14 Replies to "Traffic alert: Say goodbye to part of the Alaskan Way Viaduct"

• redblack February 18, 2011 (9:56 am)

  the new ramps will be two lanes each, correct? i believe the plan is to use them as access to the central waterfront AWV once the holgate-to-king section comes down.
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  i wonder if this will help or hurt traffic jams on SB 99 during games. i could see people who don’t pay attention to the WSDOT alerts avoiding 99 altogether. and it seems like the new frontage st will disperse traffic better. hopefully the improved connections at 4th ave and atlantic st will help, too.
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  i guess time will tell. brace yourselves, and remember to chant “serenity now” often…

• ConcernedWSRez February 18, 2011 (10:07 am)

  Whats the point if they are tearing down the viaduct anyways? Someone please explain.

• Jack Loblaw February 18, 2011 (10:19 am)

  All of the drawings that I have viewed make it look like one lane each direction. I too ask the question: Is it two lanes or one in each direction ? If it is one it will be a choke point forever.

  • WSB February 18, 2011 (10:44 am)

    Hi all. We have been covering the Viaduct and replacement plans endlessly. But for those just tuning in …

    A. Regarding the new ramps. From KaDeena at the viaduct media office: “As for the ramps, eventually the First Avenue S. on- and off-ramps will turn into detour ramps connecting the new south end to the existing viaduct. Eventually, those ramps will be reconfigured to take traffic into the tunnel, once it’s complete.” Again, the south end replacement project (aka Holgate to King Street) is completely separate from the future tunnel-or-whatever, except that it will connect once the latter is built.

    B. They need them now because the south-end replacement is being built NOW. While it is under way, there is a major detour leg of 99 that is going through a site just west of the stadium zones. This is the interactive graphic that shows you how things will change over the next couple years of this, from various angles, and hopefully it will answer some questions …
    http://wsdot.wa.gov/projects/viaduct/simulations/

• Weiss February 18, 2011 (10:28 am)

  Why are they building a new ramp if they’re supposed to tear everything down for the tunnel anyways?

• Scott February 18, 2011 (12:05 pm)

  After looking at the simulation, this is going to be a huge mess for Northbound lanes which will squeeze from 3 down to 1 at the detour/ramp, plus have merging traffic from the Holgate/1st Ave reroute. Gridlock.

• Mookie February 18, 2011 (12:17 pm)

  Yes, it will be even “better” when both south and northbound lanes on 99 are reduced to 2 each way. Sigh.

• cali February 18, 2011 (12:42 pm)

  I believe the point of tearing it down is because it is a safety hazard.

• redblack February 18, 2011 (1:44 pm)

  yeah, mookie. i believe that happens in spring of this year. and it will be permanent until the new roadway opens in 2013.
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  time to check on progress for the spokane street viaduct and start planning detours of my own…

• CommenCents February 18, 2011 (4:56 pm)

  Building a NEW ramp to something that is going to be TORN down…….please explain why?

• redblack February 19, 2011 (8:19 am)

  commoncents: because, in the interest of keeping the central waterfront section of AWV open as long as possible, it has to come down in 2 parts. the south end of the viaduct will be gone in 18-24 months.
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  if a tunnel is finalized by fall of this year, the central waterfront section won’t be torn down until 2016.
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  so until that section gets torn down, you have to be able to access the remaining part of 99 from the new rebuilt part by the stadiums. and the old ramp was in the way of that construction.

• redblack February 19, 2011 (12:41 pm)

  after looking at all the plans at the AWV web site again, i think that what’s missing is an exit from NB 99 into SODO/pioneer square around atlantic street. this would provide drivers with relief to I-5 or surface streets if 99 is jammed or closed.
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  imho, this is a huge oversight by the engineers. an exit into SODO would mirror the missing mercer street link between 99 and I-5 and give drivers more options.

  • WSB February 19, 2011 (1:28 pm)

    There is going to be such an exit. I apologize that my brain is so swimmy I cannot remember exactly what street but that’s where everybody downtown-bound to the north, who chooses to use 99 instead of say the West Seattle Bridge eastbound to the 4th Avenue South exit, will be getting off. We’ve written about it multiple times before but I’m out of time for a search at the moment.
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    (edit) http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/NR/rdonlyres/DF0467EA-3699-49F5-BA10-68E39ADCAECA/0/South_Portal_Presentation_12_17_09.pdf
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    Atlantic Street is the exit. Page 17 on that PDF points to it.

• redblack February 19, 2011 (4:21 pm)

  thanks for the link. my understanding is that that exit won’t exist until after the tunnel is opened (or at least the south portal is completed) and is part of the central waterfront plan.
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  i’m thinking that it would be beneficial if that exit were to open before boring (or whatever) begins, as a kind of traffic relief valve. without it, if 99 is closed, traffic will have to divert at spokane street (or farther south) to first and fourth avenues and alaskan/e marginal way – which will already have a rather circuitous detour to get around the train track-moving operation. so just like NB 99/AWV as it exists now, once you cross spokane street heading NB on 99, your next exit is seneca street.
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  in other words, if 99/AWV closes for whatever reason, all of that new south-end replacement roadway will be worthless – when it could be used to spread traffic across the street grid.
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  i could be wrong, but i don’t see that king street exit in any of the south-end replacement drawings.
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  add in the fact that 99 in that area will be reduced to two lanes starting this year, and the atlantic/king st exit would be a huge boon to traffic woes.
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  see what i’m saying?

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