TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: Wednesday watch

(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)

7:02 AM: Welcome to March! And warmer weather – 10 degrees above freezing right now. No incidents to report so far, in/from West Seattle.

REMINDER: The Alaskan Way Viaduct is scheduled for closures 6 am-6 pm Saturday and Sunday for its annual inspection. Full details here, including concurrently scheduled closures on 99 north of the Battery Street Tunnel.

7:37 AM: Stuck-truck trouble in Fauntleroy, at 45th/Director – thanks for the tip/photo:

Our tipster says the truck was trying to head east on SW Director toward the Fauntleroy Schoolhouse.

8:23 AM: If you use lower Spokane Street east of West Seattle, note that SFD is sending a midsize response to Colorado and Spokane, which is west of 1st Avenue. No details on the call, just a heads-up.

zephyr March 1, 2017 (8:38 am)

I doubt that those neighborhood streets and that roundabout were
designed for industrial traffic. I know that I have just enough room in
my vehicle to ease around those things. Looking at that photo that
situation should not have happened. Surely the school has a more
realistic approach to their loading/freight area.

M March 1, 2017 (8:48 am)

In general, is the traffic by the ferry dock always so atrocious around 8?? I left my house at 7:30 from the base of the bridge to the ferry dock was one hr……I barely made the 8:30 boat to Bremerton. Man it was only 3 miles!!

Dave March 1, 2017 (9:35 am)

I see big semis often using neighborhood streets and they aren’t moving households. I don’t understand why they leave arterials.

WSB March 1, 2017 (9:39 am)

Could have just come off the ferry and one wrong turn to 45th off perhaps Wildwood (the route to Barton) would be problematic.

Arterial map for reference: https://www.seattle.gov/transportation/streetclassmaps/planwebsmall.pdf
Mark Schletty March 1, 2017 (10:47 am)

Dave– I had an opportunity to ask a lage truck driver about just that. The response I got was that, because of the arterial lane reductions/ restrictions, it was faster for them to get off the arterials. Thank Murray and Kubly for this phenomenon.
- WSB March 1, 2017 (10:58 am)
  
  That’s kind of ridiculous-sounding. Even an arterial with one lane in each direction has more space than a side street with one lane and less chance you’re going to smash into a car parked on the side. For those not familiar with this area, the Fauntleroy Schoolhouse, which has a school and an events facility among other businesses, is just to the southwest, with the Fauntleroy Church/Y right across the street from that. I believe loading for the events facility would generally happen in the back, accessed off this small street, as loading in front would block that road (technically California SW though it does not connect to the straightaway section) and RapidRide, among other things. I’m sorry we don’t have an update on what happened with the truck, as the reader photo came in as we were heading to Tacoma for basketball coverage. Doubt it’s still there but we’ll take a look when back. – TR
AMD March 1, 2017 (11:12 am)

Dave–I asked my husband (he’s a truck driver). Drivers can’t know every street , its traffic flow, and obstacles so they rely on maps and GPS. Sometimes bad GPS directions happen. This happens to cars as well. The difference is that cars have more options for turning around once they realize the GPS did not lead them astray.

Semi drivers do not choose to take side streets when they can avoid it. Arterials have more space.
- AMD March 1, 2017 (11:13 am)
  
  Should read :”…the GPS has led them stray.”

Trickycoolj March 1, 2017 (9:50 am)

Flagger warning signs on Sylvan next to the cemetery along with a pothole ranger truck! Fingers crossed they actually fix the whole patch of road and not just 1 of the dozen potholes in the 50′ section.

dsa March 1, 2017 (10:03 am)

That sedan to the left of the semi looks to be illegally parked. Notice it is on the wrong side of the street in that the driver of the car could not see the writing on the sign as it faces the other way.

old timer March 1, 2017 (10:42 am)

So is the truck further up the hill.

Must be one of those many “private-public” streets where there are only parking rules and not laws.
- KBear March 1, 2017 (11:17 am)
  
  It’s a public street, and it’s illegal to park like that. For some reason, Seattle does not enforce that law unless someone makes a complaint.
  - sb2780 March 1, 2017 (1:59 pm)
    
    Pretty sure that street is one way only along that stretch, and it is legal to park on that side of the street.
- dsa March 1, 2017 (11:24 am)
  
  I only mentioned the sedan and not the truck too because the sedan looks like it could be the immediate cause of the blocked semi, and not the traffic circle.
  - WSB March 1, 2017 (12:42 pm)
    
    Finally back in West Seattle, and we see where that truck was going – there is a project of some sort along Barton just a bit east of where that street emerges, and two Insituform trucks are part of it. We went by because someone asked us about the project, and that, we couldn’t figure out from the drive-by … something involving steam!

wsn00b March 1, 2017 (2:59 pm)

FYI: That truck wasn’t going to the Fauntleroy Schoolhouse for delivery work. There is sidewalk and sewer work up the hill on Barton, due east of the schoolhouse near Fauntleroy Park. There were multiple trucks from Insituform (a sewer rehab company) doing work there. If you are going into Fauntleroy via Barton, watch for roadwork that is taking most of the eastbound lane.

WSB March 1, 2017 (3:15 pm)

Thanks, mentioned that some time ago: https://westseattleblog.com/2017/03/traffictransit-today-wednesday-watch-26/#comment-2077444

Someone asked us about the project last night. The Insituform trucks were not along Barton at the time, just a couple of trailers, length of hose, and no-parking signs. Got an inquiry out to SPU for more details.

Sorry, comment time is over.