TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: Back-to-school day; big road-work week

(Live view from the east-facing WS Bridge camera; other cameras are on the WSB Traffic page)
Spring break for Seattle Public Schools (and independent schools following its calendar) is over, so please watch out for school buses, kids walking/biking to school, and the usual campus dropoff spots.

This week brings a fair amount of road work, too:
*Highway 99 north of downtown has various overnight closures tonight through Thursday night – details and detours here
*North of the tunnel, Highway 99 has lane restrictions and sidewalk closures starting today, as part of the Mercer project – details here
*SW 106th repaving in Arbor Heights is scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday – details here
*California SW repaving between Dawson (signage goes to the northwest side) and Findlay is scheduled for Thursday and Friday – details here
*Delridge/Thistle weekend-long closure is scheduled to start Friday night – details here

cleows April 22, 2013 (8:47 am)

Rapid Ride C bus # 6058 this morning DID NOT USE THE BUS LANE ALL THE WAY FROM WEST SEATTLE (avalon approach) TO THE 99 EXIT OFF THE BRIDGE. WE SAT THERE IN THE CAR LANE, the BUS LANE EMPTY TO OUR LEFT, WITH OTHER BUSSES PASSING US AND MERGING back into our lane way IN FRONT of us. Added at least 10, maybe 15 minutes to the commute time for 6058 to downtown. I was seated in the very back row and called out “use the bus lane” but was too far back for the driver to hear and evidently NO ONE near the driver pointed this out to him. It was ridiculous! I will post a complaint on the metro site, but my question to the riders up front, why did no one say anything to the driver? we just sat and sat and sat. Luckily he did use the bus lane on 99…

East Coast Cynic April 22, 2013 (11:06 am)

Passive Seattle tudes??

Inexperienced Driver sounds like?

Fed up April 22, 2013 (11:36 am)

People are at the whim of the driver /are scared to speak up. People offered advice in the past when rapid ride first started and the drivers called metro police to have them removed. Search back in wsb comment history if you want more details.

kas April 22, 2013 (2:51 pm)

Cleows, I was on the same bus at the back…I heard your plea and wondered the same thing about riders in front. I spent part of the 45 minute commute to downtown lodging a complaint on Metro’s website.

cleows April 22, 2013 (3:19 pm)

thanks everybody, I did not know of the fate of those who have tried in the past to help bus drivers on routes (removal by the police!?). I too lodged a complaint at Metro, let’s hope this doesn’t happen again.

Mike Lindblom April 22, 2013 (3:42 pm)

What I’ve seen in the last half-year is that posting a comment at West Seattle Blog is probably the #1 most effective way riders can iron out kinks in the C Line. Good luck.

Fed up April 22, 2013 (4:12 pm)

Definitely feel your pain. Good luck.

Chris W. April 22, 2013 (4:28 pm)

@cleows I was reading & just assumed there was awful traffic. Later, when the RR stopped at 2nd & Seneca, some lady told the bus driver he should’ve used the bus lane. Wish she’d said that 20 minutes earlier…

Jeff Switzer, King County Metro April 23, 2013 (11:25 am)

@Chris W., @cleows, Thanks for chiming in and letting us know about this problem. It can crop up with new drivers unfamiliar with the route. Don’t be afraid to mention stuff like this to the driver if and when it’s safe to do so. We don’t want to be in traffic any longer than you do.

Sorry, comment time is over.