West Seattle Monday: Road/bridge work; rezoning vote; cooking…

(Photo taken last Tuesday, shared via the WSB Flickr group pool by Nicole)
The week ahead includes (in order) Hanukkah, Winter Solstice, and Christmas. But first, here’s what’s on the docket for today/tonight, from the WSB West Seattle Events calendar and West Seattle Holidays page:

FAUNTLEROY EXPRESSWAY CLOSURE TONIGHT: Rescheduled from last week, tonight’s the first 9 pm-5 am closure for the work to lift the bridge deck (slightly) to add quake-resistant features. This means the West Seattle Bridge will be closed west of Delridge – see the city website for detour information if you’ll be driving that section during those hours.

MORE REPAVING: Three scheduled days of repaving start 9 am-5 pm today on 35th SW between Myrtle and Othello – details here.

NO SCHOOL: First day of winter break for Seattle Public Schools (and most others).

TRIANGLE REZONING VOTE: Seattle City Council final vote on Triangle rezoning, 2 pm meeting at City Hall downtown (preceded by open public comment), more details here.

STIR IT UP: West Seattle Cooking Club, 2:30 pm, Beveridge Place Pub. This week’s theme is “Soul Food.” More info at westseattlecookingclub.org

SEE SANTA CLAUS: At West Seattle Thriftway 3:30-7:30 pm, as well as Westwood Village, 10 am-8 pm

‘EVERY CHRISTMAS STORY …’: Final week – ArtsWest presents the Seattle premiere of “Every Christmas Story Ever Told (And Then Some!)” by Michael Carleton, James FitzGerald and John K. Alvarez. 7:30 pm tonight through Friday, 5 pm on Christmas Eve; ticket info here.

Alice Kuder December 19, 2011 (8:27 am)

Wow! Your readers contribute some amazing photos! So appreciated.

Near Alki December 19, 2011 (8:53 am)

Low Bridge is open….right?

sun*e December 19, 2011 (9:26 am)

Wow! Amazing photo! I would definitely frame that one up and hang it somewhere for all to see.

nichole December 19, 2011 (9:54 am)

Sorry I’m terrible w a map…can we access the bridge via 99 heading home to west seattle from downtown?

Near Alki December 19, 2011 (10:16 am)

Nichole…I THINK heading into West Seattle the bridge is open BUT you’ll be forced to exit at Delridge.

WSB December 19, 2011 (10:34 am)

Near Alki is correct, at least as it was explained during the multiple community-meeting briefings we attended (as well as map-parsing). We’ll be checking when the time frame kicks in at 9 pm to see how it works in reality – TR

kj December 19, 2011 (10:27 am)

This is making me wonder. If they can make the bridge earthquake proof like this, why was it impossible to repair the viaduct the same way, saving a lot of money and traffic aggravation?

I know it’s too late, but I can’t shake the feeling that West Seattle is a big loser in all this.

nichole December 19, 2011 (10:39 am)

Ahhhhh…ok. got it. thought this was the other project that had I 5 exit to bridge area closed. can find my way now thanks!

WSB December 19, 2011 (10:58 am)

It’s hard to keep them all straight, as more than a few people have mentioned. The other one, the Spokane Street Viaduct Widening Project with some westbound closures, then gets back to those as of WEDNESDAY night, at last report: http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/spokanestreet.htm
.
The bridge entrances from I-5 and Beacon Hill will be closed but 99 remains open. Usually. – TR

Mark December 19, 2011 (12:16 pm)

@kj

As you’ve said, “I know it’s too late….” but you are somewhat correct. Additional measures could have been implemented to continue to maintain the viaduct.
I really believe that “big money” in its various forms and pandering by our elected officials to said big money led to the most expensive and most unknown option for the viaduct replacement.

geek December 19, 2011 (12:46 pm)

kj-
WSDOT had a retrofit analysis done for the viaduct in 2008 (www.wsdot.wa.gov/NR/rdonlyres/…/0/KPFFretrofit080925.pdf). The original lifespan of the viaduct was 50 year (2002) but then extended by “decree” to 75 years in the 1960s. This lifetime extension by decree did not account for the Nisqually settlement or the other deterioration issues in the viaduct. KPFF study stated that with a thorough retrofit the viaduct lifespan may be extended 19 years. But the life extension compared to the $$ spent for retrofit was not considered “fiscally responsible.” This is just part of the analysis. They also go into a viaduct failure interacting with seawall failure situation during earthquakes and the probabilities on that (not pretty IMO).
I imagine the Fauntleroy retrofits were shown to overall be beneficial and help decrease probability of failure in an earthquake enough to warrant the money spent. Also it doesn’t have the complicating factors of the seawall or soil liquifaction like the viaduct does (the liquifaction thing is a guess on my part).

metrognome December 19, 2011 (11:27 pm)

if anyone still wants to fix the Viaduct, I have a roll of duct tape and a hot glue gun … that’s about as effective as any other repairs would have been.
The WS bridges (high and low) are newer and were built to more modern standards than the Viaduct. And geek, you are right about the liquefaction; the tunnel is taking a more easterly route under more stable soil.
WS will survive just fine.