(Live view from the only WS Bridge camera currently in operation; see other cameras on the WSB Traffic page)
Welcome to the third edition of the daily WSB traffic/transit report, a dedicated space each weekday (weekends if necessary) for updates on the roads and buses, from you and from us. While it goes live each morning, we’ll updating it with any notable traffic/bus news throughout the day, and we hope you will do the same. You will always find the current edition linked under the BIG STORIES heading on the sidebar. We start Friday with some notes:
*No classes today for Seattle Public Schools (and independent schools following the SPS calendar).
*Rain is indeed moving through the region as forecast (here’s the radar – thanks to Patrick K for the link) – share what you’re seeing, when you can do so safely (no driving/reading/typing, please!).
Two Metro-related notes so far today:
*County Councilmember Joe McDermott‘s office confirms a tip we got from Lisa – explained by McDermott staffer Michelle Allison: “In order to give (Denny) students a bit more time to catch the bus, the Route 22 2 pm southbound trip from Alaska Junction will be adjusted to depart five minutes later. School gets out at 2:10 and the bus has been going by at around 2:15, which was tight for the students. Starting next week, the bus will pass the SW Thistle/26th Ave SW stop by about 2:20.” Councilmember McDermott’s latest “e-newsletter” is all about the bus changes – in case you missed it on yesterday’s traffic/transit thread, here’s the link again.
*Jon Grant has started a petition “to return bus service to Arbor Heights.” He writes:
The new schedule changes have been a calamity to many in our neighborhood.
For anyone who does not commute during peak hours and cannot or does not own a car, this means walking quite a distance to catch the once an hour bus that only runs til between 6 and 7 pm. Before 9 am (on weekends, during the week we have the 21X) or after 6/7 pm (everyday) the closest stop is 35th and Barton, up to 2 miles for some Arbor Heights residents.
My son is 8 and he has had to walk with either myself or my wife that long walk 6 times in the past 10 days that the new routes have been in effect. I truly worry about what we and others in our area will do once it gets colder and darker – the hills are steep, the lighting poor, and in many places the sidewalks are nonexistent or unusable for disabled residents.
If you could, please post the link to my petition. If the response is good, I will deliver the first batch of signatures to Seattle City Councilman Tom Rasmussen this Monday at Sustainable West Seattle’s transit forum.
The goal is to have some sort of transit every 30 min run the Arbor Heights loop.
Here’s more on the forum Jon mentioned – 7 pm Monday, Senior Center of West Seattle (Oregon/California), tackling all facets of West Seattle transportation, with a panel including county and city reps.
10:10 AM UPDATE: Trouble on the ramp from the eastbound bridge to northbound 99 – one of our team members just saw it and we also have a reader note: “I was just on the bridge and a semi has died at the end of the on-ramp from the west seattle bridge to Highway 99. Its location is blocking all vehicles from getting past it and people are backing off the on-ramp.” (Our info on this is about 10 minutes old so if you have been through and saw the ramp open again, please comment – it’s out of webcam range.) Metro has issued an advisory:
Routes 21, 120, 125 and RapidRide C Line are temporarily rerouted off of the northbound Alaskan Way Viaduct, due to an incident. Metro service heading toward downtown Seattle is rerouted via 4 Av S until further notice. Expect delays for RapidRide C Line until the incident is cleared.
11:00 AM UPDATE: Metro says the ramp is clear and bus service is back to normal, which means other traffic can use the ramp now too.
2:35 PM UPDATE: Metro has sent the numbers we’ve been looking for – ridership estimates before and after the changes, and number of runs on the corridor. Way too much info to add to this story so we’ve published it separately – find the story here.
3:48 PM UPDATE: From WSDOT – “On SR 99 southbound just north of W Marginal Way (MP 25) there is a collision blocking the HOV lane. Medical Aid, Fire Assistance, and the WSP have arrived on the scene.” This is in the 1st Avenue South Bridge vicinity, according to the Seattle Fire 911 log.
4:30 PM UPDATE: Via Twitter, Chris says the rechannelization striping (related to Route 120) appears to have been done today in North Delridge. We’re off to check.
| 38 COMMENTS