West Seattle Wednesday: Alki dogs; traffic reminder; tunnel talk

Thanks to Melanie for sharing great-blue-heron photos so awesome we had to share two. And beach news is in the morning preview: When the Alki Community Council meets tonight, one of its agenda items is a discussion of off-leash dogs at the beach – a rep from Seattle Animal Shelter will be on hand; another special guest is Southwest Precinct crime-prevention coordinator Benjamin Kinlow. ACC meets 7 pm, Alki UCC church (61st/Hinds). … TRAFFIC REMINDER: 10 pm-5 am tonight, Highway 99 closes both ways along a stretch through SODO for installation of more overhead signs … And speaking of 99, Mayor McGinn seems to be going full-bore with doubt-raising about the proposed tunnel – this afternoon he’s invited media to a briefing we’re planning to cover, with a “strategic infrastructure expert” who’s going to talk about what the invite calls “risks associated with the state’s proposed deep-bore tunnel project.” … One other note from the WSB West Seattle Events calendar: Drop-in gardening at St. James Annex (9421 18th SW) with Community Harvest of Southwest Seattle, 6;30 pm – a great chance to do some gardening if you don’t have space of your own. And now, Melanie’s other cool heron photos, as we fly off into the day:

old timer July 15, 2010 (9:58 am)

Tunnel –
I hope someone starts taking the cost overrun issue seriously.
The people advocating go ahead, what could possibly go wrong,
will be out of office when any costs incurred start hitting the city.
Who is left to pay?
Well, do you own a home?
If so, open your wallet.
I’d suggest that if it’s such a no brainer, the state ought to sign on for coverage.
Absent that, maybe pledging the yea sayers pensions might be a start.

Silly Goose July 15, 2010 (10:38 am)

Admist all of our hustle and bustle and every day routines it is wonderful to slow down enough to take in the beauty around us. Thanks for reminding me of the beautiful area I am so blessed to live in.

jay July 15, 2010 (11:19 am)

I recall hearing that the crime-prevention coordinator jobs might be eliminated, but haven’t heard anything since then. It’s been at least a few weeks.

Did anything come of that? Was a decision made?

miws July 15, 2010 (11:26 am)

Great pics!

Top one: “I’m King of the World!”

Bottom one: I’m sure that someone with ~~better poetic skills than I~~ actual poetic skills, could work a description of how the reflection gives the illusion that the one pair of wings are reaching out from the water, in an attempt to touch the ones dropping down from the sky.

Mike

Eric Goetz July 15, 2010 (11:50 am)

Beautiful photos, Melanie. Thanks for sharing.

ellenater July 15, 2010 (1:01 pm)

Love the pics, Melanie. Made my day. :) :)

JAT July 15, 2010 (2:24 pm)

Here in the downtown office tower, of my three fellow West Seattleite co-workers none had any idea that the tunnel won’t have any access to or from downtown.

I recognize that we rely on our cars to get around; I also laud Mayor McGinn’s approach to making Seattle less car dependent, and I think it’s important to note that previous administrations were less than eager to have these questions of funding viability and practicality debated.

I’m sure we all remember the ramps to nowhere that perched above I-5 at Dearborn for twenty-five years. (right?) I fear that ten years from now we’ll still be using temporary detours along 99 and E Marginal Way while pumps run twenty-four hours a day to keep seawater from seeping over the broken down tunnel boring machines rusting at the bottom of a half completed tube to nowhere.

Let’s not blame Mike McGinn for asking the question.

austin July 15, 2010 (3:51 pm)

Driving to your job downtown is the mistake at hand here, and a mistake being made by so many people that the inevitable result is traffic congestion. There isn’t enough real estate to build enough roads to accommodate everyone’s sense of self entitlement, some of you are going to have to trim it back a bit.

barry July 15, 2010 (5:19 pm)

i got a bunch of great photos too from the heron, great pics

David Hutchinson July 15, 2010 (10:58 pm)

Wonderful photos of this Great Blue Heron, perfect timing!

David & Eilene Hutchinson

JAT July 16, 2010 (8:37 am)

Austin,
Thursday I rode my bike; this morning I rode the bus. Both of those modes are going to be screwed when the viaduct is eliminated and the replacement tunnel with no downtown access(even assuming it gets finished) goes in.

Did you assume we all drove?…

I’ve never seen anything like that spread eagle shot of the heron. fantastic!