(WSB photo, looking west across the intersection at midday today)

As you know if you (a) went through the area today and/or (b) read our morning traffic coverage, the 59th/Admiral all-way stop is now in place: The signs are installed, and what was a pedestrian-activated signal is now flashing red. SDOT had told us that the work would be done “Monday or Tuesday” of this week. We had been checking morning and afternoon both days – no sign of crews. Then, we learned from two neighbors, SDOT showed up to do the work late last night, and was still on the scene, with loud equipment, past midnight. So we asked SDOT spokesperson Dawn Schellenberg why the work was done at that hour. “Because of the large volume of transportation projects being installed and the importance of meeting Levy to Move Seattle commitments, SDOT crews are currently working day and night shifts,” she replied.

Did night work mean overtime? “Overtime was not used for this project.”

Schellenberg acknowledged that advance notice to neighbors of nighttime work would have been a good thing. Since more work is coming up on other intersections along Admiral Way west of California (as announced two months ago), we asked about the plans for that work:

We’re finalizing designs at the other intersections and will issue work orders in the next few weeks. I don’t yet have information on schedule, or time of day. Agreed, public notice of night-time work would be good. I’ll try and keep apprised of our plans and update adjacent residents as appropriate.

This is all followup to the Admiral Way Safety Project that rechannelized the western stretch last year. Other work in the area included a few blocks of repaving two weeks ago, following continued complaints about the road’s condition.

(Map from Sound Transit’s “system expansion” website)

West Seattle’s branch of Sound Transit light rail is still an estimated 13 years away, and major planning is a ways off too. But the West Seattle Transportation Coalition saw no wisdom in waiting, and organized a June workshop to collect early community ideas and feedback (here’s our as-it-happened coverage).

Today, WSTC sent Sound Transit its wrapup of what participants said, as well as documents with community comments collected in connection with the event.

Here’s the summary they sent, followed by the community-comment collections:

Dear Sound Transit Board Members:

The West Seattle Transportation Coalition (WSTC) sponsored and conducted a peninsula-wide, public workshop on June 22, 2017, to inform the community and gather their input on the ST3 light rail proposal for service to West Seattle.

Following an introduction on light rail by Tom Linde, P.E., and supported by traffic engineers Larry Wymer and Mark Jacobs, the WSTC shared the representational ST3 alignment for West Seattle, as shown in Sound Transit’s documents dated July 19, 2016 (C-03a2, Downtown to West Seattle Elevated, Rev. 1, Sheets 1-5), including station areas at Delridge, Avalon, and the West Seattle Junction. Workshop attendees were asked to complete a comment card and answer survey questions. The comments are attached.

In general, attendees expressed the following preferences:

*Run the rail line underground through the West Seattle Golf Course, and into The Junction—the central, historic West Seattle business district,

*Include a Park & Ride and a bicycle garage at each station

*Conduct more community meetings to gather public input,

*Regular Sound Transit must provide timely reports on options, decisions, and progress toward implementation

*Sound Transit and other transportation agencies are strongly encouraged to examine less expensive options that are not slope-challenged, and can be delivered faster, such as aerial tramway, app-centered van pools, and driverless vehicle systems.

To arrive at their results, WSTC workshop organizers and attendees identified several factors that they want taken into account, including: Read More

Trouble with the Washington State Ferries vessel M/V Hyak on the Bremerton run is leading to changes that will, in a domino effect, put the Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth route on a 2-boat schedule starting tomorrow. WSF published this announcement with full details. WSF says this could last up to two weeks.