Via-new: 1st morning commute with reconfigured Highway 99

October 31, 2011 at 6:42 am | In Alaskan Way Viaduct, West Seattle news | 26 Comments

What you see on Highway 99 north of the West Seattle Bridge is what you get … till the tunnel’s done (projected: end of 2015). The first commute is on, after a week in which WSDOT says it demolished 2,825 feet of the Alaskan Way Viaduct, resulting in 6,000 estimated truckloads of concrete rubble (to be reused in the tunnel project) and steel rebar (to be recycled). We’re watching traffic cams, traffic reports, and other sources and if there are any problems, we’ll note them here; your observations about the new route are welcome too!

26 Comments

  1. After taking off last week to avoid Viadoom I left Belvidere at 6:32 AM today, 10/31/11 . Open all the way down Admiral over the high Bridge at posted speed limit, easy merge to North 99. Went through the new detour with no problem. Both lanes were full but at speed. Arrived at the center of the Universe at 6:52 AM. Now the question is could I leave at 6:45 or 7:00 AM with he same result????

    Comment by Snack — 7:11 am October 31, 2011 #

  2. traffic slower than usual getting onto 599. Not sure what’s goin on but 10 mins from marginal way to the southpark exit.

    Comment by debbie — 7:26 am October 31, 2011 #

  3. My wife just called and said she left Belvidere at 7:05 AM and arrived at Broadway and Pine via 99 Seneca exit around 7:25 AM.

    Comment by Snack — 7:37 am October 31, 2011 #

  4. Do people know the viaduct is open? I just drove to SLU and there was zero backup getting onto 99 from the West Seattle Bridge – it felt like a weekend. The new curves on 99 were slow going however.

    Comment by Lou — 7:38 am October 31, 2011 #

  5. 25 minutes from Arbor Heights to Seneca street! I love the Viaduct!

    Comment by Garry — 7:56 am October 31, 2011 #

  6. Caught a 55 from the Triangle at 6:55 and arrived at UW at 7:33. A slowdown in the tunnel at Westlake Station due to aid car response on platform. Never seen rescue breathing being administered before – hope the person pulls through.

    Comment by Dan — 7:56 am October 31, 2011 #

  7. Coming down from Highland Park to 599 was pretty normal and not backed up at all around 0740.

    Comment by DRS — 8:14 am October 31, 2011 #

  8. We left the High Point area at 6:55 and got to Ballard at 7:30 which is about how long it used to take. I am going to start leaving a few minutes earlier to give myself a little cushion though. It wasn’t too bad at all, a little slow through downtown, but over all, not as bad as I expected! It was probably just a fluke.

    Comment by steve — 8:18 am October 31, 2011 #

  9. Left at High Point at 6:00, took the viaduct, at work on Lake Union by 6:12, easy breezy! Good to have you back old friend…

    Comment by ML — 8:35 am October 31, 2011 #

  10. New report says that long car commutes are detrimental to your health and bike or walk commuting has a positive effect.
    http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/90063822?Commuting%20to%20work%20may%20cause%20health%20problems

    Comment by Stu — 8:58 am October 31, 2011 #

  11. I tried both directions of the new layout yesterday. I liked the restriped southbound lanes of the viaduct at the Columbia onramp – much safer merge distance than before.
    I wish that in the northbound direction WSDOT had “bit the bullet” and restriped the lanes at the turn around Yesler to 3 lanes instead of 4. Four lanes has always been tight there considering there’s no shoulder, the lanes feel smaller than a standard highway and people are looking at the skyline and the ferries. The third lane would serve the Seneca exit as well as the Market exit.

    Comment by ScottA — 9:03 am October 31, 2011 #

  12. All Drivers: On average time-wise, how much longer (if any) was your commute this morning?

    Comment by Aman — 9:31 am October 31, 2011 #

  13. Mondays tend to be lighter in commuting numbers. I believe Tuesday morning will be much more of an acid test for the pass arounds.

    Comment by Neo-Realist — 9:45 am October 31, 2011 #

  14. I drove the corridor today in about 30 minutes, not much different than a relatively good day before Viadoom. Wouldn’t be surprised if traffic is down a bit due to Halloween.

    Comment by Mike Lindblom — 9:45 am October 31, 2011 #

  15. There will probably be an “early rush” today with parents getting home early for tricker-treat.

    Comment by RobertSeattle — 10:24 am October 31, 2011 #

  16. this morning wasn’t too bad. it was very slow going through the new curves. took about 8 minutes to get from the bridge to the old viaduct (at around 8am). the afternoon commute is going to be much worse, i think.

    Comment by bluegirl — 11:53 am October 31, 2011 #

  17. WS water taxi was busier than usual.

    Comment by Lorelee — 12:45 pm October 31, 2011 #

  18. I left around 8:40. The high bridge had a small backup, better than normal but I think it was a fluke. 99 was slow going all the way until we got onto the old viaduct.

    Nothing surprising really, when you take 3 lanes make them 2 then move the 2 lanes into different lanes and make the speed limit 25 MPH and add another line of cars merging in what do you expect.

    It will be back to the way it was 2 weeks ago or worse for the next 4 years.

    Comment by Bostonman — 1:01 pm October 31, 2011 #

  19. Drove the southbound segment twice today and noticed both times that drivers used to taking “a left” to get to Atlantic/5/90 were not getting into RIGHT lane so they had to make a sudden lane change to exit 99. I think additional signage up on the southbound viaduct segment needs to be added so those drivers get into right lane earlier.

    Comment by Robert2715 — 5:01 pm October 31, 2011 #

  20. What you see on Highway 99 north of the West Seattle Bridge is what you get … till the tunnel’s done (projected: end of 2015).

    .
    not quite true…
    .
    there will eventually be three lanes each direction on two separate overpasses on that stretch of 99 as part of the south end replacement – as well as the port flyover. right now, both directions share the southbound overpass. WSDOT isn’t even halfway finished with the south end replacement.
    .
    and from what i’ve read (though i can’t remember where) WSDOT and SDOT are working to get the exit from NB 99 to king street open sooner rather than later.

    Comment by redblack — 6:04 am November 1, 2011 #

  21. Yes, I know, we have reported it here a million times as the only news organization that covers the South Portal Working Group meetings. The interchange is part of the tunnel project and won’t be open … as I wrote … till the tunnel’s done.
    .
    http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/SR99/HolgateToKing/EndResultMap.htm

    Comment by WSB — 7:48 am November 1, 2011 #

  22. not trying to be contrary; i’m just saying that the whole south end roadway will be wider and straighter south of the detour ramps by 2013. and that alaskan way/e marginal will be made whole again. trying to stay positive and look forward to improvement sooner rather than later.
    .
    thanks for clarifying about the king street interchange, though. i was hoping that there would soon be a way to get off of 99 NB north of spokane street and south of the viaduct, in case of eventualities – like bridges freezing during rush hour.

    Comment by redblack — 8:37 am November 1, 2011 #

  23. And what people still don’t seem to be taking into consideration much is the Spokane Street Viaduct widening/4th Avenue exit ramp factor. When the SSV project is done, it’ll be three lanes both ways. The 4th Ave. ramp on the eastbound side is 2 lanes, with a third (for SCL trucks going into their yard) at the very end. For transportation planners, whether people agree with their plan or not, that is a key part of the vision of how it’ll all work in the end configuration. When I commuted downtown almost daily in August for the Bushaw murder trial, I usually took the 4th exit, because once you’ve done that a time or two, waiting in the ridiculous bottleneck queue to get onto 99 just makes no sense (in addition to the death-defying attempt to get a place in that line if you come onto the bridge before Delridge, etc.) …

    Comment by WSB — 9:06 am November 1, 2011 #

  24. WSB – good point. 4th flows pretty well NB. And come next summer, when the new 1st Ave ramp opens with the widened Spokane St. viaduct completed, we’ll have some help in the evenings leaving downtown – pressure removed from all the W.Sea. traffic on just 2 SB lanes on 99 that we’ll have to live through for 8-9 more months.

    Comment by WS commuter — 4:07 pm November 1, 2011 #

  25. I sure am enjoying riding my bicycle past all the cars. Especially on days like today. Tomorrow? January? Could be a different story but I still get from Highland Park to 5th & Union fastest if I ride my bike instead of ride the bus. Plus, I feel super. And super sweaty! Gross! Awesome!

    Thanks for the excellent reporting!

    Comment by chadwick — 8:57 pm November 1, 2011 #

  26. i use the 4th ave ramp fairly regularly. but as i was advising the lovely missus on better routes through downtown, i had to confess that i don’t know if you can currently turn from eastbound lower spokane street to northbound 4th avenue.
    .
    it seems like you should be able to, since there is no westbound traffic on lower spokane until SSV is complete.
    .
    anyone?

    Comment by redblack — 9:35 pm November 1, 2011 #

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