Whether it was out of jubilation, relief, or both, King County Executive (and West Seattle commuter) Dow Constantine opened today’s #Realign99 (aka Seattle Squeeze, aka Viadoom) media briefing by exclaiming “We are halfway there!”

The briefings before and during this time of Highway 99-less-ness have rotated between jurisdictions, from the WSDOT (state) work zone to SDOT (city) and Metro (county) operations nerve centers. This afternoon, media were invited to the latter.

Though there’s “light at the end of the tunnel,” as Constantine said wryly at briefing’s end, those present all but pleaded, don’t go back to your old ways. Though traffic’s been worse this week than last, they’re still seeing a significant amount of change, and that’s kept this more unpleasant than nightmarish. Before we get to today’s toplines, here’s the full video of this afternoon’s 25-minute briefing and Q&A at the Metro Transit Operations Center on the south side of downtown:

Speaking after Constantine were Metro’s Terry White, SDOT’s Heather Marx, and WSDDT’s Dave Sowers. Their key points:

White: No ridership stats for Metro yet but they’re working on it. They do know their added-as-needed buses have carried 27,000 passengers. The West Seattle Water Taxi is still running at triple the usual ridership for this time of year, 14,810 rides through this morning, and lots of room still left. Even the Vashon Water Taxi – which, unlike West Seattle, does not have added service – is up 17 percent, carrying 7,140 riders through this morning. “The marathon is not over … We really need you to continue the good work you’ve been doing.” He concluded by expressing gratitude for everything from the added bus lanes to Metro drivers.

(WSB photo: New ‘bike corral’ on Harbor Avenue SW by Seacrest)

Marx noted that bicycling across the “low bridge” (per its counter) has more than doubled. We asked her if the added police assigned to areas such as the temporary 4th Avenue (and bridge offramp) bus lane had started issuing citations; she said they have. Overall, she said, the commutes are peaking about an hour earlier than pre-Viaduct. As a result, they’ve been implementing traffic-control measures earlier (as early as 5 am in SODO), too.

Sowers said WSDOT’s noticed an increase in walk-on state ferries passengers on Seattle-bound routes including Vashon. As for the work to get the tunnel connected and open, he said construction continues to be on schedule for the February 4th tunnel opening goal, and that 80,000 people have registered for the celebration-weekend events – free viaduct and tunnel walking, fee-required fun run and bike rides.(Here’s where to go to register.) Last night’s downpour forced crews to hold off on some paving but that’s not a setback and they’re expecting more-favorable weather in the days ahead. A lot of electrical work remains to be done, Sowers added.

After the speaking-at-podium briefing/Q&A ended, reporters were invited to talk with a Water Taxi captain and Metro operator who were on hand. We took a moment to ask the former – Neal Amaral – what it’s been like. He’s a longtime captain of the boat that’s regularly on the route, the Doc Maynard. He said it’s been good to see some “new faces” as well as regular riders, and that it’s been pretty good sailing weather – no fog problems. Balancing the fast turnaround with other vessel traffic at the downtown dock, including the Kitsap fast ferries, has been a challenge.

P.S. Questions about the Water Taxi or Metro? You might be interested in tomorrow night’s West Seattle Transportation Coalition meeting, 6:30 pm Thursday, Neighborhood House High Point (6400 Sylvan Way SW), with County Executive Constantine expected as the spotlight guest.