TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: Summer Fest Eve Thursday, with road closures and bus reroutes starting tonight

(SDOT MAP with travel times/video links; is the ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE)

(Click any view for a close-up; more cameras on the WSB Traffic page)

6:07 AM: Good morning and welcome to Thursday. It’s the eve of West Seattle Summer Fest, with the roads closing tonight both for festival setup and for pre-festival fun. Here’s what you need to know:

STREETS CLOSE @ 6 PM: That’s California Avenue SW between SW Edmunds and SW Genesee (with SW Oregon remaining open to east/west traffic), and SW Alaska between 42nd and 44th.

BUS REROUTES START @ 5 PM: That’s according to the reroute plans linked from the Metro “alerts and updates” page, which will be in effect until post-festival breakdown/cleanup wraps up late Sunday night:

C Line – here
Route 22 – here
Route 37 – here
Route 50 – here
Route 55 – here
Route 57 – here
Route 128 – here
Route 773 Water Taxi Shuttle – here

8:46 AM: We’ve had two reports about this hazard to bicycle riders:

Many small (1′ diameter) piles of broken glass have appeared next to the fog line on both sides of the street on Beach Drive, from one end to the other.

The glass is exactly where cyclists would normally ride, so you’ll need to ride out in the roadway to avoid flats. Be careful out there. -JH

As we’ve told both people who reported it, if you see something of danger in the right of way, to anyone – riders, walkers, drivers – please report it ASAP to SDOT so they can investigate/clean it up. Their 24-hour dispatch is 206-386-1218.

Sue July 7, 2016 (8:40 am)

I think the most frustrating thing about the Metro reroutes is that the reality of the announced reroutes/stops often bears little resemblance to what the drivers actually do. I must remember to take the Friday before Summer Fest off next year, as it is usually quite chaotic. My experience the last few years: I normally get on a 55 on Alaska at 42nd in the mornings. There are always signs posted there that the stop is closed and to use the temp stop on 41st, which is marked with temp signs, and where I’m waiting. Everyone who boards the C in the Junction is now at this stop as well. But half the people are waiting at the closed 42nd stop and half are waiting at the temp 41st stop. And it seems that half the buses stop at the closed 42nd stop, which means those of us who followed instructions have to now run down the block for the bus (not easy for those of us who are disabled), which now also has no seats because everyone who waited at the wrong stop got the advantage. I also notice this year that the posted reroute stops are actually a little different than past years. So anybody’s guess really as to what happens.

newnative July 7, 2016 (9:04 am)

In my experience, most temporary reroutes and detours are not communicated ahead of time so the drivers fully understand them. I don’t know if this is a Metro management miscommunication (the drivers aren’t told) or an employee-based mistake (they don’t read their communication or look at the maps). But it’s clear from the comments I have heard from drivers that “for some reason”, they are unaware of the reroutes or confused as to how to implement them.

I know during the Pride Parade downtown this year, the bus stops did not have proper signage to explain to the riders about the reroutes. Took me an hour and a half to return from Belltown to West Seattle.

Sorry, comment time is over.