West Seattle, Washington
25 Wednesday
Those renderings by the Viaduct Preservation Group are leaning against the wall in a briefing room at Alaskan Way Viaduct and Seawall Replacement Program HQ in the Wells Fargo building downtown (3rd/Madison), where we are covering a briefing at which the Stakeholders Advisory Committee is going to get more information on why the idea of retrofitting The Viaduct is no longer under consideration (as announced when the options that ARE under consideration were unveiled June 26, listed here under “Step 4”). We’ll be summarizing this later along with the information we gathered the other night at the West Seattle open house for the South End Replacement project. The committee members who are here include West Seattleite Vlad Oustimovitch, who says he’d asked for a briefing like this to get a more detailed explanation on why retrofitting was ruled out. Here’s a summary of the studies analyzed as part of the process of reaching the retrofit-off-the-table conclusion.
FIRST NOTE: We guessed wrong when we speculated about the source of the jets some saw/heard earlier today — turns out it was a Boeing F22 stealth-fighter arrival. Here’s video and info on the KING5 site. Seems they were en route to a Museum of Flight ceremony; the MoF is celebrating Boeing Field’s 80th anniversary later this month AND of course a week after that, it’s Blue Angels mania (see you there?).
SECOND NOTE: Road work just announced for Highland Park this weekend. Note from SDOT:
SDOT crews will repair the concrete pavement on SW Holden Street between 11th Avenue Southwest and Highland Parkway SW in Southwest Seattle. A detour will be in place for all traffic starting at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, July 19. By no later than 5 p.m. the same day the traffic will be reopened to eastbound traffic. By noon on Sunday, July 20, the street will be opened to westbound traffic. The street will remain open to pedestrians throughout the project.
Adding to the traffic closures related to the construction-worker rescue on Avalon (see post below, with continuous updates) – there’s an accident of some type on The Bridge, westbound at 1st Avenue So. Traffic “moving slowly.” 5:07 PM UPDATE: They are getting ready to reopen the 1st Ave. S. onramp to the westbound bridge.
(photo by WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli)
Time is running out if you want to have a say on the proposal to ban most rush-hour openings of the “low bridge.” We told you May 22nd about its publication in the Federal Register, which kicked off the official 2-month comment period; thanks to Scott J for the reminder that those two months are almost up (next Monday is the last day). The heart of the proposal, as published, is as follows:
The proposed rule would enable the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT), the owner of the Spokane Street Bridge, to keep the draws of that bridge in the closed position in order to help alleviate roadway traffic Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., with the proviso that openings shall be provided at any time for vessels of 5000 gross tons or more.
So far, the number of comments received hasn’t even hit triple digits, so your comment will carry a lot of weight. The bridge proposal has been championed by West Seattle-residing City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, who tells WSB today, “I urge everyone who travels this corridor to write in now to let the Coast Guard know that they need reliable commuting routes as the city grows in population and especially when the viaduct replacement construction projects commence. People traveling to and from West Seattle are especially vulnerable as commuting route options are limited.” The easiest way to submit a comment is to do it online; here’s a direct link to the form you need, prelabeled with the official “docket number,” and including a chance to re-read the proposal if you want to. If you’d rather postal-mail or fax your comment(s), here’s how to do that (plus info on what happens next):Read More
POLICE APPRECIATION DAY: 10 am-8 pm @ Southwest Precinct, drop by and tell West Seattle’s police force “thanks.” VIADUCT PUBLIC MEETING: 5-8 pm, Madison Middle School, focusing on the South End Replacement Project‘s environmental assessment (see it here). FREE CONCERT: The West Seattle Hi-Yu Festival Concert in the Park is tonight, 7 pm, east lawn at Hiawatha – starring the West Seattle Big Band – take a blanket, lawn chairs, picnic dinner, have a blast. See you there.
As reported here last month, SDOT is proceeding with the Alki Point sidewalk project, which has sparked controversy on the partly-sidewalkless side of the west end of Alki Avenue. Project manager Sandra Woods expects to present the next major update at September’s Alki Community Council meeting, but in the meantime, resident Bill Leaming wrote to ask what’s in the plan for “traffic calming” — Woods replied, “We are moving forward with a design that maintains existing traffic conditions and provides accessible sidewalks for the entire project area using public right of way. We are also including several traffic calming measures in the design including improvements to the intersection of Alki Ave SW and 63rd Ave SW and raised crosswalks at both ends of the project.” Bill also inquired about the possibility of a Residential Parking Zone (RPZ); the city notes those have to be “community-initiated’ (more info here). He plans to bring it up for discussion at this week’s ACC meeting (7 pm Thursday, Alki Community Center).
The Fauntleroy Community Association sends word from FCA members Sherry and Ron Richardson that City Council President Richard Conlin liked their suggestion of “please turn off your engine” signs for the Fauntleroy ferry-queueing zone (first reported here a month ago), and asked SDOT to make it so. So we checked with SDOT communications boss Rick Sheridan today regarding a timetable, and here’s what we heard back:
SDOT did receive the request from Council President Conlin. Following the mayor’s lead on climate change, SDOT is very supportive of reducing vehicle emissions whenever possible. We recently installed signs reminding drivers to turn off engines while waiting for city bridges along the Ship Canal.
SDOT will install signs along Fauntleroy Way SW, near the Fauntleroy ferry terminal. (Though the signs will only be informational as there is no authority provided by the Seattle Municipal Code to force compliance.) We are working on the language and siting for them now, and expect that roadway users should see them within the next month.
Just in from the office of West Seattle’s King County Councilmember Dow Constantine – Elliott Bay Water Taxi ridership for June has been tallied and it’s 14 percent higher than last year, following a double-digit increase for the preceding month — news release with full details, ahead:Read More
On the north side of west Admiral, we caught these scenes around 6:30:
A few minutes later, we noticed the entrance to Harbor wasn’t blocked off yet, but we had traveled it around 6:15 and it looked like the detour up California Way was being readied (downhill traffic on that street already was being stopped). The police presence was very much in evidence just about everywhere we traveled in the area, including a group of bicycle officers conferring near the Harbor 7-11 just after 6. Our most recent update on police’s Alki-area traffic plans is here; we’ll be offline for a while later this evening to go see the fireworks ourselves (guessing we won’t be able to park any closer than Cormorant Cove, the way things were looking during our drive-by) but as mentioned earlier, we’ll post any breaking news via Twitter (if you’re not a Twitter member you can still see our most recent posts on any WSB page, in the blue box halfway down the right sidebar – the little arrows in the lower-right corner of the box click through previous updates – update, looks like we’ll be able to add a Twitter area to the top of this page for a while so you may not have to use the sidebar).
Just announced today and attributed to fuel prices; the county news release and other docs are linked here (find the proposed fare table here). If approved, it would start 10/1.
At Don Armeni, parking restrictions kick in at 4 pm this afternoon, according to that sign and others. Not far away, parking is OK until mid-afternoon along California Way and Ferry Avenue, which have these signs:
Closer to the Alki business district, you’ll see no-parking signs which are actually for Saturday’s Seafair Pirates Landing extravaganza. (But don’t forget, as we’ve mentioned repeatedly, Alki and Harbor Avenues are going to be off-limits to all drivers but residents by late afternoon tomorrow – click here to read details.) More holiday coverage in the hours to come, and on our 4th of July events/infopage. Meanwhile, the lowest tide of the month bottomed out about an hour and a half ago; we surveyed the scene off Beach Drive across from Me-Kwa-Mooks:
Seattle Aquarium naturalists are out at Constellation and Lincoln Parks till 2 pm today and will be out again 11 am-3 pm tomorrow (-3.4 low tide at about half past noon tomorrow; monthly chart here).
WSDOT has sent a bulletin about trouble on southbound I-5 through downtown, blocking three lanes just south of the West Seattle Bridge exit, currently causing a SEVEN-MILE-LONG backup. So if you happen to be reading this from points north, avoid I-5 TFN. 1:37 PM UPDATE: The crash scene is cleared but the backup is 9 miles and will probably take a while to thin out, so we’d still suggest alternate routes.
New info today about the new pedestrian flags at 3 West Seattle spots, including replacement of stolen ones:Read More
Only one of West Seattle’s 20 gas stations is still in the $4.40s, after a week where the majority of stations either cut prices a bit or kept them the same. See the latest prices, on our map and text list, ahead:Read More
While exchanging e-mail with SDOT to follow up on last week’s 35th/Morgan signal upgrade and other things, department spokesperson Peg Nielsen told us that another signal change is about to happen, ahead of schedule because the equipment came in sooner: 35th/Raymond (photo above) will be upgraded next month to a full signal. The city reiterated two months ago that this was a priority (WSB coverage here); if you want to see what that spot can be like, check this video from our report last November, when neighborhood activists and visiting City Councilmember Nick Licata stopped a young bicyclist from jumping the current pedestrian light:
News of the impending signal work has just been delivered to area residents via doorhangers like the one at left (thanks to LyndaB for getting us that picture); Nielsen told us they were delivered on Friday, and that work on the signal will start “next month, probably the week after the holiday … The work will take about a month. There is also a possibility that we may need to remove some of the parking spaces on 35th and Raymond to improve visibility for drivers turning at the corners of the intersection.” Nielsen said 35th/Raymond was originally set for September, but the equipment is available now, so up it goes. One other signal note: North Delridge Neighborhood Council‘s Mike Dady confirms something else we were checking on – there’s a new turn signal at Delridge/Orchard (by Home Depot/Arco).
Our summary last night of the newly unveiled Alaskan Way Viaduct “scenarios” included that one — Scenario E — which envisions buildings beneath a new single-deck elevated structure (which in turn would have a green-space “lid”). In an odd coincidence, WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli had just a few days earlier sent us this:
He found it in the municipal archives — some sort of prototype for a new West Seattle Bridge, proposed in the ’70s, with residential and business spaces built into the structure. The fabulous history book West Side Story discusses three high-level-bridge designs presented at a February 1972 public hearing, followed by years of squabbling over bridge-building (sound familiar?) until finally the 1978 freighter crash forced the issue — but we don’t know if this was one of the three, or just a fanciful scenario.
It’s drawn the most support at West Seattle public meetings about what will replace the “central waterfront” section of The Viaduct, which the state vows to take down 2012 no matter what — but the possible option shown above, a retrofit, is one of three options now totally out of the running, according to a state/city/county briefing this afternoon, presented by these three government representatives (left to right, Bob Powers from the city, Ron Paananen from the state, and Ron Posthuma from the county/Metro).
We liveblogged the briefing in detail here; the briefing materials are now available online here; but if you want a summary of what this all boils down to, and a quick look at the renderings for each of the 8 “scenarios” (plus what didn’t make the cut), here goes:Read More
We took that photo in The Junction this morning, then checked to see what the signs were for — a little sealing work tonight, we were told, no big deal. Well, now the city has issued an advisory because the work’s been pushed back, so if you’re planning on Junction nightlife late tomorrow night, you should be forewarned – read on:Read More
We’re still working on our summary of the briefing we liveblogged earlier – where state/city/county reps presented the 8 “scenarios” now under consideration to replace the “central waterfront” section of the Alaskan Way Viaduct – but in the meantime, we wanted to let you know the meeting materials including artist renderings have just been posted online; find them here (look for Scenario A through Scenario H).
Update on our post from this morning … here’s what we saw as we just passed through 35th/Morgan headed southbound on our way home from the Viaduct briefing downtown (liveblog notes here; summary still in the works, along with images of the options – if WSDOT doesn’t put them online soon, we’ll take pix of the printouts we have).
(3:13 pm note, the briefing is now over – all notes below – we will write into a summary later.)
We’re downtown, 24th floor of the Wells Fargo Building (view above is from the briefing room), headquarters of the Alaskan Way Viaduct and Seawall Replacement Program, for the briefing on the Alaskan Way Viaduct progress so far – will post notes here as it goes. NOTES: 8 possible scenarios identified so far … A-C surface, D-E above ground solutions, F-H are below ground “SR 99 components.” No longer any 6 lane replacements in the solutions they are considering. All are 4-lane, either elevated or below-ground. Retrofit is “one of the solutions we are not considering any further.” Scenario A highlights: this solution is a 4-lane surface street on surface Alaskan Way, combined with a lot of improvements to downtown, I-5, increased transit … Ron Paananen was laying out the previous … Bob Powers: these are systems approaches … government leaders directed us to go back and look at those … that’s why Ron said six lanes no longer being considered … we have assembled the building blocks, these are the system approaches to the solutions … Paananen: We think we’ve learned all we need to know about 6-lane solutions through previous efforts … the 2 we boiled it down to a little over a year ago, couldn’t advance any further .. looking at the problem differently … looking at it in a way we don’t NEED A FULL CAPACITY SOLUTION … because of improvements on streets, transit … Powers: A is “low capital solution” … looking at trying to add a transit lane from Olive to 520 northbound on 5 … changes in HOV lanes southbound … (We note, the Scenario A map takes into account a Delridge Rapid Ride bus route as well as the other one already on the drawing board) … Powers: 2 lanes in each direction along the waterfront on Alaskan Way, with signalized intersections up to the Battery Street Tunnel going northbound, you’d go through tunnel, there would be signalized intersections north of there … “intent is to reconnect the grid system E-W north of the Battery St Tunnel” … NOTE: This will be long so we are breaking it off to its own page. Click the post headline and keep refreshing if you want to follow the notes.Read More
Thanks to Erin for the tip on this – she spotted that new basket of pedestrian flags at Avalon/Yancy (map) – while out and about this morning, we spotted two others on California SW, one north of The Junction, one south. The basket says they’re from SDOT and bears the slogan “Grab, Walk, Wave” – we’re checking to see if more are on the way (we checked some previously flag-bearing intersections around WS like the notorious 47th/Admiral, and it still has the old orange flags). Also seen while out and about:
The signal at 35th/Morgan is off at the moment (see the temporary stop sign at lower left) and a new configuration of turn lights appears to be on the way — this view is facing south on 35th.
JAIL: Tonight is the first of two city-organized public forums about the two potential jail sites in West Seattle. This one’s in nearby South Park, 6 pm, 9125 15th Place S. (Archived WSB coverage of the jail-sites fight map). (is here.)
VIADUCT: This afternoon, city, county and state officials will discuss where the search for a “central waterfront” Viaduct replacement stands, before the Viaduct Stakeholders’ Committee has its next meeting. We’ll be at the briefing downtown at 2 pm; the public is welcome at the committee’s meeting, 4 pm, City Hall.
SAFETY: If you’re in southeast West Seattle or White Center, the South Delridge/WC Community Safety group meets tonight, 6 pm, St. James Place (9421 18th SW). As with the nawly renamed West Seattle Crime Prevention Council, this group focuses on crime and other safety issues and gets updates from law enforcement – with free dinner as a bonus.
CAMPAIGNS: West Seattle’s three state legislators – Sen. Joe McDermott, Rep. Eileen Cody, and Rep. Sharon Nelson – are having a joint reelection-campaign kickoff event at Youngstown Arts Center, 5:30 pm.
Those are just four of today’s highlights – see more on our West Seattle Events Calendar.
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