West Seattle, Washington
27 Friday
10:49 AM: Even if you don’t use Washington State Ferries, if you’re within view of the Fauntleroy dock, you might be wondering about that crane. It’s there for maintenance work that is scheduled to continue through Friday. WSF says the work “will require single-lane loading/unloading” 7:30 am-4:30 pm each day. We have a message out seeking more details on the work that’s being done.
1:12 PM: In response to our inquiry, WSF’s Hadley Rodero explains the work:
The work at the Fauntleroy terminal is preservation work to replace three steel H-piles near the terminal building. The piles were identified as needing replacement during a routine inspection, and replacing them allows WSF to avoid weight restrictions or other operational impacts in the future. All of this is to be expected for a terminal built in the 1950s.
The crane will be onsite until Friday to install the new piles and then crews will be doing welding and other work under the dock. We’re working to complete the installation before restrictions on in-water work begin on Feb. 15 to protect migratory salmon. We will be loading and unloading ferry traffic in a single lane during work hours for the rest of this week. Work hours will be 7:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. (there won’t be any night work). Neighbors may hear some noise as the contractor vibrates in the new piles – each of the three piles takes about 15 minutes of vibratory pile driving.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Only one thing’s for sure about southbound West Marginal Way between the bridge and the Duwamish Tribe Longhouse: As it passes under the bridge, it will remain one lane.
Beyond that, a variety of options are on the table for that stretch of the street, as SDOT launches a public-comment period, with a mailer headed to 33,000 local mailboxes this week, and an online “open house” set for February 18th.
We first showed you the options a week ago, after SDOT included West Marginal in a wide-ranging West Seattle Bridge-related update at the WS Transportation Coalition meeting. Then last week, the Seattle Bicycle Advisory Board got a detailed briefing, and today we met with SDOT reps for followup questions so we could take a closer look.
(File photo)
Access to the West Seattle low bridge has been limited, in part, to save space for the port truck traffic expected when Terminal 5 goes back into the cargo business, after the first phase of a $340 million modernization project. That was supposed to happen this June. Then suddenly, late Thursday, the Northwest Seaport Alliance announced T-5’s new north berth won’t open until the first quarter of next year. That means the city is saving space for trucks that won’t need it for a year or so – by which time the high bridge should be close to reopening. So as promised, we followed up with SDOT today to ask what that means to low-bridge access policy. In short: They’re working on it. SDOT spokesperson Ethan Bergerson told WSB, “We plan to address this as part of our update to the West Seattle Bridge Community Task Force next week. We’re developing a staff recommendation now in response to this new development, and would then still plan to work with the Low Bridge subcommittee to formalize any changes to the access policy.” The Community Task Force meets at 4 pm next Thursday (February 11th). Meantime, we also asked NWSA for elaboration on the “unforeseen circumstances” cited as factoring into the T-5 delay; spokesperson Melanie Stambaugh would not comment except to reiterate that details will be provided at the March 2nd meeting of the NWSA’s managing members (Seattle and Tacoma port commissioners).
After 4 weeks, the south Morgan Junction/Gatewood work zone for a Seattle Public Utilities sewer-line repair project is cleared. As our through-the-windshield photo from late today shows, the pavement patching will have to be smoothed – we will be checking with SPU for a timeline on that. But the cross-lane bumps in the northbound lane, which contributed to a bicyclist falling and requiring hospitalization, are gone. Our original January report explains the work that was done. SPU is now moving on to another sewer-line repair that will affect traffic on Fauntleroy Way south of Alaska; work was supposed to start today, but as of late afternoon, it had yet to begin.
(File photo)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Lots of new information today in the fourth week of camera enforcement on the West Seattle low bridge.
Its use has been restricted since just after the high bridge closed last March 23rd. Seattle Police were periodically present in the area to enforce the restrictions, but a new state law allowed the city to pursue automated enforcement, and two cameras were turned on January 11th.
A subcommittee of the West Seattle Bridge Community Task Force has met more than a dozen times to review and discuss low-bridge policy, current and future. Subcommittee member Lora Radford of the West Seattle Junction Association joined us in a conversation this morning with SDOT’s Meghan Shepard.
According to Shepard, traffic is down about a quarter on the low bridge since the automated-enforcement cameras were activated.
(Triangle Route ferry, photographed from Lincoln Park by Theresa Arbow-O’Connor)
Like other transportation/transit modes, Washington State Ferries has seen reduced traffic/usage during the pandemic. That’s meant two-boat service on the Triangle Route – Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth – and WSF says it’s not planning on adding a third boat for three more months:
As Washington State Ferries continues to operate under the constraints of the COVID pandemic, it is extending the Fauntleroy/Vashon/Southworth route’s current 2-boat schedule through May 8. However, WSF plans to restore three-boat service to the route beginning May 9 as part of a modified “peak season” schedule. The peak season schedule will be posted online in the coming weeks.
The route’s usage was down more than a third last year. Got questions about this or another aspect of WSF operations? Community meetings are coming up next week, as previewed here.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Proposals for the north stretch of West Marginal Way SW are about to go under the public-feedback microscope.
They were briefly discussed as part of SDOT‘s presentation at Thursday’s West Seattle Transportation Coalition meeting, but they were the major news from the meeting, including an announcement of a February 18th “open house” and an upcoming mailer.
SDOT‘s been considering possibilities for West Marginal for some months – beyond the safety improvements near the Duwamish Tribe Longhouse, which are already locked in. One previously discussed idea, turning one northbound lane into a freight-only lane, is off the table, as we’ve reported before. So what this is all about is what’s going to happen to the southbound side, from the bridge to the Longhouse:
Here’s what’s being proposed – first, two options for what is being referred to as “Section 1”:
(West Seattle SkyLink advocates’ 12-minute presentation video)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Sound Transit‘s light-rail extension to West Seattle is already expected to be later and costlier than originally planned – with the schedule and cost changes far from finalized.
Advocates for building a gondola system instead of light rail think this mode of aerial transportation could fix both problems, by being cheaper and faster to build.
The idea of aerial transit between West Seattle and downtown has been discussed for a few years. But supporters recently bestowed the concept with the name West Seattle SkyLink, launching a new campaign to muster community interest and enthusiasm, while also angling for official support.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Shut down the busiest street in the city, and suddenly numerous other streets have to deal with unprecedented traffic trouble.
10 months after the West Seattle Bridge closure, SDOT is still working on ways to handle that – including the Home Zone program, a major topic at Wednesday night’s meeting of HPAC, the neighborhood coalition for Highland Park, Riverview, and South Delridge. After community conversations and walking tours, draft plans have just debuted, and it’s time for your feedback, via a new survey.
Here’s a video recording of the meeting. First, what you need to know about what’s being proposed:
(Photo by Theresa Arbow-O’Connor)
In the wake of a change at the top, Washington State Ferries has scheduled two online community meetings “to provide updates and answer questions.” New WSF head Patty Rubstello will lead the meetings with her predecessor Amy Scarton (now WSDOT deputy secretary), at 11 am Tuesday, February 9th, and 6 pm Wednesday, February 10th. WSF’s announcement says, “Both meetings will cover the same material and are designed to give participants the option to join the meeting that best fits their schedule. Meeting participants will be able to ask questions and provide comments.” Pre-register by going here for the February 9th meeting, here for the February 10th meeting, You can also attend a meeting for Ferry Advisory Committees at 6 pm Thursday, February 4th “to discuss issues related to their role in advising WSF on customer service and schedules”; preregister here.
(WSDOT photo)
If you’ve been dreading those upcoming lane closures for repair work on the southbound 1st Avenue South Bridge – you can put your dread on hold for a while again. Two weeks ago, WSDOT told us that the work originally expected to happen in January wouldn’t start until February. Today, WSDOT spokesperson Tom Pearce told WSB that the schedule has been pushed back again, and now it’s not expected to begin before early March. Pearce says they’re expecting “a firm schedule in the next couple of weeks.” We first reported the need for repairs back in October (that story explains the bearing-replacement work that needs to be done). Once the work starts, contractor Massana Construction will close two of the bridge’s southbound lanes around the clock for about three weeks, bookended by two overnight closures of the entire southbound bridge.
Steve sent that photo this morning showing “Stay Healthy Street”-style signage facing north/westbound trffic at 61st SW/Beach Drive, a little more than a block from the south end of the Alki Point Stay Healthy/Keep Moving Street. SDOT hasn’t announced any expansion of the program – hasn’t even decided the fate of the 63rd/Beach stretch – so we were a little skeptical, especially when we went to check it out and found this less-official-looking sign a block north, at 61st/Spokane:
We weren’t the only ones wondering; we got texts asking about it, and someone even called police to investigate, according to a scanner conversation. That call and our research reveal this is a legitimate “Stay Healthy Block” – shown on the map on that program’s webpage. The “Stay Healthy Block” program allows residents to request permission to close non-arterial blocks to through traffic up to 20 hours per week. The officer who checked out the signage told dispatch that it was authorized 10 am-4 pm on Saturdays; we went back for a look around 5:30 pm and the barricades were gone. Steve, an area resident, notes that using 63rd between Beach and Alki is faster anyway – if you haven’t been on 61st in a while, as we hadn’t, take note that it now has several sets of speed humps south of Admiral.
P.S. The city’s asking for feedback on Stay Healthy Blocks, which were launched – take the survey by going here.
When the state Transportation Commission set toll rates for the Highway 99 tunnel, the rates were planned to increase 3 percent every 3 years, starting in July 2022 – subject to annual review. Today, the commission was told tunnel tolls might have to rise sooner, since traffic is down and therefore revenue is down. The commission’s monthly meeting included an update on toll revenues from WSDOT facilities, particularly Highway 520 and the 99 tunnel, which started charging users in late 2019. For the 99 tunnel, revenues are 45 percent below what was expected, pre-pandemic.
That’s particularly problematic because an intradepartmental $10 million loan is due soon. The governor’s proposed transportation budget would allow that to be deferred, the commission was told, but $4 million would still be due in a few years, and the financial picture doesn’t look much rosier in the next few years. Raising tolls and/or cutting operation/maintenance costs are the main options WSDOT has for dealing with it. The latter doesn’t seem terribly likely, as another presentation at today’s meeting also mentioned higher costs systemwide from a variety of operational elements, including “repair/replacement” costs and changes in “back-office” and tolling systems. No specific potential increases were mentioned, but staffers told commissioners that if they wanted to implement a toll increase this July, they would need to get the process going ASAP.
Announced this afternoon by SDOT:
The Seattle Department of Transportation will restrict all traffic from the Spokane Street Swing Bridge (West Seattle Low Bridge) on Saturday, January 23 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. This temporary restriction applies to everyone, including all vehicles which are normally authorized to use the bridge except for emergency vehicles. Both the roadway and path on the bridge between West Seattle and Harbor Island will be closed to all people driving, walking, biking, rolling, and taking the bus.
This short-term traffic restriction will allow crews to survey the system that latches the two spans of the bridge together. The bridge will remain operational for maritime traffic during the restriction.
Emergency vehicles will continue to be allowed to cross the bridge. Signs are in place to guide people driving, biking, and taking transit through routes over alternative crossings of the Duwamish Waterway, like the First Avenue South Bridge.
One week after revealing new, sharply higher cost estimates for expanding light rail to West Seattle and Ballard (WSB coverage here), Sound Transit went public with another set of numbers, showing that the cost of tunneling into The Junction is suddenly a lot closer to the cost of the default elevated line. These numbers were presented to ST’s System Expansion Committee on Thursday, along with the revised cost estimates first shown to the Executive Committee last week; Thursday’s meeting video is above, and the full slide deck is here. Here are the new West Seattle tunnel-related numbers that were presented:
Those numbers reflect the estimated cost of the entire West Seattle segment, not just the station itself. The new estimate showing as little as $100 million difference between running elevated or tunneling to the heart of The Junction is a big change – previously, the difference was projected to be about $700 million, as shown in this slide from a 2019 presentation:
Whatever the cost differential is, it would require “third-party funding,” but Seattle Mayor and ST board member Jenny Durkan said during the Thursday presentation that she was “heartened” to see the new estimates, observing that they now had a better idea of what extra funding would be needed.
The biggest looming issue, though, remains the gap between ST’s pandemic-shrunken revenues and even the original price tags of the West Seattle-Ballard extension and other projects approved by voters in the ST3 ballot measure. So ST remains on a path to “realignment” of its plans, with a decision due later this year; board members have a workshop planned this Thursday. ST also is proceeding with an independent review of the new cost estimates, expected to be complete in April.
WHAT ELSE IS NEXT: The West Seattle-Ballard project remains in the environmental-study phase, with its Draft Environmental Impact Statement now expected in the middle of this year, opening a new public-comment period. Final routing and station-location decisions are expected in 2023. The extension’s projected launch date already has been pushed back a year to 2031, a date that the upcoming “realignment” could move further down the track.
P.S. You can catch up on what’s proposed, what’s being studied, and how the process works by checking out ST’s “online open house.”
Four and a half years after 35th/Graham was mentioned as the potential site of a new signal, it’s about to become reality. SDOT announced today that work will start this month on Phase 2 of the West Seattle Greenway, including the pedestrian/bicycle signal at 35th/Graham. This phase goes from High Point to The Junction, from SW Graham to SW Edmunds, using 38th SW, SW Findlay, and 42nd SW (as first discussed in 2017). The map shows both phases:
The work at 35th and Graham will start seven years after the second of two deaths there, separated by seven years – pedestrian James St. Clair in December 2013 and bicyclist Susanne Scaringi in September 2007.
Some restriping work has already been done, and tomorrow, pay stations will be installed at the about-to-no-longer-be-free West Seattle Junction Association-operated parking lots. We first reported eight days ago that the change was on the way. At 12:01 am Friday, the lots are officially paid parking. So here’s what you need to know. First, here’s a map:
Medium blue marks the Junction lots that are changing from free to paid – off 44th SW just south of Oregon, off 42nd SW just south of Oregon, on the southeast corner of 44th and Alaska, and off 44th north of SW Edmunds. Dark blue marks lots that are already paid, but are not and have not been managed by WSJA.
Not shown on the map – parking that’s not affected and remains free – street parking as well as some parking spaces adjacent to businesses and marked for exclusive use of their customers, such as the spaces behind Chase Bank and Verity Credit Union (WSB sponsor), plus parts of some garages in the area. WSJA says the lots that are changing over include 228 spaces, a little less than a third of the 720 free and paid parking spaces throughout the business district.
From the WSJA FAQ on the parking change, here are the rates for the lots that are changing, not including taxes and credit-card fees (if any):
$2 for up to two hours
$4 for two to three hours
$6 for three to four hours
$10 for four to ten hours
The charges apply 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Plans for an “early bird” special are on hold pending a review of the first few months of paid parking. (Some monthly parking is available – email info@wsjunction.org if you are interested in information on that.)
You will be able to pay via either the pay stations or via CallToPark. Citations for running overtime or not paying will cost $49, and vehicles with multiple tickets are subject to towing. The first week – January 15th through January 22nd – parkers that go overtime will get warning notices; citations start after that.
The change was inevitable. Backstory, as we explained in this report almost three years ago: The WSJA, a nonprofit Business Improvement Area organization, leases the lots from West Seattle Trusteed Properties, a consortium of local business/property owners. In addition to base rent, WSJA has to cover the cost of the property tax for the sites, which has risen sharply in recent years – tripling between 2016 and 2018 – as it’s all prime, developable land in the heart of one of Seattle’s “urban centers.” WSJA had tried various fundraising campaigns in recent years, but none provided a sizable-enough stream. This won’t cover all the costs either, but it’ll help.
(WSB file photo, Fauntleroy WSF terminal)
As with other transit/transportation, Washington State Ferries has seen usage fall during the pandemic. Today WSF went public with its year-end report, showing just how much. Systemwide, 2020 ridership was down 41 percent from a year earlier. That includes 2020 becoming the first year ever – since WSF began operations in 1951 – that the system carried fewer passengers (6.4 million) than vehicles (7.6 million). The two routes serving downtown Seattle, from Bremerton and Bainbridge Island, saw the biggest drops. For Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth, WSF reports that total riders were down 39%, vehicles down 31% (of the three legs of the so-called Triangle Route, Fauntleroy-Southworth saw the biggest drops). The other route serving Vashon Island – Tahlequah-Point Defiance – was the route with the smallest drop. See the full 2020 report here. P.S. WSF says ridership has been rebounding, lately back to 60 percent of pre-pandemic levels, with vehicle usage at 70 percent of 2019 usage levels.
(File photo – southbound span is the one in the background)
Just last Wednesday, we checked in with WSDOT to ask about the schedule for the work that will close part of the southbound span of the 1st Avenue South Bridge (first reported here in October). Spokesperson Tom Pearce told us at the time that the hoped-for mid-January start seemed unlikely. Today, an update – they’re now hoping to start “in early February.” Here’s what WSDOT says you can expect when the work begins:
Our contract allows for up to 15 nights of work. At the start of the project we will need to close all lanes of southbound SR 99 between 10 pm and 5 am for one night so our contractor can set up their equipment. Travelers can expect about three weeks with the southbound bridge reduced to two lanes. We’ll also need a full overnight southbound closure at the end of the project to remove equipment.
As we reported last week, the contractor is Massana Construction of Gig Harbor. Today’s WSDOT update explains the work they’ll be doing on the 25-year-old southbound span, to “replace bearing pads (and) some steel repair and concrete bridge deck repairs.”
(File photo)
In case you need one more reminder, tomorrow (Monday, January 11th) is the first day that the city is scheduled to start using automated cameras to enforce restrictions on the West Seattle low bridge between 5 am and 9 pm, seven days a week. Vehicles cqught on camera violating the rules will get a $75 ticket sent to the registered owner’s address. Here’s a refresher on the current rules (from SDOT‘s announcement two weeks ago):
Who Can Use the Low Bridge
-Emergency vehicles
-Transit vehicles (King County Metro buses and school buses)
-Freight vehicles
-People walking, rolling, using a scooter, or biking
-Employer shuttles
-Vanpools
-Pre-authorized vehicles*
-All Personal vehicles at night (from 9 pm to 5 am daily)Who Cannot Use the Low Bridge
Taxis and ride-hail app vehicles like Uber and Lyft (from 5 am to 9 pm daily)
Personal vehicles, including motorcycles, during the day (from 5 am to 9 pm daily)
Regarding the “pre-authorized vehicles,” SDOT says:
Pre-authorized use is currently limited to select maritime/industrial vehicles proximate to Harbor Island, International Longshore and Warehouse Union vehicles, and West Seattle business vehicles. If you believe you are eligible for pre-authorized use based on the description above, please email us westseattlebridge@seattle.gov or call 206-400-7511.
SDOT had been working with West Seattle’s two major business organizations, the Junction Association and Chamber of Commerce, to determine who had access. Before the cameras, they had a limited number of placards they loaned out to members who had to make business trips across the river.
SDOT has said that the traffic patterns following the activation of camera enforcement will be studied to see if changes in low-bridge access policy are merited. The policy is one of the topics on the agenda for this Wednesday’s meeting of the West Seattle Bridge Community Task Force (noon January 13th – watch here).
(WSB photo, looking westward across Delridge at SW Thistle)
SDOT says this coming week will likely finally see some major work it’s been warning about for a while, as the repaving/utilities project preparing for the RapidRide H Line continues. Top of the list: The SW Thistle closure between Delridge and 20th; crews started working on the west side of Delridge/Thistle last week (as seen above) and are scheduled to move across the street as soon as tomorrow. That’s also the potential start date for the installation of vehicle-detecting looping at Delridge/Oregon. SDOT’s weekly bulletin says, “Traffic will be split around the planned roadway median during this work.” Other plans include paving at the bus stop on the west side of Delridge/SW Andover, the start of demolition between Puget Blvd SW and SW Brandon, the completion of paving between SW Willow and Croft Place SW, and the start of paving on the west side of Delridge between SW Henderson and 20th SW. See the full weekly preview by going here.
When – and how – will SDOT decide whether the no-through-traffic Keep Moving/Stay Healthy Street around Alki Point will be permanent?
The plan got only a vague mention during Wednesday night’s briefing on the citywide SHS program for the Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Boards, and SDOT didn’t clarify it further on followup.
It was early May when the city announced the north end of Beach Drive, along Constellation Park, would get the designation. A few days later, the west end of Alki Avenue SW was added. In a usage-comparison chart shown at Wednesday’s meeting, the Beach Drive/Alki Avenue stretch was the most used, the two other West Seattle stretches – High Point/Sunrise Heights and Highland Park/Puget Ridge – among the least:
The two non-coastal West Seattle Stay Healthy Streets’ futures are not final yet either – SDOT’s SHS program leader Summer Jawson told the boards that the city has 26 miles of Stay Healthy Streets now and will make “up to 20” of those miles permanent by summertime. So, she said, “community engagement” is ahead both for those streets and Beach Drive/Alki Avenue SW. as well as the others round the city.
She shared results from last year’s SHS online survey, including how respondents said they use the streets:
Results, Jawson said, also indicated the confusion over when it’s OK to drive on a SHS or KMS, given the “street closed” signage. So what next? Jawson said they’re working “to make sure we’ve got (SHS) in the right place moving into a post-pandemic situation” – for example, with more students returning to in-person learning, how will they deal with streets that school buses need to access? In general, here’s how they’re going to decide what becomes permanent:
The Alki Point stretch, however, is something of a special case, the SDOT reps said. “We’re going to talk more about Alki Point,” which is shown as a neighborhood greenway ‘eventually” in the Bicycle Master Plan, they said (though it’s not on the “implementation plan” running through 2024), so that might be one option for its future – keeping it a KMS and making it a greenway. They said “community-based design” is the next step, with other options including keeping it the way it is now, or splitting the street with a one-way vehicle-traffic lane and a walking/riding/rolling lane. “We’ll look at a couple different alternatives.”
The day after the meeting, we asked SDOT to elaborate on the timeline and process for the Alki Point decision, seeking more specifics – would the “outreach” entail a meeting? a survey? or? Spokesperson Dawn Schellenberg, who had also been at the boards’ meeting, would only say, “We are working on possible street concepts and developing the outreach scope,” and that the “outreach” would start in the first quarter – sometime before the end of March.
(Seattle Municipal Archives photo of what’s described as the Highland Park-Burien line’s Hillside Station – possibly in Riverview – 1915)
Even as our transportation future remains in flux, there are lessons to be learned from our past. Historic Seattle offers you a chance to learn about West Seattle’s streetcar history a century ago, in a free online event two weeks from today (11 am Saturday, January 23rd). Here’s the announcement:
Join us for an exploration of West Seattle’s streetcar history from 1916 to 1940 with Mike Bergman. This virtual lecture will cover the construction of the streetcar system and the many ways in which it influenced West Seattle’s development and growth in the first half of the 20th century.
From an early age, Mike Bergman was interested in Seattle’s transportation history – especially the city’s bridges, railroads, and public transit systems. Mike joined a transit consulting firm shortly after graduating from UW, followed by tenures at, both, King County Metro and Sound Transit. Following his retirement in 2016, Mike has maintained a strong interest in local transit and transportation history. He is a volunteer at the Pacific Northwest Railroad Archive (PNRA) and has organized PNRA’s large collection of material on the Seattle Municipal Railway. He is the president of the Tacoma Chapter- National Railway Historical Society, and regularly contributes articles of local historical interest to The Trainsheet, the chapter’s monthly newsletter.
Although the event is free, registration is required. More information, including the registration link, is here.
Bergman gave a similar presentation back in August for the Southwest Seattle Historical Society.
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