TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: Wednesday watch

(SDOT MAP with travel times/ Is the ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE/ West Seattle-relevant traffic cams HERE)

7:02 AM: Good morning! No incidents or transit alerts. Two reminders:

35TH SW WORK BETWEEN AVALON AND ALASKA: This has begun, and the road is one lane each way in the work zone.

BIKE-TO-SCHOOL DAY: At least three local schools are having special events. Yours? Send photos!

8:10 AM: Weekend traffic alerts, now that we’re midway through the week:

NB HIGHWAY 99 TUNNEL: Closed overnight Friday-early Saturday for routine maintenance

CRANE REMOVAL: California SW closed at Stevens all day Saturday for removal of West Seattle’s only tower crane.

SHRIMP FISHING: Don Armeni Boat Ramp (1222 Harbor SW) is likely to be very busy Saturday early morning through early afternoon, as the state opens shrimp fishing 7 am-1 pm that day.

WEST SEATTLE COMMUNITY GARAGE SALE DAY: 9 am-3 pm Saturday, sales all over the peninsula (here’s the map).

West Seattle Hipster May 8, 2019 (7:14 am)

Any word if there will be tunnel closures this weekend?

WSB May 8, 2019 (7:53 am)

Yes, stand by for a weekend-preview list above around 8 am if things stay (relatively) quiet!

DH May 8, 2019 (7:42 am)

The bus stop on 35th has moved. My bus driver did the best he could to direct people waiting at the normal stop but had to pass them up. There was a lot of confusion.

CAM May 8, 2019 (8:21 am)

Any news on where the stop moved to for those of us who are planning to use it later?
- pParkerT May 8, 2019 (8:44 am)
  
  It’s on the south side of Stadium St near Alaska, right after the C, 50 & 55 buses turn off Alaska, there’s a little sign for the in lane bus stop on 35th. I saw some buses picking up people who were waiting on Avalon around the corner from 35th SW, but it’s a blind spot and I imagine that they won’t do that for long. My husband and I walked up to the bus stop last night to see if there was a “Stop Closed” sign, but didn’t see one; they posted it overnight. This makes two consecutive bus stops closed (35th/Avalon & Avalon/Genessee) if you ride the 55 or the 21 local. We heard so much about this closure from SDOT for the last 2+ years, but apparently Metro just got the memo?
  - WSB May 8, 2019 (8:53 am)
    
    I just sent the Metro media folks a question about this as there’s nothing on the Metro online alerts list
    As I mentioned to one person who emailed, calls to Metro and SDOT re: traffic/stop/etc. concerns are important ways to help them know the impact. – TR
  - CAM May 8, 2019 (8:57 am)
    
    Ugh. Thanks. That’s super inconvenient for me at least. I use that stop because it’s the easiest way to grab a coffee right before getting on the bus and they’ve now basically closed the two stops closest to there and just expect people to walk the extra distance? That’s fine for me but I’m sure there’s a lot of people that isn’t going to work for.
- David May 8, 2019 (8:52 am)
  
  Appears to be just south of the West Seattle stadium entrance.
- DH May 8, 2019 (8:53 am)
  
  Oh, sorry! I guess I could have added that. It’s up the hill a bit closer to Alaska.
ktrapp May 8, 2019 (9:17 am)

My 21X didn’t even stop there. It looked like there was a C bus that was disabled right in front of the dentist office (around 7:10ish), with a Metro truck in front of it, but all the passengers still on board. Since there wasn’t any space to pull in to, our driver just kept on going.The southbound stop at 35th and Avalon promises to be a pain point during construction. I wonder how many people are going to make a left turn off of Avalon, following behind buses, who will then make their stop and suddenly have several cars blocking the intersection. Here’s hoping the project plan puts the portion of the road nearest the intersection as the first priority, so that maybe they can open up a few lanes early.

p May 8, 2019 (9:21 am)

Blind sided by this…made the trek down to Avalon and Andover (not knowing if there was a temp stop somewhere). Unfortunately this means no 50 bus comes by (at Andover). Glad to know there is some temp stop, even if its not been communicated and signage is poor….arrrg

sw May 8, 2019 (9:36 am)

This whole thing has been a farce so far. Metro and SDOT have done a poor job of informing the public of the impact of this project. They have grossly underestimated the impact of this work, which is projected to last for up to 7 months. Call, email, tweet SDOT and Metro and let them know they need to do a better job of informing and mitigating. We deserve better.

KBear May 8, 2019 (10:45 am)

Nonsense, SW. There has been extensive reporting about this project right here, and if you had signed up for email alerts from SDOT, you would be getting regular updates.
- sw May 8, 2019 (12:27 pm)
  
  I don’t think the folks on the WS bridge backed up to I-5 last night at 5pm would consider it to be nonsense. Glad you’re in the know, though.Not that it matters, I have been getting the email updates and am fully aware of the project. However, I think the ones who are informed are in the vast minority. I maintain that mitigation for vehicle traffic and transit have been poorly executed.
  - KBear May 8, 2019 (1:11 pm)
    
    There has been all kinds of outreach through multiple channels. If people aren’t paying attention to SDOT’s communications, that’s their own fault.
    - PG May 8, 2019 (2:25 pm)
      
      I’ve been reading the updates and the fact that this is supposed to last seven months totally shocked me. I heard they would be “repaving” a block of 35th, not ripping it out, doing water main work and rebuilding it over seven months.

Elevated Concern May 8, 2019 (10:02 am)

Traffic was attempting to beat the line of cars on 35th by diverting to 36th and 37th this morning. Solid stream of cars on 37th attempting to cross Alaska is a really big issue.

K to the F May 8, 2019 (11:27 am)

I live on 36th and it was really disheartening to see. Neighbors, please, if you choose to detour through neighborhoods please take it slow — if not for us but for all our kiddos! (and, Uber/Lyft drivers, I expect nothing from you since all you do is speed and blindly follow your GPS).

chris May 8, 2019 (11:33 am)

Despite the reporting and email alerts, it seems as if the impact wasn’t fully realized before the lane closures. SDOT doesn’t seem to be aware of the volume of traffic that goes through those intersections. There is bridge traffic, local traffic, bus transfers and folks trying to get to Starbucks or whatever. They need to eliminate all left turns where lane closures are at intersections.

NoFish May 8, 2019 (3:13 pm)

I hear that the shrimping is supported to be really bad this year, and the forecast is for lots of rain from 7-11am, so everyone should just stay home on Saturday and not go fishing :)

Mj May 8, 2019 (5:59 pm)

The afternoon C bus took 10 more minutes to travel from South Lake Union to the Junction than what it did with the viaduct and no Avalon construction. Hopefully this is temporary

Sorry, comment time is over.