TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: Friday updates; Highway 99 closure starts tonight; Alki Beach 5K on Sunday

(Four WS-relevant views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
7:48 AM: It’s been a quiet commute, regionally as well as locally. So, the weekend reminders:

HIGHWAY 99 CLOSURE STARTS TONIGHT: From late tonight until very early Monday (we’ll update if it ends sooner), between the Battery Street Tunnel and Valley St. in lower Queen Anne, Highway 99/Aurora Avenue will be closed so crews can realign it onto a newly built section of road – details and maps here.

ALKI BEACH 5K & OTHER WEEKEND EVENTS: Sunday morning, Alki and Harbor Avenues close for a few hours for the 9 am walk/run to raise money for Northwest Hope and Healing. It’s one of the events spotlighted in SDOT’s citywide weekend roundup.

ADDED 10:31 AM: In case anyone else was wondering – a commenter asked about missed 56/57 buses this morning; we asked Metro via Twitter, and here’s the response:

@westseattleblog We worked hard to fill the trip, but a 56 run was canceled due to no operator. The next run was overloaded & skipped a stop

— King County Metro (@kcmetrobus) August 21, 2015

12:04 PM: A car is reported to have hit a power pole and brought it down in the 5400 block of W. Marginal Way SW. Two people were in the car; no major injuries reported so far.

Late August 21, 2015 (8:12 am)

What’s up with the 56/57 this AM? Multiple buses didn’t show and many people left behind as the one full bus passed us.

WSB August 21, 2015 (8:18 am)

Hi, Late – no texts/updates from Metro, but I’m asking them via twitter …
WSB August 21, 2015 (10:27 am)

“Late” – someone also asked about this on Twitter and we did get a reply there from Metro: “We worked hard to fill the trip, but a 56 run was canceled due to no operator. The next run was overloaded & skipped a stop.”

AmandaKH August 21, 2015 (10:37 am)

This is not the first or even the second time I have heard of buses not showing up because they don’t have a driver. This is unacceptable. We are taxing ourselves extensively to pay for more in Seattle bus service. That should include enough drives to cover when people call in sick.

Laura W August 21, 2015 (11:20 am)

It’s absolutely unacceptable that if there’s no driver for the 56 or 57, they just don’t send a bus. If a 57 doesn’t run, that’s 25% of the morning buses that get canceled. Would Metro cancel 25% of the C Line? Would they cancel 25% of the 120? No. But since we’re two small routes they don’t care about treating us like this. People NEED to call and write and complain to Metro. I keep seeing signs and notices about them improving service and having more buses but that’s just a bunch of hypocrisy.

bus rider August 21, 2015 (1:17 pm)

Not only did the 56 and 57 not show up, but the afternoon 56 to WS didn’t shown up on Wednesday and Thursday either.

AMD August 21, 2015 (11:29 pm)

It sucks for the commuters, but it is possible for Metro to run out of sub drivers who know a given route. They have subs, but subs are not infinite and having enough subs on hand to cover any possible number of vacations and sick calls isn’t realistic.

missbay August 28, 2015 (9:15 am)

I’ve logged a complaint with Metro online every time the 56 or 57 don’t show up, which has been no less than 5 times just for me personally in the past few weeks. It’s ridiculous how much money we’re giving Metro and service has gotten WORSE since all these “improvements.”

Sorry, comment time is over.