West Seattle Blog…

Something to say about September Metro changes? Tell County Councilmembers tonight

(Click to see entire map, full size, via Metro’s site; click here for the “peak” version)
After six months and two previous drafts, Metro‘s final recommendations for September route changes – mostly affecting West Seattle and vicinity because the RapidRide launch is the catalyst – has gone to the County Council. And tonight, two weeks after that final proposal was made public, you can tell councilmembers what you think of it. The council’s Transportation, Economy, and Environment Committee – with West Seattle’s Councilmember Joe McDermott among its members – has a public hearing tonight on Metro’s September plan. It’s NOT in the council’s usual meeting place, though – they will meet at 6:30 pm in the Sound Transit board room at Union Station, 401 S. Jackson St. (map), after a 6 pm open house. (If you haven’t seen it yet, here’s the county’s summary of West Seattle changes. If you want to flash back to October for a refresher on what was in the first draft, here’s our original story.)

Getting back on track: West Seattle train trouble along Harbor

(First two photos by WSB’s Patrick Sand)
New train service to Salty’s? No – just looks that way. You don’t often see locomotives this far west – but one is helping resolve a situation just past the end of the tracks along Harbor Avenue this afternoon.

A couple of scrap-metal cars were backed up a little too far and ran into the STREET END sign for the SW Bronson parklet east of Salty’s. First person who told us about this was Alki photographer David Hutchinson, who shared early-morning photos, including this one showing a small tree taken out by one of the errant cars:

The crews we talked with at the scene a short time ago told us they should have things back on track by mid-afternoon. (Thanks also to David F and Craig B for tips about this in the past few hours.)

West Seattle scene: New 60th/61st/Spokane stairs open

Thanks to Danny McMillin for sharing that photo from the South Alki area, where SDOT‘s two-month project to extend the 61st/Spokane stairway up to 60th is complete. He says a sign informed users it was open as of last Friday.

Washington State Ferries to raise fares next month

Just received a reminder about Washington State Ferries‘ plan to raise fares in May. The new fares are listed in this brochure (PDF). Read on for the news release in its entirety: Click to read the rest of Washington State Ferries to raise fares next month…

Metro reveals final proposals for September bus-service changes

After two drafts, Metro says it is done with the final proposal for changing bus service this fall in connection with the launch of RapidRide C Line service in West Seattle. What we’re publishing here is their official news release; we’ll be reviewing the actual proposal (see the links on the right side of this page) in the hours ahead to look for more details:

In recent months, we’ve heard from nearly 10,000 transit customers about our proposals to restructure bus service to be more productive and meet the needs of more people. That public input has helped shape the final September 2012 plan being submitted to the Metropolitan King County Council next week. This plan is aimed at being equitable, fair, and balanced regionally using the limited resources available.

Most of the final recommendations support the launch of the RapidRide C and D lines that will connect downtown Seattle to Ballard and West Seattle starting on Sept. 29. For that reason, the changes primarily affect service in Seattle and adjacent communities. Some of the revisions, such as the recommended changes to the routes 10, 11, 12, 123, and 125 will also improve the flow of buses through downtown Seattle, which will produce significant efficiencies for Metro’s overall system.

Not all of the changes originally proposed for this September will be part of the final plan. Some are being postponed for now, but could happen in the future. Several ideas needed further review and analysis.

Click to read the rest of Metro reveals final proposals for September bus-service changes…

Followup: California SW paving now set for next week

An update today on the SDOT plan we reported last week – repaving another block-plus of California SW, between SW Hudson and SW Dawson south of The Junction. They were hoping to do it this week, but weather changed the plan to next week, and they have just announced that if the weather doesn’t get in the way again, the work will be done next Tuesday through Friday. At least one lane will stay open each way for the duration. More details here.

New monorail-system proposal: Century Transportation Company

On the half-century anniversary of the Seattle Monorail, more than five years after the end of the last attempt to expand the monorail along a route from Ballard to West Seattle, an activist says it’s time to try again. The announcement comes from Elizabeth Campbell, known for past campaigns including a push for a rebuilt Alaskan Way Viaduct. The news release (and a call for board members) is ahead: Click to read the rest of New monorail-system proposal: Century Transportation Company…

Traffic alert: Highway 99/Alaskan Way Viaduct weekend closure

(Newest traffic-cam image of traffic-less Viaduct)
If all is going according to WSDOT‘s schedule, the (remaining) Alaskan Way Viaduct, and Highway 99 from there to the West Seattle Bridge, is closing about now, and is scheduled to stay closed until Monday morning. This is the twice-yearly inspection closure, and some maintenance work is being done too. (Then it’ll close again the weekend after next, Friday night 4/6 through Monday morning 4/9.)

1:28 PM UPDATE: Anne from Ventana Construction (WSB sponsor) shares this photo showing bridge traffic a little while ago:

Meantime, a commenter asks about the reason for the early April closure – as explained by WSDOT here, it’s for reinforcement work in advance of tunnel-boring.

Metro Route 120′s future, and more, @ Delridge District Council

From last night’s Delridge Neighborhoods District Council meeting at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center:

METRO ROUTE 120 – OPEN HOUSE AHEAD: A team of Metro reps came to talk about Route 120, which travels the length of Delridge on its current route between downtown and Burien. They noted that it’s one of the system’s top-10 most-used routes, averaging 7,000 people a day. And there are changes ahead, they said, including: A northbound bus-only lane on Delridge between Oregon and Andover, for peak hours (off-peak, they said, it can be used for bikes and parking). They also plan to reduce the number of stops along the entire route, spacing them to a quarter-mile apart instead of an eighth of a mile, which they described as an efficiency issue. Most important: If you want to get full details of the planned changes and offer comments, Metro is having an open house in a month, 5:30-7:30 pm April 24th at Youngstown. (That news is so fresh, it’s not even on Metro’s website yet, but it will turn up there soon, they promise.)

(P.S. Another Metro open house of potential interest – downtown on March 29th, there’s one about the impending elimination of the Ride-Free Zone. Full details here.)

Also at last night’s DNDC meeting, City Council President Sally Clark – a note about her appearance, ahead: Click to read the rest of Metro Route 120′s future, and more, @ Delridge District Council…

Followup: Duwamish Trail repaving work done, ‘for now’

The photo is NOT the finished product – it’s a picture taken last week by SDOT‘s Marybeth Turner, while crews were working on the Duwamish Trail, used by bikes and pedestrians in the West Marginal Way SW vicinity. Today, she reports, “Our paving crews have finished repaving the Duwamish Trail along W Marginal Way SW for now. There is some finishing work that they will do when the conditions are drier.” (We published a heads-up about the work after getting an alert from bicyclist Dave – thanks again! – last week.)

West Seattle Greenways hears from Councilmember Rasmussen

The chair of the City Council’s Transportation Committee joined West Seattle Greenways members for their conversation Sunday afternoon at Pearls on Delridge, as did greenways supporters from other neighborhoods including Beacon Hill and Phinney Ridge. Councilmember Tom Rasmussen – a West Seattle resident and bicyclist – encouraged the group to bring its ideas to the council, but stressed that coordination is vital – representatives from various neighborhoods will be most effective, he said, if they stress their common goals first, and individual neighborhood needs after that. He also acknowledged that the city budget remains a challenge, but clear priorities can help hurdle that. Rasmussen also discussed the Bicycle Master Plan update that the city is launching (an item related to it is on this afternoon’s council agenda, in fact), since creation of Greenways could figure into it. (What’s a greenway, you ask? North Delridge Neighborhood Council transportation chair Jake Vanderplas, a leader in the local effort, explains it on the NDNC website. As another local leader, Stu Hennessey, wrote in the announcement we published in January, West Seattle advocates are hoping to see greenways on 26th SW and 21st SW for starters.)

West Seattle RapidRide: The first shelters are up

Another milestone in the work to convert certain stops along the path of Metro Route 54 to stops/stations for the coming-this-fall RapidRide C Line: The first shelters are going up today. As of a few minutes ago, they are complete at Fauntleroy/Rose (shown in our photos), across from the central parking lot at Lincoln Park, and Fauntleroy/Webster, by Solstice Park. These have more features than the bare-bones bench-and-sign stop we photographed last Sunday by Fauntleroy Church – they have an outside bench and one under-the-shelter seat:

The “stations” nearest to this stop will be at the Fauntleroy ferry terminal and at California/Fauntleroy – those will have electronic displays showing when the next bus is due to arrive. Here’s a C Line route map – the dark dots are stations, while light dots are “stops.” RapidRide service is scheduled to start in West Seattle in September.

Update: Alert for bicyclists – Duwamish Trail work under way

ORIGINAL 9:55 PM REPORT: Dave shared this tonight in hopes of helping fellow bicycle commuters:

I wanted to pass on some construction I unexpectedly encountered today. I bike to work from the Junction to Boeing Field via West Marginal Way. Today I encountered an SDOT crew on the bike path just south of the longhouse. On return this afternoon, I found that they had the bike path ground down to bare gravel, sand, dirt, and mud (thanks afternoon snow/rain storm). The stretch from from the long house headed southbound to where the path recrosses the railroad tracks just north of LaFarge is ground down and in this condition. Just wanted to pass on this information as that surface is very treacherous now, especially for road bikes. All of the equipment is there, so it may be paved by the end of the day tomorrow.

We’ll check with SDOT in the morning – hadn’t heard about this previously.

ADDED 9:31 AM WEDNESDAY: SDOT says the work will continue throughout the week. Read on for their news release: Click to read the rest of Update: Alert for bicyclists – Duwamish Trail work under way…

Seen in Fauntleroy: 1st RapidRide signs; Toxic-Free Kids’ Fair

The first signed, benched, and delivered RapidRide C Line stops in West Seattle are on both sides of California SW by the Fauntleroy Schoolhouse. Street and sidewalk work to facilitate the stops and stations for the new bus service, set to launch this fall, has been under way for 4 weeks, but these are the first signs we’ve seen. (The sign and bench are the basic amenities for a RapidRide stop; other stops/stations will have shelters and real-time bus schedule information.) The stop in our photo is on the east side of the street, just steps from Fauntleroy Church, where we spotted it after stopping for a photo of today’s Toxic-Free Kids’ Fair:

The fair, previewed here on Saturday, was a presentation of the church’s Green Committee, which has another of its always-busy Recycle Roundups coming up on April 29th – save your electronics and other items to bring by, 9 am-3 pm that day (the church website will eventually have a list of what they’ll take and what they won’t).

Metro’s September changes: Saturday SSCC service update

When Metro went public last month with its revised proposal for West Seattle (and vicinity) route changes to take effect in September, in conjunction with the launch of RapidRide Line C, some of the loudest voices of concern came from South Seattle Community College and its Puget Ridge neighbors. They were concerned about service levels on the weekends. Today, Metro has published an online update that says they might at least reconfigure for Saturdays:

We are currently considering the possibility of providing some level of service on Saturday when SSCC is in session. However, continuing to provide Saturday Route 125 service would come as a trade-off for other service improvements. We are analyzing these trade-offs as we look to provide the highest quality transit service to the most people.

The Metro updates also reiterates that the next revised proposal – which goes to county leadership for consideration – will be out in mid-April.

Reminder: King County Water Taxi fares go up tomorrow

A reminder for King County Water Taxi riders – tomorrow (March 1st), fares go up. The new ones are listed here. As also noted on that page, Vashon Water Taxi riders will be riding a different vessel starting tomorrow, for at least three weeks – the Victoria Clipper III. In case you’re wondering – the West Seattle Water Taxi’s 7-day-a-week spring/summer schedule starts April 9th, and is detailed here.

3 West Seattle Spokespeople events for local bicyclists

3 dates in the next 2 weeks if you’re on 2 wheels – from Stu Hennessey and West Seattle Spokespeople. This Thursday, the West Seattle Tool Library launches a “fixer collective” for bicycles, first Thursday every month, more here; on Sunday, the monthly WS Spokespeople ride, described as a “leisurely” 20 miles, will travel from West Seattle to the Portage Bay Grange – here’s more on that. A week after that, if you’re in White Center, south West Seattle, or South Park, DubSea Bikes is back with free bicycle repair at the White Center Food Bank (8th and 108th), 2-4 pm on March 11th.

Followup: Will Water Taxi keep a spot at state dock downtown?

(Photo by Travis Tyler, t_ravtyler on Flickr, via the WSB Flickr group pool)
Two weeks ago, West Seattle’s County Councilmember Joe McDermott sounded the alarm about the state’s proposal for renovating the main ferry terminal downtown, Colman Dock, without a spot for passenger ferries, including the West Seattle and Vashon Water Taxis that now dock on its south side, at Pier 50.

Tonight there’s an update: Word from 34th District State House Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon is that the House has a “proviso” in its supplemental transportation budget – other news organizations had pointed out this was in the works – requiring WSDOT to continue to accommodate passenger-only ferries at its dock. That language is NOT in the State Senate’s budget, so, talks are under way between Senators, House members, and WSDOT to work something out before it all gets to the governor. Rep. Fitzgibbon says he worked on the “proviso” as a member of the House Transportation Committee. Fitzgibbon says it’s not just a matter of making sure the passenger ferries have someplace to dock – it’s a matter of making sure “that our state’s most important ferry terminal continues to connect with our passenger ferries and King County Metro buses.” Whatever winds up in the final plan, Colman Dock renovations are expected to start in about two years.

You have two more weeks to tell the state what you think about its future – as explained here.

Bridge milestone: ‘No more Fauntleroy Expressway closures’

(January 2012 photo by Christopher Boffoli for WSB)
Last week, SDOT said this would likely be the last week of nighttime Fauntleroy Expressway closures as part of the earthquake-safety work that’s been under way for months. Today – it’s official:

The contractor working for the Seattle Department of Transportation on the Fauntleroy Expressway, the raised roadway at the west end of the West Seattle Bridge, completed nighttime work on Tuesday … No further closures of the raised roadway are expected for this project.

The contractor has been strengthening the structure to make it more likely to withstand the force of a major earthquake. Upgrades to the structure have included strengthening the columns with steel jackets, strengthening the pile caps, adding additional longitudinal restrainers and replacing the bearing pads. The latter work item is what required the nighttime closures.

Click to read the rest of Bridge milestone: ‘No more Fauntleroy Expressway closures’…

SDOT on-call rule dropped after West Seattle stoplight snarl, Times reports

(Taken on 35th looking toward Fauntleroy just before 8 am February 8th)
Hundreds if not thousands of drivers who use the Fauntleroy Way entrance to the West Seattle Bridge may still have memories of February 8th, the morning the 35th/Fauntleroy stoplight turned into a 4-way stop for much of the morning commute. We first reported on it as a traffic alert, and then followed up later in the day, because we and others had noticed the light in flash mode the night before, and wondered why it hadn’t been fixed before it could cause a rush-hour backup.

Hours later, SDOT spokesperson Rick Sheridan told WSB , “Though reported overnight, the signal required specialized diagnosis and repair expertise.” (The rest of his statement’s in our followup story.) In an article published online tonight, Seattle Times (WSB partner) reporter Susan Kelleher digs further into what happened. She writes that at the time of the incident, SDOT had a rule that in essence resulted in no one being available for overtime callout to West Seattle the night of February 7th, and reports that rule was dropped last week after a union grievance. The Times report attributes the rule to an SDOT manager who gained notoriety because he, as Kelleher writes, “led the city’s botched response to the December 2008 snowstorms and who figured prominently in a yearlong human-resources investigation into the department’s street-maintenance division.” You can read her story here.

End in sight for Fauntleroy Expressway bridge closures

Late today – keep in mind that we’re going into an official three-day weekend – SDOT published its update on NEXT WEEK’S bridge closures. With closures tonight, and the all-day Fauntleroy Expressway closure on Sunday, still to come, it might be a little tough to digest this too .. but buried in the update, we discovered a ray of hope: SDOT says the Fauntleroy Expressway project is AHEAD OF SCHEDULE, and nighttime bridge closures will probably NOT be needed beyond next week. Read for yourself (including next week’s bridge plan) here.

Update: Metro ‘restructuring’ open house @ Madison MS

6:05 PM: The first of three Metro meetings/presentations in West Seattle this week, to provide information/answer questions/accept comments about the revised September route-restructuring plan, is under way. It’s at Madison Middle School (45th/Spokane), and our understanding is that it’s open-house format, so drop by any time, no presentation scheduled. We’ll be there shortly and will doublecheck.

6:40 PM UPDATE: At Madison now. Metro reps confirm it’s open-house format, so just drop in. You have the opportunity to ask questions at a variety of “stations” in the commons area (parking in the south lot, walking into the south entrance and walking down the stairs is how we generally get in), have your comments written on butcher paper = just a handful of comments so far, but two of them are about the concern that South Seattle Community College will be left without direct service to downtown on weekends – or write them on a sheet of paper you can leave behind as you go. They’ll be here till about 8. If you miss this – there’s another one tomorrow, also 6-8 pm and also open-house format, at Chief Sealth International High School (in the Galleria).

Greenways in West Seattle: Help lead the way, this Sunday

(October 2011 photo courtesy Mike Dady)
What started as a seed of an idea in North Delridge last fall – turning 26th SW into a “neighborhood greenway,” an idea that drew City Councilmember Sally Bagshaw to the bicycle tour in the photo above – is now sprouting into something bigger, involving more of West Seattle, and you’re invited to a gathering this Sunday to help the idea keep growing. The announcement comes from local bicycling activist Stu Hennessey:

The neighborhood greenway movement in Seattle has been gaining a lot of momentum lately. Neighborhood greenways are routes which provide safe connections for bicyclists and pedestrians between neighborhoods, and to schools, parks, shopping and other destinations. Often they are located on quiet streets parallel to busy arterials, and include traffic calming measures, protected crossings, pocket parks, and other elements that make the route safer and more pleasant for everybody.

The city of Seattle has committed to funding eleven miles of greenways in 2012, and twelve new miles per year thereafter. Because of the work of several local advocates, two West Seattle routes are under consideration for 2012: 21st ave SW between the West Seattle Bridge and White Center, and 26th Ave SW along the Longfellow Creek Trail through North Delridge. This is just a beginning: we hope to form a vision of bicycle and pedestrian connectivity through West Seattle as a whole, and prioritize greenway routes for future development.

Please join us at Pearl’s Coffee this Sunday, Feb 19 at 3 pm (Pearl’s is located at 4800 Delridge Way SW). We’ll meet with neighbors from around West Seattle to begin discussing our vision for bicycle and pedestrian routes throughout our part of the city. Hope to see you there!