Thanks to those who e-mailed about parking restrictions at and around Seacrest tomorrow afternoon-evening – the signs are up throughout the parking lot and along the north side of Harbor for about a block on either side of Seacrest. All of those areas are marked “no parking” for 3-10 pm tomorrow (Saturday). One tipster said it’s for a film crew, though we haven’t confirmed that. (2:55 pm update, SDOT confirms it) Good news, though, that time frame will NOT affect a big event at Seacrest tomorrow morning:
The fish have just arrived for the West Seattle Sportsmen’s Club Hi-Yu Kids’ Fishing Derby. It’s free to the first 150 kids, who will be provided bamboo fishing poles to borrow, and goodie bags to keep:
That’s club recording secretary (and 22-year member) Roz Mascio, part of the crew putting together the goodie bags at the pier right now. Club members will also be keeping round-the-clock watch on the “fish pond” till the derby’s over – it’s scheduled for 8 am to 11 am tomorrow.
(Photo courtesy King County Department of Transportation)
Midway between two major community meetings on the South Park Bridge closure plan, a smaller “inter-agency” group is just wrapping up a meeting this morning. Some new information has emerged, inspired, those on hand say, by feedback they’ve received at previous meetings as well as via e-mail and other channels. That information includes changes to planned bus reroutes, as well as one major new element for the road that will become a dead end of sorts when the bridge closes at 7 pm June 30 – read on:Read More
It was one of the hottest topics on last night’s Southwest District Council meeting – the upcoming closure of the 1st Avenue South ramp to the westbound West Seattle Bridge, as part of the Spokane Street Viaduct Widening Project. The closure’s now 11 days away – Monday, May 17th – and project manager Stuart Goldsmith got some tough questions last night at the SWDC meeting after taking some tough questions: What about West Seattle traffic after the closure? he was asked, as SWDC co-chair Erica Karlovits of theJunction Neighborhood Organization pointed out that trouble on The Bridge can back up traffic all the way into The Junction, or well into North Delridge. Goldsmith said SDOT would keep an eye on that. Meantime, the department has just issued another official reminder tonight of the impending ramp closure (which will mean almost a year and a half with no access to the westbound bridge between 99 and I-5), along with the official detour map (above) – read on for the full text:Read More
(Photo courtesy King County Department of Transportation)
As reported in previous coverage of the King County plan to close the South Park Bridge on June 30th, they’ve been awaiting one last consultant analysis to confirm their assessment that the bridge is too unsafe to keep open. This afternoon, that report is complete, and the county says it indeed underscores their decision. According to a news release from the county (read it here), the bridge “is in such poor condition it can no longer be safely used by the public.” The county also has posted the full report – you can see it here. Still no funding to replace the bridge, but logistical planning for its closure continues, with two meetings ahead May 11 and 25, as noted in our coverage of last week’s meeting about the “draft closure plan.”
The meeting was supposed to be about explaining the newly released draft plan for helping people get around and helping businesses stay afloat once the deteriorating bridge closes June 30.
But when public-comment time kicked in, it was more like venting – both at the mike and from the audience, demonstrating the community’s indignation that the situation has even come to this.
One woman said she had bought her home in Boulevard Park in 1978, at which time, “I was told the South Park Bridge needed to be retrofitted and replaced. My (child) was 5. He’s 37 now. Why are we sitting here today and why wasn’t this taken care of sooner?”
King County Department of Transportation Director Harold Taniguchi had no easy answer. Besieged repeatedly by audience calls of “how did this happen? why did this happen,” he finally had to say, “We are at where we are at. If we had 32 years to put a funding plan together – we didn’t do it.”
Some community culpability was acknowledged in the middle of a fiery 5-minute speech by Christina Gallegos. Listen to it – as she addresses almost every topic that came up tonight, with clarity as well as fury.
Taniguchi’s response, plus highlights of the draft closure plan – including West Seattle effects – and the search for money for a new bridge, after the jump:Read More
Two paving updates this morning: First, that’s a photo from last fall, when the city wrapped up reconstruction/repaving on 16th SW between Findlay and Brandon. SDOT has just sent out a reminder that it’s also going to rebuild the block between Brandon and Dawson this year, but not till summer – between mid-July and mid-September – so that fewer South Seattle Community College (WSB sponsor) attendees will be inconvenienced. The SDOT alert today says “A northbound detour similar to what was implemented in 2009 will be required again for work this year.” More info’s online.
Meantime, a welcome sight for Alki drivers (not to mention the people who live in the affected area): Mike Heavey sent the photo at right last night, from the Alki Avenue stretch by the 53rd Avenue Pump Station project. Restoration of the road is the final phase of work; we’d noted earlier this week that the blacktop was being put in place, and as Mike’s photo shows, it’s almost all done. That puts the project length at 26 months; as you can see in that link, it was estimated at 20 months when work started in February 2008. The project tripled its size (all underground)
Reminder that as of today, continuing for the next month or so, you can’t park alongside the Junction Plaza Park site at the northwest corner of SW Alaska/42nd SW – SDOT is starting work on the sidewalk-repair project (as previewed here 2 weeks ago), so that stretch of sidewalk will be closed too. The city says work hours will be 8 am-3 pm. Park construction is under way too; that and the sidewalk are all supposed to be done by the end of next month.
When the city-convened West Seattle Triangle Advisory Group gathered for its first meeting (WSB coverage here), developer Denny Onslow of Harbor Properties pronounced Triangle parking “the 500-pound gorilla in the room”: It wasn’t on the official agenda, but it was on almost everyone’s mind.
When the group gathered again this past Wednesday night at the Senior Center of West Seattle for meeting #2, the “gorilla” was at centerstage, with four potential Triangle “streetscape” concepts presented, each one including information on how it would affect the area’s street-parking inventory.
The other major headline from the meeting: While local property owner and advisory-group member Steve Huling wasn’t in attendance this time, several other Triangle business and property owners were represented in the audience, including Alki Lumber, Tom’s Automotive and Doyle’s Automotive.
Their concerns and what happens next – as the story continues:Read More
A little while ago, a note came in asking about a big cloud of dust or smoke on the east end of Alki Beach. If you’re seeing it from a distance, here’s what it’s all about: Road-resurfacing work at the 53rd Avenue Pump Station site, final phase of the two-year-plus project. Thanks to Bob Bollen for sharing the photo – he wrote, “At last a finished road is in sight!”
Just announced: Plans for “Hands Across the Duwamish” tomorrow. People concerned about the upcoming permanent closure of the South Park Bridge hope to form a human chain across the bridge (on the sidewalk, NOT blocking traffic) to raise awareness about the scheduled June 30th closure. Organizers say they’ll need 332 people to span the entire length of the bridge. They’re timing it to start at 1:30 pm, as the Duwamish Alive! work parties are wrapping up. Meantime, as reported yesterday at partner site White Center Now, King County has scheduled two community meetings to talk about logistics of the closure – 6 pm April 27 and 6 pm May 25, both at the International Association of Machinists Local 751 Hall in South Park (map). March 2009 photo courtesy Dale Brayden
As first reported March 12, Metro has been considering changing a stretch of Route 22 through Gatewood, to run along California SW between Ida and Thistle, then eastward on Thistle. They’ve just sent word that they decided not to make the change after all, “based on the comments … received from residents and transit riders and further review by (SDOT). … While we are no longer proposing a routing change, Metro will continue working with (SDOT) to find ways to improve bus operations and safety along 41st Avenue—especially the crossing at SW Holden Street.”
(WSB photos and video by Cliff DesPeaux)
That site near the SODO stadiums is a dirt lot now, but it’ll be transformed into a detour route during the heart of the southern Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement project is under way. WSDOTjust opened bids today for the south-end project and says all six bids were below the agency’s $152 million estimate – the apparent low bidder (a verification/review process is still ahead) isSkanska USA Civil from Riverside, California, at $114 million. (Next lowest, two bids at $127 million; highest was $142 million, still $10 million below the estimate.)
The work starts this summer – here’s what you’ll see first – and is expected to employ more than 600 people.
Photojournalist Cliff DesPeaux covered the WSDOT announcement event for WSB; Viaduct project leader Ron Paananen and state Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond showed off an orange-painted column marking the northern end of the southern replacement zone:
ADDED 4:22 PM: Here’s what Hammond told reporters at the scene (note that despite what’s on the video, the low bid was actually $114 million as noted above):
Three weeks ago, we covered the South Portal Working Group meeting at which Viaduct project managers reviewed the construction schedule five years into the future – until even the central part of the structure is to be demolished – if you missed that story, see it here.
Some call the 35th SW straightaway “I-35” because there are times it feels like a freeway. MAS noticed that somebody has put up a sign in hopes of reminding drivers it’s not. (This is by the northbound bus stop, 35th/Webster, Sunrise Heights.)
This hasn’t been formally announced yet but we just found it on the Alaskan Way Viaduct project website’s “Public Events” page: Another public meeting for information about the viaduct-replacement project (not just the tunnel but also the south end replacement, which starts work soon) is set for West Seattle – 6-8 pm April 27, Madison Middle School. ADDED 8:01 AM: One of West Seattle’s reps on the project’s South Portal Working Group, Pete Spalding, says you also have a chance before then to get updated on the major transportation projects affecting our area: SDOT will be at the April 21 Delridge Neighborhoods District Council meeting to “discuss all of the closures and related items involving the Spokane Street Viaduct project,” and Alaskan Way Viaduct reps will “make a presentation on where things stand with this project.” DNDC meets at Youngstown Arts Center, 7 pm 4/21.
Four weeks ago, we covered two community meetings about the impending South Park Bridge closure. During both, local business owners hoped their stories could be told, before the bridge closure endangered their enterprises’ survival. We assigned this story to a student journalist in hopes of continuing to tell those stories.
Story and photos by Briana Watts
University of Washington News Lab
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
“No Cierren El Puente” signs fill the windows of restaurants and businesses along 14th Avenue South. They sit along the street corners and occupy reader boards. The signs read “Do not close the bridge” because the revenue of these family-owned businesses is dependent on the traffic that moves across the South Park Bridge, slated to be closed June 30.
“There’s no way we can survive this,” says Gurdev Singh, co-owner of the South Park 76 gas station and the connected Subway shop on 14th Avenue South.
With the South Park community on one side of the Duwamish River andBoeing Field on the other, the SP Bridge is one of two connectors. Diverting traffic to the other, the First Avenue Bridge, could add 20 minutes to the commutes of South Park Bridge users, which include West Seattle and White Center residents.
“The First Avenue Bridge will be a parking lot,” predicted Bill Owens, owner of Seattle Canine Outfitters.
During the last Seattle Parks Board meeting, we reported Superintendent Tim Gallagher‘s announcement that a construction contract has been awarded for Junction Plaza Park. We’re still checking on how soon work will start on the park itself – but we have word from SDOT that work to replace the sidewalk in front of the park (which is at the northwest corner of 42nd/Alaska) is imminent. SDOT’s Peg Nielsen says it’ll start within the next two or three weeks and will be sequenced with the park work. The sidewalk wasn’t part of the original park plan but Nielsen says it’s a “cost-sharing” project, funded with money from the Bridging the Gap Sidewalk Safety Repair Program and the Neighborhood Street Fund. One other example of “cost-sharing” resulting in new sidewalks has just been completed in Morgan Junction – the new sidewalk in front of Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor) – the subject of this newly posted SDOT online feature.
Thanks to Jim Sander from the Pigeon Point Neighborhood Council and Mike Dady from the North Delridge Neighborhood Council for the word that 23rd SW reopened today, as promised, after six weeks of work adding utility connections to new homes up the hill from Delridge. (We took the photo at left a short time ago.) Jim reported in e-mail to PPNC members that the much-discussed no-parking signs along 21st SW were being picked up, too. Mike, on behalf of the NDNC Transportation Committee, wants to remind drivers that this means the end of other temporary traffic changes: In particular, it means the return of the temporarily covered “No Left Turn” and “No Right Turn” signs at the corner of 22nd and 23rd Avenues SW, which he says were hard-won after a years-long campaign – those turns are again illegal. And Metro Route 125 is supposed to be back on its regular route this afternoon, according to spokesperson Linda Thielke.
The 64-car Chetzemoka is the first new vessel built for Washington State Ferries in more than a decade – since the Jumbo Mark II class trio – and this morning it made its Elliott Bay debut, leaving Todd Pacific Shipyards on Harbor Island under tow, headed for some finishing work in Everett. We watched it from a spot just east of Anchor Park – one week after standing at almost the exact same spot, watching that visiting gray whale. According to the project page on the WSF website, Todd has a contract to build two more ferries like the Chetzemoka, which is destined for the Port Townsend-Keystone route, where the state’s been using a leased ferry since the Steel Electric-class vessels were taken out of service (the 2nd will go to that route as well, while the third is scheduled to run between Tacoma’s Point Defiance terminal and Tahlequah at the south end of Vashon). If you’re wondering about the name Chetzemoka, it’s explained here.ADDED 11:15 AM: A closer view from further along the journey (from a photographer who asked not to be credited):
As first reported here 2 weeks ago, the city has decided to have another “car-free” Celebrate Seattle Summer Streets day on Alki in connection with the West Seattle 5K Run/Walk for the second consecutive year – that’ll happen May 23. And this afternoon, SDOT just released the full list of CSSS days citywide – read on:Read More
Chanting “save our bridge,” shaking noisemakers, waving pom-poms, and drawing honks from passing drivers, dozens of people concerned about the upcoming permanent closure of the South Park Bridge lined its southern half for a while this afternoon. They were hoping to be seen by some of the politicians who were on their way to South Park for a rally celebrating the recently signed federal health-care legislation (separate story on that event coming up). We don’t know if they were indeed seen; shortly after we shot that video, it started to rain – hard – and some of the participants left (though we did notice some staying, undaunted, with umbrellas). The bridge closure is set for 7 pm June 30th; last week, reps from multiple agencies were summoned to start talking about coordination of resulting traffic and public-safety issues (WSB coverage here), while the highlight of the funding search was the Seattle City Council‘s declaration it would support the county’s quest for money (WSB coverage here). ADDED 10:55 PM: Noemie Maxwell has posted her story about today’s rally on Washblog, with lots of photos – see it here.
Two paving updates this morning: First, that’s a photo from last fall, when 
Meantime, a welcome sight for Alki drivers (not to mention the people who live in the affected area): Mike Heavey sent the photo at right last night, from the Alki Avenue stretch by the 53rd Avenue Pump Station project. Restoration of the road is the final phase of work; we’d noted earlier this week that the blacktop was being put in place, and as Mike’s photo shows, it’s almost all done. That puts 
When the city-convened 
Just announced: Plans for “Hands Across the Duwamish” tomorrow. People concerned about the upcoming 
for Junction Plaza Park. We’re still checking on how soon work will start on the park itself – but we have word from 
Thanks to Jim Sander from the 
Quick reminder – the 
| 8 COMMENTS