedule. As for the freeways — ground and chopper shots show smooth sailing again in the early going.
6:11 AM: Uh-oh, more cars in the construction zone, according to the I-5/Holgate cam.
6:18 AM: South of there, the I-5/Spokane cam looks more jammed too, though chopper crews are describing it as “three extra minutes,” so no panic yet.
6:26 AM: Viaduct still in good shape. WSDOT says the construction zone is now backed up “about a mile” and notes that some drivers are “confused about the traffic split between the right lane and the other two through lanes. Drivers can use the right lane to stay on northbound I-5.”
6:34 AM: Drivers on our side appear to be heeding the “don’t go back to your old ways yet” pleas. Bridge moving well. So is the ramp to NB 5.
6:41 AM: DOT says traffic is moving 20 mph on NB 5 from Albro through the construction zone. The ramp to 5 from WS Bridge still good. 99 @ the 1st S bridge is described as “a little heavier than normal.”
6:46 AM: Weird that the Times has a commute blog but no updates (as of this moment) since 6:57 last night. OK, snark aside, here’s our favorite bridge shot. The left side shows folks coming out of WS. Nice for this hour.
6:54 AM: The Viaduct exit on The Bridge is now starting to look normal (aka jammed) for this time of day.
7:01 AM: Bus riders, did you know there’s an online tool to track if your bus is on time? As for the roads, Viaduct exit still backed up, things looking decent heading past there toward I-5. First report from the Water Taxi dock: Running a few minutes behind schedule – 6:50 am run left a few minutes late.
7:06 AM: Cams are watching 1st Avenue S too – so far so good. I-5 “through the construction zone” is still not bumper-to-bumper; Viaduct offramp from The Bridge looking a little better now.
7:14 AM: Still no major snarling. Southbound traffic on 1st at Marginal is a little busy; this cam also looks toward the 1st Ave S bridge. Over I-5, latest chopper reports still indicate traffic is near the speed limit. Room to breathe on the bridge at last look.
7:28 AM: Big lines for Water Taxi ‘s 7:30 run. It will be a few minutes late; the boat isn’t there yet.
7:39 AM: The bridge and other routes still in good shape.
7:54 AM: WSB Road Crew just back from checking out the 7:30 water taxi run firsthand. Photos to follow. It was going to leave at least 10 minutes behind schedule; didn’t pull in till 7:36. Meantime, no road trouble on the key routes. For our fellow south West Seattleites, Fauntleroy heading from Morgan Junction all the way to the bridge looked like a holiday or weekend when we traveled it a few minutes ago.
8:01 AM: Chopper reporters say the Viaduct (which is largely a camera-free zone) is slowing a little. Cams show the Bridge still “wide open.” Here are those Water Taxi pix; first, the boat arriving at 7:36 as mentioned above; second, the line on the dock, from quite a distance — we couldn’t park any closer than the far side of Salty’s, so this is thanks to our modest zoom. There were dozens up along the boathouse too; will be interesting to hear later how today’s numbers went.
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8:12 AM: WSB road crew is heading out to see the bridge/viaduct firsthand. Does sound like (dare we say) Commutastrophe (we also like “Carpocalypse”) has been averted for a second day.
8:44 AM: WSB road crew reports seven minutes from the Fauntleroy end of The Bridge to the Battery Street Tunnel end of The Viaduct.
Another WT update forwarded by County Councilmember Dow C: He says the folks at Argosy came up with a “mobile farebox” to speed up fare collection, which is the part of the process that bogged down a bit this morning (with several hundred more passengers than usual). They will use the “mobile farebox” to collect fares before people even get aboard the WT; if you took the Water Taxi back to WS this evening, you may have already seen it in action.
Photo from the office of KC Councilmember Dow Constantine (who tells WSB he too is telecommuting today, in case you wondered). This is the run that carried almost 200 people.
Official morning numbers just in, courtesy of West Seattle’s own King County Councilmember Dow Constantine, below this lovely view of the added 6:10 am run:
First water-taxi run (6:10 am), 68 passengers; second, 135; third, 191; fourth, 128; fifth, 65. As we noted in our updates below, the increased volume caused the WT to fall behind schedule; Dow C says Metro told him, “We will be working with Argosy to determine any ways we can speed up this process without jeopardizing safety.”
Scroll below these six live cams (refresh this page any time for the latest images and info) for our updates from the morning commute on what did, and didn’t, happen out there:
(l to r below: latest from cams over WS Bridge midspan looking east, WS Br. I-5 ramps, I-5 @ Spokane Street in whichever direction WSDOT chooses to point it)
(l to r below: latest from cams looking east @ Low Bridge approach, south on Alaskan Way @ Washington, 99 @ 1st Avenue S bridge)
Before the commute updates, remember: The low bridge won’t open for boats; the Water Taxi has changes; you can turn left to 4th Ave S from surface Spokane St.
5:40 AM: State update page confirms bridge ramp to NB 5 is open again. WSB-mobile heading out. One of us is checking out the main routes and alternatives and will phone/text/send pix back to HQ for the other to add here.
6:10 AM: First Water Taxi run has 50 passengers. Announcement heard – no chairs upstairs because of some sort of problem. One television camera crew and KIRO radio at dock.
6:30: Admiral to I-90 took nine minutes. Sky more crowded than road – two choppers, two planes over I-5. (Below is the view right after turning onto NB 5 from WS Bridge.)
7 AM: We’re changing places. Team member just back from the road reports First Avenue South looking good past the stadiums, the bridge looked great heading east as we headed back west. Beware — some of the “I-5 ramp closed” detour signs are still up in places on the WS side — that is NOT true; the ramp to NB I-5 is open and we saw it with our own eyes. If you drive that stretch, be careful not to get distracted by what’s happening with the construction on the right side of the road — interesting welding, etc., but keep your eyes on the car in front of you!
7:07 AM: As our road crew heads toward the bridge for the next firsthand report, radio traffic reporter says the Viaduct is starting to bunch up. Meantime, another note for people taking I-5 to 90 — the right lanes of 5 are blocked till right before the ramp — no time to see it and merge over, so make sure you stay on the right side from the moment you get onto 5, if that’s where you’re headed.
7:19 AM: First report from road crew since switchover: Everything still looking good. Taco Time on 35th to 1st Avenue South off The Bridge — four minutes. Delridge onramp starting to get busy but not bad. 35th moving well. Large contingent of traffic officers spotted at the bottom of the 1st Avenue South offramp.
7:27 AM: Coming back the other way, eastbound bridge still looking good, 35th “almost deserted.” Radio traffic reports say the Eastside are where things are fairly ugly — a lot of people taking 405 to avoid 5, apparently. If you commute that way, beware.
7:33 AM: Radio traffic reporter says she’s going 45 mph — posted limit — past the construction zone on NB 5 between WS Bridge and I-90, all’s well. She also echoes what we noticed last hour, the work itself is a sight to see. WSDOT update page says things are starting to slow at 509/99.
7:41 AM: This WS-based LJer who left for work “at the crack of dawn” writes what many are thinking … OK, today’s OK so far because we all had the living daylights scared out of us; tomorrow (and beyond) could be a different story.
7:54 AM: Just drove The Bridge from 35th to 1st S again. Still just four minutes, moving at the speed limit. Now our road crew is back on the WS side and reporting that parking is a challenge in the water-taxi vicinity — even up to the diagonal spots at the viewpoint several blocks west. So if you want to take the WT, don’t bring your car — catch a shuttle.
8:06 AM: The Water Taxi is definitely the story of the morning. Radio reporter says the last run set a record — 191 passengers (you’ll recall WT was recently recertified to carry up to 250). Just got a photo of the line, which is now stretching toward the street …
8:25 AM: Checked out The (high) Bridge yet again. Our road crew reports “still NOBODY out here.” Times blog has a dispatch from someone who bicycled in from WS. WSB-mobile now on the way to check out the low bridge.
8:31 AM: Radio says the Water Taxi’s sudden success has pushed it a bit behind schedule; the WT run that was supposed to leave at 8:10 am “didn’t even get to the dock till 8:25.” We’ll check later with King County folks to see if any changes are planned for tomorrow.
8:38 AM: Low bridge and WT dock both quiet — looks like the morning rush is over. WSDOT folks are frantically warning, don’t let this fool you into going back to your regular habits tomorrow, this only worked BECAUSE so many people changed their ways.
8:45 AM: WSDOT also reminds us, there’s a Mariners’ game tonight at Safeco. Even without the benefit of I-5 construction, that usually means trouble driving home to WS in the early evening, so everyone beware. We’re wrapping up this round of posting but keep adding your observations; we’ll be up early to track things tomorrow too, and of course we’ll get back to the rest of the WS news for today …
The newest numbers, courtesy of the office of West Seattle’s County Councilmember Dow Constantine, show quite the ridership boom for the Elliott Bay Water Taxi this year: July had 36,885 passengers, up 20% from last year; total ridership for this entire Water Taxi season was at 88,336 as of the start of this month, a 27% increase from the same period in ’06. From here on out, comparisons will be more complicated, since as we first told you last month, the WT’s capacity got a big boost in time for Freeway Fright ’07. All the same, this bodes well for efforts to make it year-round and get it a new home.
A commenter broke the news beneath the I-5 post below … we got it confirmed by King County and WSDOT: 
The Water Taxi is getting new technology (Automatic Identification System equipment) which enables the Coast Guard to certify it to nearly double its passenger capacity to 250. This is being done in time for Freeway Fright ’07 next month, but will last beyond that. As King County Councilmember Dow Constantine‘s office points out, the increased capacity will be good for other peak traffic times and heavy ridership situations, such as the the day last year when a deadly accident blocked The Bridge. During the August 10-29 construction period ONLY, an extra WT trip will be offered, at 6:10 am, and two extra shuttle vans will be added to the WT Shuttle routes during “peak hours.” For those of you who like to know where the $ is coming from, the county says the state is picking up the $20K-plus that’s involved here. SIDE NOTE: If you didn’t see our detailed report last Friday afternoon about a proposal to create a new Water Taxi terminal at Pier 1/2 adjacent to Jack Block Park, read it here.
Harbor Avenue around the northeastern edge of the WS peninsula will be in for big changes if either or both of two ambitious ideas presented at last night’s Alki Community Council meeting become reality. It was emphasized that the two plans are not officially linked — but they have undeniable “synergy.” They involve land adjacent to, and east of, what many describe as West Seattle’s “secret gem,” Jack Block Park.
First: The Pier 1/2 concept for a new Water Taxi dock. It’s an unofficial proposal but may be gaining steam, since most would agree the Water Taxi can’t stay at Seacrest forever (among other things, the parking crunch is just too ridiculous). Pier 1/2 is Port of Seattle property adjacent to Jack Block Park. Much more on this and the other proposal, after the click …Read More
Next time you’re stuck in the bridge backup in the morning commute, or a viaduct slowdown during either commute, look over at Elliott Bay and notice … all that room atop the sea. Couldn’t we make better use of it, beyond just the seasonal Water Taxi and the current lineup of ferry routes? As mentioned here previously, King County leaders are taking a step in that direction. And they will be part of a big event tonight at Salty’s looking at the Sound-wide possibilities of waterborne transportation. (The North Kitsap Herald has this preview with a little more on what’s involved.)
No new info in today’s P-I article on the Water Taxi — the year-round possibility hit the headlines 3 weeks ago — but it’s nice to see it get more time in the spotlight. Gives us an excuse to put up a photo left over from our weekend peek under the Seacrest pier – here’s how steep the walkway from the WT dock gets during a -3′ tide!
Our activity du jour was mass transit, including the Water Taxi, to the Maritime Festival. Got more than we bargained for on both ends of the WT ride. First, as we waited to board at Seacrest, two tugboat race participants from Global Diving & Salvage arrived to pick up their passengers (plus supplies for barbecuing and general revelry). Probably the busiest we’ve ever seen that slender little strip of wooden dock @ Seacrest (here’s a view as the WT pulled out):
On our way back, it became obvious that the 3:30 pm run on Maritime Festival day is THE time to get as close to the tugboat races as you can (without being a participant). Our captain warned direly that the largest class of racing tug would be heading our way as we left the dock, and implied we’d need surfing skills to survive the looming wake. Didn’t happen that way, thanks to our captain’s skills, but did get a great view of the racing tugs, justice not really done by the following photo:
If you want to try the Water Taxi tomorrow, waterfront highlights include a Mother’s Day Buffet Brunch at Ivar’s — maybe you can get the fry-scarfing-seagull-view table we enjoyed while lunching there today. (The restaurant’s not in WS but Ivar’s roots here were deep.)
According to Councilmember Dow Constantine’s ace staff, the official count for Elliott Bay Water Taxi passengers on kickoff day was 2,545 — which they suspect was an all-time WT record (previous known high, 1,600-plus on the day last summer when a crash closed The Bridge). As for the King County Ferry District plan that could ensure the WT’s future — DC’s team says it made progress today in the council’s “Committee of the Whole” (8:17 PM UPDATE: click ahead to read the full press release on that):
#1 — Avoid the parking crush by Seacrest (photo below; it stretched for a mile each way); walk or take the water-taxi shuttle (weekend schedule here; also this year they’ve printed schedule cards, easier to use than the brochure formats from previous years). The shuttle is running 7 days/week but parking probably won’t be quite as crunched on weekdays.
#2 — If you want to save a few bucks, now that the annual freebie day has passed, the best bargain for WEEKEND WT use is the Metro all-day pass. $2.50/person gets you all-day use for one full day on Metro buses and the Water Taxi – which otherwise is $3/each way. Remember that you can only buy this pass on board a Metro bus, only on Saturdays/Sundays, and it’s only good for the day you buy it. But what a deal!
We’ve been so eagerly awaiting the return of the Elliott Bay Water Taxi, we couldn’t resist getting up to glimpse its first Seacrest arrival of the season. Below is the proof (before the sun came out!), as it approached the dock @ 8:50 am today. (The kickoff party isn’t till noon but the Water Taxi is running its official schedule; first run from WS was at 9.)
In addition to all the new info on the Water Taxi page, Councilmember Constantine’s staff e-mailed us with more on the April 29 (one week from Sunday) kickoff: Since the noon-2 pm WT celebration overlaps with the 10 am-2 pm season opener for the West Seattle Farmers’ Market, there will be an added shuttle running directly between the two events; also, joining Dow C on the dignitary roster will be County Exec Ron Sims and even the CEO of Argosy Cruises, plus music by Bronwyn Edwards Cryer and Friends. (Check your mail – our delivery today included this year’s version of the cheery annual Water Taxi postcard, with a coupon for a free ride plus a jaunty picture of Dow C looking into the distance from the WT’s bow.)
Thanks to this week’s edition of the WS Herald for (indirectly) reminding us we hadn’t checked the Elliott Bay Water Taxi page in a few days (we’d been watching for more info since Councilmember Constantine’s staff updated us all last month) — now the page is updated, with schedules, fares, the shuttle-route maps, and the traditional kickoff-day party plan (noon-2 pm April 29, free rides all day).
Our post about the start date for this year’s Elliott Bay Water Taxi season brought lots of questions — we took them to County Councilmember Dow Constantine’s office, which has graciously provided lots of answers. His staff’s entire, info-laden reply, after the click:
Read More
The date is set for its 2007 debut — April 29 — running thru late September.
Someone on the P-I editorial board must be a kindred spirit. In tomorrow’s paper, they ask, why is the Water Taxi nothing more than a “seasonal oddity”? Why aren’t our waterways jumping with little ferryboats that can get people downtown without putting down one single solitary additional ribbon of concrete?
Heck, if we get just a few thousand more people from the relentless wave of teardowns-to-townhomes, the bridge backups will force some of us to consider swimming.
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