From today’s daily media conference call with transportation-agency reps:
THE TRAIN DEBACLE: SDOT’s rep on the call, Matt Beaulieu, says they’re still sorting out what exactly factored into this morning’s BNSF blockage on lower Spokane Street (tracked in our morning traffic coverage). He and Metro rep Jeff Switzer acknowledged that the agencies were not given a heads-up by BNSF that the blockage was about to happen – their first word, Beaulieu said, was from police on the ground, who helped divert traffic away from the blocked section of lower Spokane as best they could. They’re “still working on the relationship,” he said, saying they “did make a connection today” and are in “a dialogue.” We had asked SDOT’s Heather Marx about BNSF coordination during last week’s pre-Viaduct-closure City Hall briefing, and she had said that, unlike the limited low-bridge openings deal with the U.S. Coast Guard, they had no deal with BNSF.
METRO AND WATER TAXI: Switzer noted the delays caused by the train situation, and otherwise described delays systemwide as ranging between 10 and 35 mites this morning. Overall, more riders are catching buses earlier. They’re also seeing increased call volumes at Metro’s call center, so if you call with a question and hear what might be a long wait time, there’s an option to request a callback rather than waiting on hold.
(WSB photo from Seacrest this morning)
The Water Taxi had another triple-last-year day on Tuesday, with 2,520 riders overall, but still plenty of capacity, both on the boats and in the temporary Pier 2 free parking.
CONSTRUCTION PROGRESS: WSDOT‘s Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Program deputy administrator David Sowers said the on- and off-ramp areas at Royal Brougham have been “completely excavated,” and that the offramp to Dearborn – which isn’t projected to be ready to open until at least a week after the tunnel does – “continues to progress very well” too. Today they’re paving the Dearborn connection to 1st Avenue, where part of the south end of the elevated Viaduct was demolished last weekend; striping work was on today’s agenda too. The dry weather has been “very helpful” and they’ve completed most of the needs-to-be-done-in-dry-weather work – but if the rain that’s expected tomorrow and beyond isn’t a major deluge, the work “will not be affected.” Sowers also invited everyone to keep checking out the construction cams.
YES, THAT WAS A CAR ON THE VIADUCT … but not an unauthorized car, explained WSDOT’s Laura Newborn – it was a security vehicle. Please stay off the Viaduct until the planned February 2-3 celebration, WSDOT reiterates.
COMMUTE TRENDS OVERALL: Today, around the region, saw trends similar to Monday and Tuesday – people traveling earlier, and higher travel times than usual in the earlier hours as a result. Tomorrow’s expected rain could affect things dramatically. But otherwise, keep up the good work, all stressed – “people are doing a little bit of everything” and that’s what’s really helped, some buses, some light rail, some Water Taxi, some time-shifting, some working from home, it’s all adding up, and particularly if you can keep doing things differently, you’re making it a little less hellish for those who absolutely can’t.
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