35TH/AVALON INTERSECTION: Reminder of Friday morning-Monday morning closure and newly announced Metro plan

That’s 35th SW and SW Avalon Way, the intersection that will be completely closed 9 am tomorrow (Friday, September 6) until 6 am Monday as part of the ongoing repaving-and-more project in the area. In case you missed it at the end of our morning traffic watch, Metro finally went public this morning with the reroute plans. Check your route here:

Route 21: Reroute plan here
Route 50: Reroute plan here
Route 55: Reroute plan here
C Line: Reroute plan here

Metro also plans to run a free shuttle on this one-way loop:

The official shuttle-related advisory is here.

Important note: At one point the SDOT previews said Metro buses would be allowed southbound on 35th Ave SW from Fauntleroy between 3 PM and 7 PM on Friday during this closure – but that plan has been scrapped and Metro reroutes will run continuously starting at 9 am tomorrow. (More overall project updates are coming up later today.)

ADDED 3:25 PM: From SDOT, a bit more info about the closure:

When the intersection of 35th Ave SW and SW Avalon Way is closed, the following official detours will be in place- however, we understand there are multiple alternative routes based on where you are approaching from and driving to:

· If you are traveling Southbound on SW Avalon Way towards the Alaska Junction, you will turn left onto SW Genesee St and right on Delridge Way SW.  You will then take a right onto SW Orchard St to Sylvan Way SW to 35th Ave SW, take a left onto SW Alaska St, and take 37th Ave SW. 

· If you need to travel Northbound on SW Avalon Way from the Alaska Junction, you will go south on 35th Ave SW and take a left onto Sylvan Way SW. You will then take a left onto Delridge Way SW, a left onto SW Genesee St, and then turn right to travel north on SW Avalon Way. 

CAM September 5, 2019 (1:50 pm)

I’m assuming it’s an error but that map makes it look like the shuttles are running up Oregon and are driving through some houses instead of on Fauntleroy and Alaska.

ETA: looking at it a second time the whole grid needs to be shifted…

KBear September 5, 2019 (2:00 pm)

The red line on the shuttle map is 1-2 blocks north of where the actual streets are. Not very helpful when you’re trying to figure out where the bus actually stops. But at least it has most of the streets on it, unlike the useless maps they publish in their regular route schedules.

WSB September 5, 2019 (2:07 pm)

I will check to see if they will correct it.
- sam-c September 6, 2019 (9:33 am)
  
  Can’t believe they issue such an erroneous image, especially when the error (the mis-positioned red lines) is the most critical information in the image.

brizone September 5, 2019 (2:04 pm)

Metro waits until the day before the closure to release their plan? Seriously?They wonder why people are abandoning transit in West Seattle… And yeah: what’s with Fauntleroy suddenly become a block-wide boulevard, LOL!

Jon Wright September 5, 2019 (2:56 pm)

Buses packed, standing room only, into and out of West Seattle doesn’t really seem to support the notion that “people are abandoning transit.”
- Sunuva September 5, 2019 (5:10 pm)
  
  I have rode on Metro since 1997. I am soooo close to done. The things you mention (standing room only, buses packed) are certainly contributing to my desire to abandon it. I’m sure others have already folded and I feel like the fool holding the bag. When it takes me two hours to get home, I could have walked. When I have to wait for 40+ minutes because a bus doesn’t show or shows up “Full Coach”, I lose time in my life, with my family. I am so close to done and I just can’t handle people defending this system anymore when it is failing so bad.Just say it! It is failing in. So. Many. Ways. Do you want a city of the future where most people ride transit and cars are considered toys? If so, then you should be mad at our city and Metro.

vroom September 5, 2019 (3:48 pm)

I was able to switch to a car commute with a recent job change and I seriously don’t miss the C line AT ALL. An hour to get home from downtown while stuffed into a suffocating bus is ridiculous!

George T September 5, 2019 (4:01 pm)

What about the water taxi shuttle?

pdxmark77 September 5, 2019 (7:26 pm)

I’m wondering that myself, no mention at all regarding the water taxi shuttle. That route will also be affected by the closure. I see no information.regarding it on their website or Twitter.

Roms September 5, 2019 (4:06 pm)

Would you mind asking Metro to put maps in their reroute notices? This is hardly usable as-is.

joshuas mom September 5, 2019 (4:58 pm)

Thanks WSB! As always you are my go-to site for current and reliable news.Metro’s known for 2-weeks but they couldn’t figure it out until last night!??! Shaking my head; my favorite saying from back when I was working seems to apply here “if it wasn’t for the last minute we’d never get anything done!”

Derek September 5, 2019 (7:02 pm)

Will any of the sidewalks or cross walks be open? I’m trying to imagine how a bike commuter gets to and from West Seattle. The detour route seems like a non-starter from the junction. Quite a bit out of the way, pretty steep hill, and bound to be packed with disgruntled drivers.

pdxmark77 September 5, 2019 (7:23 pm)

While I am glad they are running a shuttle bus in the closure area, I am not sure how useful it will be. There is no printed schedule and I doubt it will appear on one bus away. With service only being every half hour, I really don’t want to be standing at the bus stop wondering when and if the shuttle will be coming.I don’t know why they can’t have a printed schedule for the shuttle. I live in North Delridge and frequently take the C line to the WSJ to go grocery shopping. With my work schedule Saturday is the only day I can do that, and will have to rely on the shuttle to get there. Metro really needs to step up their game when it comes to things like this, they claim it’s not going to affect many people but I would argue otherwise. Someone else has mentioned this but there is no mention about the water taxi shuttle, which will also be affected by the closure.

CAM September 5, 2019 (8:47 pm)

I’m not positive but I’d bet the reason they don’t have a set schedule is because they don’t know how long the route will take at different times of day with traffic or based on demand. They can predict that for regular routes when they make changes because they have a lot of data from all the buses regular trips. This shuttle route is likely a bit of an unknown. Same as when they did the shuttle during the snow storm and only predicted start times for the runs.

Bu September 5, 2019 (7:52 pm)

Seeing the southbound route for the 21, it looks like they’re going to be making a left from Fauntleroy onto Alaska, which normally isn’t legal. Are they making an exception for buses this weekend, or are they doing that for everyone? Definitely staying clear of anything in that area this weekend.

CAM September 5, 2019 (8:44 pm)

It will turn left on 38th and then left on Alaska.
CAM September 5, 2019 (8:57 pm)

Crud. You’re right. I assumed after reading the northbound route that they’d be consistent but I guess not. As a person who travels through that intersection multiple times a day that is extremely frightening, if only because it is a significant change that no one will expect. Will there be police there directing this to ensure this goes safely?

Patricia September 6, 2019 (4:13 pm)

I think we can all agree on two things:1. This is an EPIC FAIL on the part of Metro. I myself have been calling and asking since it was first published. I was met with confusion, told to be patient and promises that it would be solved and published soon. I have nothing nice to say about how Metro failed to handled this.2. THE WS BLOG ROCKS. Without the blog we would know nothing. I stopped the Editors and asked them after being so frustrated with my twice daily phone calls. I just wanted them to put it in the Alerts. I honestly do not think we would even have a shuttle or answers with the blog.Metro, You and Dow have some explaining to do.you got some explaining to do.

Sorry, comment time is over.