West Seattle Blog…

TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: Friday notes; what’s coming up

(Latest bridge and Viaduct views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
No major trouble reported through, or out of, West Seattle so far. So we start by looking ahead:

THIS WEEKEND: The I-5 expansion-joint work resumes; tonight until Monday morning, WSDOT will close up to 3 northbound collector-distributor lanes downtown, and here’s WSDOT’s animated GIF to show how that’s supposed to work:

NEXT WEEK: Highway 99 will close both ways between East Marginal Way and Atlantic four times next week, late night/early morning – details here:

8:05 AM: Still a relatively quiet commute per all the ways we monitor (including emergency radio, 911 log, Twitter, transportation agencies, and cameras).

West Seattle traffic alert: 4 nights of 99 closures next week to finish ‘Timber Bridge’ project

If you’re a late-night/early-morning driver, here’s a heads-up: Highway 99 will be closed both ways between East Marginal Way and South Atlantic Street for 4 overnights next week – 9 pm to 5 am each night, Monday through Thursday (in other words, Monday/Tuesday 3/10-11, Tuesday/Wednesday 3/11-12, Wednesday/Thursday 3/12-13, Thursday/Friday 3/13-14). It’s to finish the Spokane Street Overcrossing, aka “Timber Bridge,” project on 99, which has been under way for about a year just south of the West Seattle Bridge. WSDOT spokesperson Kris Olsen tells WSB, “The closures are needed so we can do the final striping and complete the traffic shift onto the new bridge at Spokane Street. When the work is done, traffic will be back to two northbound and two southbound lanes. Work is weather-dependent, so if we can’t get it completed, the week of March 17 is our backup.” The project info page is here.

TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: ‘Water, water everywhere’ Thursday

(Latest bridge and Viaduct views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
The relentless rain continued overnight, along with some wind, so be careful during your commute – besides standing water/puddles, you might encounter downed debris. A two-plus-hour power outage affecting more than 2,000 homes/businesses/buildings in Puget Ridge, Highland Park, South Park, and White Center is now over, so you’re not likely to encounter non-working traffic lights. Our area is under a flood watch, with at least another half-inch of rain expected today.

TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: Drenched Wednesday

(Latest bridge and Viaduct views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
At least at the moment, the rain’s a lot lighter than it was just a few hours ago. But the overnight deluge has left “standing water” – aka big puddles – in many a place, so please be careful, however you’re getting around.

I-5 WORK THIS WEEKEND: More expansion-joint (earthquake safety) work is happening late Friday through early Monday – this time, resulting in collector-distributor lane closures on northbound I-5; full details here.

7:43 AM UPDATE: Thanks to the texter (206-293-6302 any time) who reports the roadway is “totally under water” on West Marginal Way SW, just north of Highland Park Way.

TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: Rainy Tuesday

(Latest bridge and Viaduct views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
The morning commute is again off to a soggy start, and the forecast suggests the rain might not clear off today the way it did Monday. No traffic-slowing problems currently reported, though.

PATH WORK PLANNED: Reminder that today is the day the county was planning to do work at the 53rd Avenue Pump Station site on Alki, affecting sidewalk/trail traffic. (We’re checking to see if the rain has affected the plan.)

TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: Monday updates; Water Taxi’s new fares

(Latest bridge and Viaduct views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
Happy Monday! Notes as we start our first daily traffic watch for the first full week of March:

WATER-TAXI FARE REMINDER: As reported here a week ago, King County Water Taxi fares have just gone up. If you use pre-paid-fare media such as an ORCA card, you’ll pay $4 one way on the West Seattle Water Taxi, up from $3.50; if you pay cash, it’s up to $4.75 from $4.

NEXT ROAD-WORK REMINDER: Next weekend, the I-5 expansion-joint work resumes; this time, they’ll close up to 3 northbound collector-distributor lanes downtown from Friday night until Monday morning. The James and Madison exits will remain open, WSDOT says.

DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME STARTS SUNDAY: Almost time for a time change, already. Next Sunday morning at 2 am (call it Saturday night if you prefer), we spring forward an hour as Daylight Saving Time begins.

TALES OF A TEMPORARY COMMUTER: Continuing our almost-daily notes on joining the morning exodus from West Seattle temporarily while covering the Morgan Junction murder trial downtown – today was the longest yet, but the bridge wasn’t the biggest challenge; 4th Avenue S. was clogged. It’s the most direct route from the bridge to the courthouse parking garage we’ve been using (the courthouse is between 3rd and 4th on the south end of downtown), but today, it was a wait through multiple cycles at just about every light, for no obvious reason aside from me and the other commuters just filling the street. Left the house at 8:15, got to the garage at 8:50 (still not much to complain about, we’ll admit).

12:58 PM: Thanks to Keri for mentioning trouble with a semi-truck on the bridge offramp to northbound I-5. Checking cams in the area, we don’t see any sign of a backup, so it might be clear by now.

Reminder: Highway 99/Alaskan Way Viaduct closures under way

(More cams, and other info, on the WSB Traffic Cameras page)
The orange sign in that “live” view of the eastbound West Seattle Bridge is a reminder that until 6 pm, Highway 99 is closed both ways from here to Valley Street. At 6 pm, the stretch between the bridge and the south end of the Battery Street Tunnel reopens, but the closure zone north of that continues; at 6 am tomorrow, the bridge-to-Battery-St. section closes again until 6 pm Sunday, and in the middle of that, the Sunday morning closure extends to Woodland Park Zoo because of the Hot Chocolate 5K. Got all that? It’s all explained here. Metro reroutes can be found here. During all this, the viaduct gets its twice-yearly inspection, and the results will be out later in the week.

TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: Friday updates; weekend 99 closures

(More cams, and other info, on the WSB Traffic Cameras page)
Good morning! One note for the Friday morning commute – a crash investigation on 4th Avenue S. at Bennett in Georgetown (map); our friends at KING 5 say the closure is between Dawson and Lucile. Otherwise, one major weekend reminder:

HIGHWAY 99/ALASKAN WAY VIADUCT WEEKEND CLOSURES: Saturday and Sunday, 6 am-6 pm both days, the twice-yearly inspection will close Highway 99/Alaskan Way Viaduct between the West Seattle Bridge and Battery Street Tunnel. But if you drive 99 north of there, you need to know that both directions will be closed from the tunnel north to Valley Street from 10 pm tonight to 6 am Sunday for more work – and then from 6 am to 11 am Sunday, the closure will stretch further north for a 5K run. WSDOT explains it all here. For Metro reroutes resulting from the closure – go here.

9:06 AM: From the scanner – stalled/broken-down vehicle blocking the bus lane and part of another lane on northbound 99 at Lander.

10:26 AM: And now from the scanner, a stalled vehicle blocking at least one lane on the eastbound West Seattle Bridge near/at the Delridge onramp. Also, Debora mentions a stall on the northbound Viaduct’s right lane in the stadiums, causing a backup; not sure if that’s the same one we mentioned at 9:06 am, but you are now forewarned, if you’re heading that way any time soon.

TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: Thursday updates; weekend 99 closure(s) reminder

(More cams, and other info, on the WSB Traffic Cameras page)
Good morning! The day again begins without major trouble, so far. So here are today’s transportation notes/reminders:

HIGHWAY 99/ALASKAN WAY VIADUCT WEEKEND CLOSURES: Saturday and Sunday, 6 am-6 pm both days, Highway 99/Alaskan Way Viaduct north of the West Seattle Bridge will close for its twice-yearly inspection. From Friday night until Sunday noontime, other stretches of 99 from the Battery Street Tunnel north will close for other reasons – all explained by WSDOT here.

ROXBURY SAFETY-MEETING REPORT: Couldn’t be there last night? We were. See the story for your next chances to say what you’d like to see on Roxbury.

WATER-TAXI FARE REMINDER: In case you missed it – Water Taxi fares go up as of March 1st (but since that’s a Saturday, and the WT routes don’t run weekends this time of year, technically the increase kicks in on Monday, March 3rd).

7:16 AM: Andrew reports in comments, “Just now, stalled VW Vanagon east bound bridge at bottom of hill adjacent to Nucor.”

8:08 AM: Crash reported on NB 99 near Seneca. Your editor here is on a RR bus waiting to get onto 99 and indeed we are all but stopped. But moving in fits and spurts.

8:28 AM: By the time our bus got off 99 at Seneca, looked like flashing lights beyond – we had continued moving with few delays.

9:04 AM: If you are leaving late, note that a crash is reported on I-5 northbound at Denny – so that might cause some trouble here in the late going.

FOOTNOTE: Continuing our “temporary commuter” exploration, we took RapidRide in, and took the Water Taxi home. First time on the Spirit of Kingston, we realized. It is FAST – listed as a 10-minute crossing but really seemed like about five minutes sailing, five minutes docking and undocking. Compared to the $16 we’ve been paying (tax included) for an earlybird all-day parking spot near the courthouse, $2.50 bus fare in and $4 boat fare out combined for a bargain. Lots of room for more people on the boat; we were dropped off by the 35th/Avalon bus stop and had to stand, but we’re blessed with good health and didn’t mind, especially facing a full day of courtroom-bench-sitting.

TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: Wednesday watch; Roxbury safety meeting tonight; more

(More cameras, and other info, on the WSB Traffic page)
So far, so good as we head for the heart of the morning commute. Today’s transportation notes:

ROXBURY SAFETY MEETING: Tonight is the second of two meetings to set the stage for SDOT’s safety project on SW Roxbury, the result of local neighborhood advocates pushing for solutions to longrunning problems: 6 pm at Roxhill Elementary (30th/Roxbury).

WESTWOOD TRANSIT HUB SAFETY: Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Council shares another update from Metro.

WONDERING ABOUT THOSE ROAD MARKINGS? SDOT e-mailed to make sure we had seen a post on the SDOT Blog site last week – answering the question “why are there white paint marks on my street?” In Arbor Heights and Fauntleroy, they’re probably for the upcoming microsurfacing prep work.

HIGHWAY 99/ALASKAN WAY VIADUCT CLOSURE REMINDER: Saturday and Sunday, 6 am-6 pm both days, Highway 99/Alaskan Way Viaduct north of the West Seattle Bridge will close for its annual inspection. Before and inbetween, other stretches of 99 will close for a variety of reasons – all explained by WSDOT here. P.S. WSDOT also updates the ongoing discussion of “settling” after what it terms “inaccurate” recent reports elsewhere.

TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: Tuesday travels

(More cameras, and other info, on the WSB Traffic page)
Another quiet start to the morning commute. And another reminder about this weekend’s Highway 99/Alaskan Way Viaduct inspection closures – details here.

IN CASE YOU MISSED THE METRO NEWS: Two stories on Monday – first, news that the state will extend Highway 99-related “mitigation” money for at least a year and a half, which holds off June cuts that would have hit our area the hardest; second, the tax measure to hold off even-more-drastic cuts countywide is officially going to the April 22nd ballot.

TEMPORARY COMMUTER REPORT: Continuing our temporary commuter status, going downtown Mondays-Thursdays while the Morgan Junction murder trial continues – took the bridge to 4th Avenue once again. This time, reverse of the day before – the bridge was sluggish but 4th moved fast. Left at 8:15 am, ten minutes later than the day before, but it still was just under half an hour to our courthouse-vicinity, earlybird-discount parking garage. Hoping to try an alternate commute before the week’s out, but it requires extra planning and time; catching a bus from here to The Junction will require walking out the door around 7:30 am.

TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: Back-to-school Monday updates

(More cameras, and other info, on the WSB Traffic page)
6:55 AM: Soggy but nothing else to report so far on routes through/from West Seattle. It’s back-to-school day for Seattle Public Schools after the week-long mid-winter break, so take note of that. And remember that this weekend will bring the semi-annual Highway 99/Alaskan Way Viaduct inspection closures – as explained here, the shutdown is happening in phases, including parts of 99 north of downtown, NOT a wall-to-wall all-weekend closure.

7:47 AM: First complication of the morning – a multi-car crash reported at Fauntleroy/Hudson (map). So if you’re headed toward the bridge from Fairmount Park or southward, we’d advise California or 35th until we hear more about this.

7:55 AM: Per scanner, sounds like this is NOT a big blocking crash. (But if you pass it and find out otherwise – let us know – 206-293-6302, text or voice, provided you are not at the wheel … thank you!)

‘TEMPORARY COMMUTER’ NOTE DU JOUR, 8:56 AM: Commute note – since we’re headed downtown almost daily when covering the Morgan Junction murder trial, thought we’d add notes here (and try some alternate commutes when we can). Today, regular old (sorry for adding to traffic) single-occupancy-vehicle commute. Upper Fauntleroy to parking garage near King County Courthouse, 28 minutes, 8:08 to 8:36. It was 12 minutes to the 4th Avenue exit off the Spokane Street Viaduct, and then 16 more minutes along 4th – took a few light cycles to get off the offramp, and then things got sluggish around the stadiums. (We took the same route last Thursday, 20 minutes, but some families vacationed during the school district’s midwinter break, so we didn’t count that as regular traffic volumes.)

Why you’ll need a cheat-sheet for next weekend’s Highway 99/Alaskan Way Viaduct closure

(TUESDAY UPDATE: SDOT has added more details to its rundown of what’s happening)

Next weekend’s Alaskan Way Viaduct/Highway 99 closure – NOT related to the tunnel trouble, just the semi-annual inspection closure – is NOT the basic “entire stretch from Battery Street Tunnel to West Seattle Bridge closed from late Friday to early Monday” scenario. Here’s how next weekend will break down, according to WSDOT:

Friday, Feb. 28 – Sunday, March 2

Both directions of SR 99 will be closed between Valley Street and the south end of the Battery Street Tunnel from 10 p.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Saturday.

Both directions of SR 99 will be closed between Valley Street and South Spokane Street from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday.

Both directions of SR 99 will be closed between Valley Street and the south end of the Battery Street Tunnel from 6 p.m. Saturday to 6 a.m. Sunday.

Both directions of SR 99 will be closed between North 48th Street and South Spokane Street from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. Sunday.

Both directions of SR 99 will be closed between Denny Way and South Spokane Street from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: Friday updates; weekend closures; and … snow?

(More cameras, and other info, on the WSB Traffic page)
Nothing of note on area roads/highways right now.

WEEKEND I-5 LANE CLOSURES: The I-5 expansion joints work will affect the southbound collector-distributor lanes on the south side of downtown this weekend – detailed here.

REMINDER OF NEXT WEEKEND’S HIGHWAY 99 CLOSURE: As first reported here last weekend, the next full-weekend closure of Highway 99/Alaskan Way Viaduct is coming up NEXT weekend, late night February 28 until early morning March 3rd.

SNOW ON THE WAY? The National Weather Service is still warning of a snow chance starting Saturday night. Here’s the updated Special Weather Statement issued early this morning.

7:38 AM UPDATE: Bus-rider alert, from Samb via Twitter: “Card reader for Northbound C Line California/Fauntleroy giving error message for all cards.”

8:58 AM UPDATE: SFD is being dispatched to a crash at 1st/Spokane, car vs. utility pole, possible power lines down. Don’t know yet exactly what side of the intersection, so we don’t know yet how it might be affecting traffic.

9:26 AM UPDATE: JEM reports in comments, “The accident on 1st is north of Spokane St. The right lane was blocked before you get to Horton, where that lane is right turn only. So will slow things down if you are exiting to 1st from WS Bridge.”

TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: Thursday updates

(More cameras, and other info, on the WSB Traffic page)
No major incidents/delays reported so far. If you are heading south, note that there’s a sizable power outage in Burien and part of the unincorporated area to its northeast – mostly east/south of White Center – here’s the map.

8:53 AM: Maybe it’s just the no-school week. We crossed the bridge rather quickly at 8:15, headed for Day 2 of the Morgan Junction murder trial downtown.

TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: Wednesday updates; Metro-fares update

(More cameras, and other info, on the WSB Traffic page)
We start the day with one more reminder that it remains a vacation week for Seattle Public Schools. And a followup:

WHAT’S NEXT FOR METRO FARE PROPOSALS: As noted in this spot yesterday, the County Council had Metro’s proposed fare changes – a 25-cent increase next year in the general fare, along with a 50-cent ACCESS increase and creation of a “low-income fare” – on its Tuesday agenda. Councilmembers did not vote, though. Our area’s Councilmember Joe McDermott says that’s expected to happen next Monday (February 24th), which is also when the council, meeting as the Transportation Benefit District board, is expected to vote on sending the Metro-money measure (car-tab fee, sales-tax increase) to voters for an April 22nd election. If the vote does not happen then, he says, a supermajority would be needed for approval, instead of a simple majority.

COMMUTE UPDATES … when there’s news. You can reach us with info via text/voice at 206-293-6302 – but not if/while you’re driving! It can wait until you get to where you’re going.

5:50 PM: Southbound 99 multi-car crash just north of the West Seattle Bridge.

TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: Tuesday updates; bus-fare hearing

(More cameras, and other info, on the WSB Traffic page)
Holiday’s past, so most things are back to the usual baseline – except for Seattle Public Schools, which are out all week, so take that into account.

COUNTY COUNCIL HEARING ON METRO FARE CHANGES: At its 1:30 pm meeting today, the King County Council plans a hearing on the fare increase that is part of the proposed package to avoid transit cuts, in legislation that also creates a special low-income fare. From the KCC website:

The fare increase, which would be implemented in March 2015, would raise fares by 25 cents for all fare categories for Metro Transit bus service. It would also increase fares for Access paratransit service by 50 cents.

The legislation would also authorize the creation of a reduced fare program for transit riders. It would set the fare at $1.50 and establish the eligibility threshold at 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level, currently $22,980 for an individual and $47,100 for a family of four.

If you can’t be there, you can send in your thoughts via this form.

8:27 AM: Comment and e-mail mention that the Highland Park Way hill is closed to traffic. 911 log has a notation about a fuel spill.

8:50 AM: Per scanner, Highland Park Way is now open again.

10:03 AM: We asked Seattle Fire about the “spill,” since they responded – Lt. Sue Stangl says, “It was a small trail of fuel up Highland Park Way that ended near a fresh pile of gravel.” So, a mystery spill so far.

I-5 traffic-alert update: Work done, lane closures over

Just in case you’re driving this way overnight – the southbound I-5 lane closures south of downtown are over a few hours early, according to an e-mail alert just in from WSDOT. (Next week’s closure involves the southbound collector-distributor lanes and two on-ramps; details here.)

TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: Presidents Day 2014 edition

(More cameras, and other info, on the WSB Traffic page)
Notes as the day begins: Though it’s a holiday, Metro is on a regular weekday schedule; its most recent service change took effect Saturday – details here. No Water Taxi service today, West Seattle or Vashon. School’s out for most (if not all); Seattle Public Schools is on midwinter break all week.

ROAD WORK: The southbound I-5 expansion-joint-work lane closures on the south side of downtown are scheduled to continue through today.

10:29 AM: Crash on northbound I-5 at the Convention Center – so probably a good idea not to go that way for a while.

West Seattle traffic-alert update: California/Fauntleroy’s new signals installed and working

The big unannounced weekend project at California/Fauntleroy (reported here at midday Saturday after we got a tip) is done – new signals, signage, and other equipment installed and working – our photo from southbound California was taken just a few minutes ago. So the crews are gone and the intersection is free-flowing again. We’ll be checking in with SDOT once offices reopen post-holiday weekend to find out if there are any new unseen features you’d want to know about.

Early warning: Next Highway 99/Viaduct closure Feb. 28-March 3

If you like planning ahead – note that the next full-weekend Highway 99/Alaskan Way Viaduct inspection closure is on the schedule, though not formally announced yet: According to the Construction Lookahead page jointly published by SDOT and WSDOT, it’s two weeks away – late Friday night February 28th, through early Monday morning March 3rd. Again, this is the regular twice-yearly inspection closure, not related to the tunnel construction.

West Seattle traffic alert: Why you’ll want to detour around the Fauntleroy/California intersection

(WSB photo – looking west on Fauntleroy from California)
11:30 AM: Once in a while, projects with a big short-term effect show up without big advance warnings. Here’s one of them. Thanks so much to the person who called to flag us to the major work happening right now at Fauntleroy/California – involving traffic-signal replacement and police directing traffic (since the signals aren’t working while they’re in the process of being replaced). Lane reductions on all sides. Businesses are open, but you’ll want to find alternate ways of accessing them. The crew on the scene tells us this is scheduled to continue through tomorrow (we’ll update if it ends earlier).

7:23 PM UPDATE: While the work isn’t continuing into the night, the signals are out because of it and there is an officer on-site directing traffic, with temporary portable lights illuminating the intersection.

SUNDAY, 4:31 PM: As SeaChanty51 noted in comments an hour-plus ago, the new signals are in and working! We just drove through to confirm.

TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: Friday updates; weekend I-5 alert

(More cameras, and other info, on the WSB Traffic page)
No notable problems reported in the area so far this morning. So we’ll start with the reminder about southbound I-5 lane closures during the long weekend ahead:

I-5 WORK: Between 9 pm tonight and early Tuesday morning, WSDOT plans lane closures on southbound I-5 to replace four expansion joints. The work zone will be somewhere between just north of the Convention Center downtown and I-90. Details here.

NO WATER TAXI MONDAY: Presidents Day is Monday and the West Seattle and Vashon Water Taxis will not be running. Seattle Public Schools will be out all week for midwinter break.

6:42 PM: Crash at 35th/Holden but no serious injuries reported and when we drove through a few minutes ago (thanks for the tips!) tow trucks were clearing both vehicles, with traffic getting through both ways.

Traffic alerts and more: Eastbound bridge crash; stalled car near west end of westbound bridge; police response on 36th

6:07 PM: Sounds like plenty of commute-time trouble out there. Police are directing traffic around a crash on the eastbound West Seattle Bridge by the 99 exit; we have no details except that it is affecting traffic.

(SDOT camera looking westward on the bridge from Delridge-exit vicinity)
Meantime, commenter “Enough” posted on the daily traffic roundup that there’s a stalled car blocking a lane near the westbound edge of the westbound bridge. And if you noticed fire/police activity around 35th/Fauntleroy and just north – unrelated incidents; there was a medic response of some sort outside the strip mall on the northwest corner of 35th/Fauntleroy; and while checking that out, we noticed a sizable police response to the north, on 36th. Officers there tell us they were called to deal with an “agitated person” who turned up on someone’s porch.

6:25 PM: A team member who just traveled the bridge says the eastbound crash appears to be clear, but the westbound backup still looks “intense,” with the stalled car continuing to block a lane.

TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: Breezy Thursday updates; low-bridge backup

(More cameras, and other info, on the WSB Traffic page)
7:03 AM: No major problems so far as we head into the heart of the commute. More to come.

7:24 AM: Since Tuesday, we have mentioned the work under way at 30th/Roxbury by Roxhill Elementary as part of pedestrian-safety improvements. Bradi shared the photo at left and had a warning for others. She says she lost a tire because the crew left yesterday without putting warning signs back in their place, so: “Unable to know just how far the holes are extended out into the road on each side, that they have cut, I turned to go west onto Roxbury from 30th Ave SW, (which there isn’t a sign closing this street off at all, going south, that is visible), my passenger back tire dropped into the, what is at least, 1-foot-deep hole, that is left unmarked, which of course, popped it!” This may have been remedied by now, but if you travel in the area while the work’s under way, be extra careful in case it happens again. P.S. Since we share this number often – in case you run into (literally or figuratively) a road or sidewalk hazard, the hotline to report it to SDOT is 206-684-ROAD.

7:56 AM: We don’t know exactly why, but Chelsea tweeted “Don’t take lower Spokane bridge!” and pronounced it bad X 3. Nothing on scanner or 911 but – you’ve been warned.

8:38 AM – SPEAKING OF ROXBURY: Joe Szilagyi of the Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Council sends a reminder about the first of two meetings about the SW Roxbury safety project. WWRHAH and other local community advocates lobbied for it, and now it’s happening – but your input is VITAL. Tonight’s meeting is at 6:30 pm at the Wiley Community Center in White Center’s Greenbridge neighborhood, not even a block south of Roxbury, 9800 8th SW.

8:57 AM: As also noted in comments, the low-bridge trouble involves trucks – here’s an SDOT tweet with a grab from a camera turned that way:

Truck traffic unusually high on WS Bridge Harbor Island exit. pic.twitter.com/VBB1dMmrox

— seattledot (@seattledot) February 13, 2014

TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: Windy Wednesday updates

(More cameras, and other info, on the WSB Traffic page)
West Seattle doesn’t seem to be particularly hard-hit, but around the city, there are some spot power outages after a stormy night. On City Light’s map, there’s one spot around 41st/Southern in Gatewood, blamed on a tree. The National Weather Service has a “short-term forecast” in effect warning of gusts up to 45 mph in the hours ahead.

TRAFFIC ALERT: Work continues at 30th/Roxbury, as part of pedestrian-safety upgrades, and that means traffic restrictions, especially on the westbound side.

WEEKEND ALERT: Remember the northbound I-5 lane closures last month? Now it’s southbound I-5′s turn, and if you will be heading this way through downtown any time between Friday night and Monday morning, you should know about this.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: The city has announced a multi-year traffic-safety project for 35th SW, along its entire stretch in West Seattle, Fauntleroy Way to SW Roxbury.

7:33 AM: City Light is working near the aforementioned 41st/Southern outage:

Neither street is an arterial, so the only traffic effects are in the neighborhood.

TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: Tuesday on the move

Nothing unusual in the area as we begin, but there’s a weather update – the National Weather Service no longer has a storm alert up for the city, just some other parts of Western Washington. Above and below, the two main cameras for the bridge:

And here’s the northbound Alaskan Way Viaduct:

More cameras, and other info, on the WSB Traffic page.

Transportation news last night, in case you missed it: The state says repairs to the Highway 99 tunneling machine “will take months,” no matter which way its contractor decides to approach fixing it.

Earlier Monday, the King County Council took the first step toward sending a Metro/roads-funding measure to voters by creating a Transportation Benefit District, explained here. During that same meeting, councilmembers put on hold for two weeks their vote on the first round of cuts Metro would make if funding isn’t found, from voters or the state.

TONIGHT: All are welcome at the West Seattle Transportation Coalition meeting, 6:30 pm at Neighborhood House’s High Point Center (6400 Sylvan Way).

7:02 PM NOTE: If you were wondering what was happening on Alki earlier this evening – crash at 54th/Alki SW – photo courtesy Cami:

The Seattle Fire response closed fairly soon, and the incident classification suggested no serious injuries, but Alki SW was blocked for a while.