1st commute home with 99/Viaduct lane reductions

(Refresh for latest pic from WS Bridge & 1st Ave. S. Bridge cams, more on the WSB Traffic page)
4:35 PM: No real horror stories from the first Highway 99 commute outbound from West Seattle this morning since the lane (and speed limit) reductions. So what about the drive home? Harder to watch from this side of The Bridge but we’re monitoring traffic reports and other sources, so we can let you know any reports of trouble – and do let us know how it goes for you (whether you’re driving, busing, biking, motorcycling, Water Taxi-ing, etc.).

4:54 PM UPDATE: Two Water Taxi reports are the first in on the commute, both via Twitter. Maggie, who takes the Vashon Water Taxi, saw more “runners” than usual headed for the 4:15 boat to West Seattle; Kim is on the 4:45 boat right now and says it’s not as busy as she would have expected.

5:13 PM UPDATE: So far so good. P.S. If you are a late-night driver, note there are some Spokane Street Viaduct westbound OVERNIGHT-ONLY closures coming up starting later this week – here’s the city’s announcement.

me on 28th Ave SW May 16, 2011 (5:14 pm)

My commute from Lake Union (leaving at 3:30) to Westwood was about 10 minutes faster than normal on the way home. Volumes seemed unusually light. I rarely get home early.

redblack May 16, 2011 (5:22 pm)

in my experience, mondays are usually light commutes. i got home from roughly northgate and aurora pretty quickly.
.
the real test will be tomorrow afternoon.
.
then there’s the next mariners 4 p.m. home game…
.
the worst part is the buses merging from the columbia on ramp to the far right lane right in the vicinity of the left lane ending.
.
let’s hope WSDOT is paying close attention and responds quickly to areas that need to be tweaked.

Spamela May 16, 2011 (5:39 pm)

5:40 – 3rd ave & Columbia backed up pretty good due the lane reduction. Running about 10 minutes late so far. On the 21x. Picked up at Virginia & 3rd at 5:22. Just got on 99.

2wheels a-go-go May 16, 2011 (5:49 pm)

My bike commute took me the same amount of time as it always does. But then again, traffic and construction never affect me.

richwseattle May 16, 2011 (6:17 pm)

I definitely noticed traffic was thicker, but my commute home by bus wasn’t significantly affected, maybe 5 minutes longer. But that’s on top of a relatively short 15 minute commute, and without incidents.

Had there been an accident or some other tie-up like a game starting or ending, I can see the opportunity for Hwy 99 to become a parking lot, and downtown becoming grid-locked by extension.

Time will tell.

Admiral Janeway May 16, 2011 (6:40 pm)

Also took the bus down Columbia St., afternoon commute took 10 minutes longer.

clark5080 May 16, 2011 (6:50 pm)

My commute to the work in South Lake Union at 4:15 only took 3 or 4 mins more though I can see if there is an accident it will tie things up very quickly

JN May 16, 2011 (7:31 pm)

While I was not affected, since I rode my bike today, I just wanted to know how the 55/54 was? Was it slowed down significantly coming back from downtown?

Tim May 16, 2011 (7:40 pm)

KOMO had a person being interviwed (not sure of his credetials) on the radio talking about the 99 lane closures and he suggested that the first few days of a traffic revision are lighter than usual as people tend to try different methods of getting to work. He was of the opinion that we will see the real traffic later in the week as people decide to try their usual drive to see how bad it really is.
Meaning we wont get a good grasp of what our future holds until Thursday or Friday. We shall see…………

Watertowerjoey May 16, 2011 (8:37 pm)

Good for you, 2Wheels, that’s neato. Thanks for sharing!

Now, get about 5,000 more people to ride their bikey to work and things might improve.

Joan May 16, 2011 (8:59 pm)

I pedaled it today, morning and evening, just because it wasn’t raining, and imho, no noticeable difference in car or bike volumes.

kumalavula May 16, 2011 (9:35 pm)

i left early to get down to benaroya for a 7:30pm event. even given that there was a game at safeco, i noticed no change in the drive time from the northern end of west seattle to the seneca st. off-ramp. it was about 6:20 pm when i left and smooth sailing the whole way. same for the ride home after 9pm.
i imagine that won’t be the case everyday and especially during rush hour but for the first go, not a bad one.

Sorry, comment time is over.