West Seattle, Washington
14 Thursday
Shortly after the town-hall meeting about the West Seattle Bridge closure, HPAC – the community council for Highland Park, Riverview, and South Delridge – met online with SDOT reps to talk about traffic effects. SDOT reps included Heather Marx and James Le (who was managing the Highland Park Traffic Safety Improvements Project even before the bridge closure).
Shortly after the bridge was shut down, the neighborhood got a rush-installed traffic signal at Highland Park Way/Holden, the intersection where HPAC and other community advocatess had fought for improvements for decades. But nothing of major note has followed.
HPAC was hoping to hear a plan from SDOT – but the hour-long meeting was more about participants offering questions/concerns, and SDOT listening. One voiced frustration that, a month into the closure, there wasn’t more of a traffic-action plan yet. Here’s how the meeting went:
(View the archived video starting 59 minutes into the clip)
5 PM: One month ago tomorrow, the West Seattle Bridge was suddenly shut down for safety concerns. One week ago today, SDOT announced the bridge will be out of service at least until 2022, and may not be fixable. Tonight, City Councilmembers Lisa Herbold (who represents West Seattle) and Alex Pedersen (who chairs the Transportation Commiitee) are leading a town-hall meeting about the situation; SDOT’s Sam Zimbabwe and Heather Marx are expected to join them, with Seattle Channel’s Brian Callanan moderating. (Datapoint: Everyone mentioned above, except Pedersen, is a West Seattleite.) If you’re among the 3,000+ people who RSVP’d, you should have received a link for questions. We’ll be covering this as it happens, ahead.
Format as announced: Presentation until 5:45, then Q&A. In opening remarks, Herbold promises to work to ensure that SDOT takes constituents’ suggestions seriously, including traffic and oversight as well as about the bridge itself. She says 300 questions have been received already. Pedersen pledges to work closely to “expedite plans for next steps.” Then it’s on to Zimbabwe. Notation on the slide deck indicates it’s the same one from Monday’s City Council briefing, so we’re featuring that below:
Zimbabwe recaps the bridge history and why it was closed, and reiterates that they don’t believe the bridge is in “imminent” danger of collapse. He does, however, advise people to sign up for Alert Seattle just in case.
5:16 PM: Just noticed a change in the slide deck – more details on the cracking right before the bridge’s abrupt closure. “Four feet of growth in two weeks.” Will add screengrabs.
Otherwise, it’s recapping what was explained at the last two briefings (this past Monday and last Wednesday), and what happens next – the Pier 18 repairs, the shoring to stabilize the bridge, the determination of whether the bridge can be fixed.
5:25 PM: Marx now takes over to talk about what’s being done regarding traffic. She first recaps the low-bridge restrictions, and also mentions again that repaving is scheduled this Friday-Sunday for the Chelan/Spokane/Delridge/West Marginal “5-way” intersection at the low bridge’s west end.
New: A “what can you do” slide that pitches SDOT’s various communication channels (here’s the bridge-project website, which includes the email subscription link mentioned). She urges people to start planning for post-stay-home, and to follow the low-bridge restrictions.
5:35 PM: The Q&A begins. Callanan thanks the 3,300 who RSVP’d and 1,800 who are watching the stream. First Q: “Why not proceed immediately with demolition and rebuilding?” Zimbabwe: “We’re working to get the information we need to make that decision … the cost of immediately proceeding to replacement would be (a lot) …we have to stabilize the bridge to maintain public safety. While we (do that), we’re (looking at) those types of questions.”
Q: Is Seattle working with King County to increase water taxi service? Herbold starts the reply: “I’ve had some initial conversations with County Councilmember Joe McDermott” and says she’s talked with State Sen. Joe Nguyen and some port commissioners about the suggestions of involving car-ferry service too. Marx says they’re working with Metro re: buses and Water Taxi for a “full suite” of options. Zimbabwe says he has spoken with WSF and other transportation agencies, all of whom are willing to “roll up their sleves to help.” Despite known constraints, “nobody’s saying no” to any idea, so far, he adds.
Q: What about combining a new bridge with the light rail bridge (that is going to have to be built anyway)? “Nothing is off the table,” replies Zimbabwe, noting that Sound Transit’s light-rail EIS is due next year, but also noting that ST’s construction schedule is not set to start until 2025. Herbold adds that “if we want ST to consider a multimodal bridge in its EIS, the ST board would have to” order that change in their studies, so they’re working on what it would take to make that happen. “It’s possible a bridge could be operational before” the light rail.
Q: Medical worker says his commute’s become a nightmare. What’s being done to help alleviate that? Marx replies that “we will continue to work closely with Metro to ensure transit is robust and available” but reiterates that they can’t add more users to the low bridge because it will quickly become “overwhelmed.” She adds that when SPD isn’t there to enforce, people break the rules and it “creates a really dangerous situation.” What about off-peak? They don’t have enough data yet to know if that’s feasible.
5:46 PM: Q: Were the people who built the bridge available to consult on a solution? Zimbabwe mentions the plan for a Technical Advisory Panel (those slides were not recapped in this presentation). He says that 35+ years have elapsed since it was built so they’re talking to a wide variety of outside experts. “This is a complicated structure, it’s going to be complicated to repair …”
Q: Will private employee shuttles be allowed to use the low bridge? Herbold says she’s been fielding that already – Amazon, for example, had four roundtrips daily. Marx said right now, no, but they’ll continue to “talk with those larger companies. (but) the answers … might be different” post-COVID. (A few minutes later, Zimbabwe explained that they’re monitoring traffic on the alternate routes.)
Q: What is being done for bike routes if the low bridge has to be closed? Are other routes going to be improved? Marx says those are longer-range plans. Herbold mentions the East Marginal Way safety project and says they’re looking at whether any of it could be accelerated.
Q: Could a toll be used to pay for a new bridge? Zimbabwe repeats that “nothing’s off the table” but tolls are complicated but that hasn’t been discussed in any detail. Herbold says she’s meeting later this week with U.S. Rep.. Pramila Jayapal (also a West Seattleite by the way) to talk about federal funding options.
Callanan notes at that point that they’re up to 600 questions.
Q: Just bought a house in West Seattle. How will this affect property values/taxes? Herbold notes the County Assessor is accountable for that but “there may be an opportunity to make that request” as well as an appeal process. Zimbabwe says a few minutes later that they’re working “tirelessly” to restore the traffic capability.
Q: What’s the plan to manage the increase in traffic along Roxbury/Olson, and on Michigan leading to I-5? Marx repeats, “It’s really not an option for everybody who used their car to get to and from West Seattle” to continue to do that – can you do what you can “to lighten the load on the system? … No amount of spot improvements will replace the high bridge.”
6 PM: Q: No hospital in West Seattle – address that. Herbold says the West Seattle Junction Association is working with a health-care provider to see if they might locate “a small hospital” in The Junction. Marx says the lack of a hospital is another reason why keeping the low bridge open for emergency traffic is vital. But she also reminds people that Highline Medical Center is available, to the south.
Q: Why if the cracks were first noted in 2013 was nothing done, or at least, with worsening cracks noticed last year? Zimbabwe repeats that they were not proceeding in a major way for a long time and they were indeed “modeling” and doing some repairs – epoxy – the acceleration happened. He repeats that the acceleration happened “very very quickly.”
Q: Has there been any discussion with Army Corps of Engineers about building a temporary bridge across the Duwamish River? Zimbabwe says the waterway has to remain open to navigation but they’ll “look at every option to accelerate” and “will look at every one of those possibilities.”
Q: Can some RapidRide C buses continue on to Ballard? SDOT is “open” to ideas and working with Metro.
Regarding traffic on neighborhood streets, Marx mentions the lower-speed-limit signs ae being installed along the detour routes. (We had been waiting for a response on SDOT after several people mentioned the sign installation.) She urges people to respect the neighborhoods they’re driving through.
Q: Can the high bridge withstand a moderate earthquake? Zimbabwe says they’re concerned about its stability in normal conditions, so …
Q: Callanan follows up with a question about the condition of the 1st Ave.S. Bridge. It’s newer, Zimbabwe points out. (Editor’s note: We’re working on a story about that – it’s partly newer, one side is from the mid-’90s, one side dates back to the ’50s.)
Q: Can low-bridge maritime openings be halted during commute hours? Marx: No, but the Coast Guard has published a notice asking mariners not to request opening in those times “and we’ve had pretty good luck with that.” Herbold says she understands something “stronger” has been requested, as was used during three weeks of “Squeeze.’ Marx says yes, they have, but they need to do “some significant outreach to the maritime community” to talk about that but emergency-response plans (in case of a high-bridge failure risk) is what they are mostly working on now “with that community.”
Q: What about a bike-to-car space by the low bridge? Marx says they’re looking at that too but they really are stressing, try transit.
Q: Can Roxbury be striped to 4 lanes and create an HOV lane? Zimbabwe says they’re “open to all sorts of ideas.” He notes that they don’t want to “walk back” on Vision Zero safety projects (of which that was one). Herbold says she hears a lot about Roxbury and that her office is compiling detour-route traffic ideas and hopes to map those and break the peninsula into sections to tour detour routes and make specific suggestions. “I just want folks to know how we’re using the information you’re sending me.”
Q: Husband of an expectant mom who will need to get from Alki to First Hill wants to know if they’ll have to use the 1st Ave. S. Bridge. Marx says she can’t imagine a police officer not letting you through. “If your wife is in labor, feel free to use the low bridge.”
Q: The pile-driving question, as answered here previously. No, the work at Terminal 5 is not believed to be a factor – there was no damage to anything even much closer to the project. Herbold says she’s asked port and SDOT to talk about the pile-driving that will resume soon so she wants to be extra-sure it won’t affect the high bridge.
Q: What is a ballpark time range for how long it would take to replace the bridge if that were the only option? Zimbabwe says he thinks about that option but “we just don’t know.” He acknowledges some bridges elsewhere have been rebuilt quickly, but many factors would be involved here. “We don’t know if we could reuse the foundations, what permits (we would need) … I urge people to go out and see how when the low bridge opens, it opens very very close to the high bridge.” Overall, “We hope to answer that as soon as we can.”
Callanan says they’ve now received 1,000+ questions – many he asked were attributed to multiple people – and that council staff will work on the ones that didn’t get answered. At 6:30 sharp, the event ends. It should be re-viewable above soon; we also recorded off the screen so we’ll have it later tonight if the official archive lags.
6:59 PM: We just checked – you can now watch the archived video of the town hall above – advance to (updated) 59 minutes into the clip. Meantime, we’re covering the HPAC meeting next; as announced earlier today, the West Seattle Transportation Coalition has a bridge-focused meeting tomorrow, too.
The third community discussion in two days about the West Seattle Bridge closure has just been announced. The West Seattle Transportation Coalition will have SDOT and Metro guests during its online meeting, 6:30 pm tomorrow (Thursday, April 23rd):
Nothing can totally replace the capacity of the West Seattle Bridge. What are we going to do when the stay-at-home order is lifted and life begins to return to normal? Our meeting will focus on how we will cope going forward. We are going to need innovative and unorthodox ideas to move people and goods. Please join us tomorrow night when we find out what SDOT and Metro already have in the works and what we can do to help.
The meeting link will be here (meeting ID 822 0028 3371).
2:25 PM: It’s Earth Day! Last week, we published a call for signs/displays in West Seattle. Here are some of the photos we’ve received. First – Terry Blumer and family created this in North Admiral:
The call was from the Care for Creation team at Our Lady of Guadalupe and Holy Rosary parishes, both of which have sent contributions – From OLG math teacher Bridget Lawler, on Charlestown Hill:
These were sent by Sr. Juanita Kialkial of Holy Rosary:
From Lucy Johnson, co-chair of the Care for Creation committee with Vince Stricherz, who sent us the announcement last week:
Vince sent this:
From Kanit Cottrell in Gatewood:
Debbie saw this chalk art at Hiawatha Community Center Park:
We’re adding more! Email westseattleblog@gmail.com or text 206-293-6302 – thank you!
ADDED WEDNESDAY NIGHT: Two more photos – this one is from Noodle and crew, a photo they took in Tanzania a year ago, displayed as a reminder that the Earth is a home shared by many cultures:
And Clare sent the next photo, explaining, “My 4 (John) and 2 (James) year old have been busy making Earth Day art.”
Thanks again to all!
Two more West Seattle Bridge notes, with hours to go until tonight’s town hall:
(WSB photo, last week)
PIER 18 EXPLAINED: If you haven’t already seen this via SDOT Blog, the project email list, or our mention in the morning comment thread – SDOT has published a detailed explanation of the problem it says needs to get fixed first, the Pier 18 bearing. (18 is the one in our photo above, at left, with a pipe running down it.) Writes SDOT’s Sara Davis, “This isn’t the sole cause of cracking on the bridge, but our bridge experts think it is a major part of the problem.” And: “We’re hoping that releasing the bearings helps stabilize the bridge. If it does, then repairing the bridge may be feasible. If it turns out that releasing the bearings does not slow the cracking of the bridge, it means that the factors contributing to the cracking are much more complicated than just those due to the bearing, and that the bridge structure could be irredeemably compromised.”
FUNDING SUGGESTED: Just getting to the point where the bridge is stabilized via shoring will cost an estimated $33 million, SDOT has said – repair or replacement is an as-yet-unknown addittonal cost. So where will the money come from? West Seattle/South Park City Councilmember Lisa Herbold has suggested one possibility is to divert funding from the Center City Streetcar, a project of which she’s been critical in the past. Today in a post opposing the latest “payroll tax” proposal before the council, Councilmember Alex Pedersen – who chairs the Transportation Committee – made the same suggestion, writing, “To accelerate vital infrastructure projects like the West Seattle Bridge, we can redirect funds away from money-losing projects like the Center City Connector streetcar through downtown.”
Another West Seattle restaurant is reopening for takeout/delivery, and sponsoring WSB to be sure you know:
Cactus Restaurant on Alki Beach reopens today for take-out and delivery (UberEats, DoorDash, GrubHub, Caviar).
The new Cactus hours are Sundays-Thursdays 4 pm to 8 pm, Fridays and Saturdays 3 pm to 9 pm.
For everyone’s safety, Cactus will only accept orders via its website for take-out. They want you to know that they “have put a lot of thought into the take-out process and in-store logistics to make this safe as possible. Order online, drive to our store and we’ll text you when the order is being bagged so you don’t wait inside around others. Margarita kits and safe, delicious take-out await you! #WeGotThisWS”
See the Cactus menu here (PDF). The restaurant is at 2820 Alki Avenue SW [map].
We thank Cactus for sponsoring independent, community-collaborative neighborhood news via WSB; find our current sponsor team listed in directory format here, and find info on joining the team by going here.
Earlier this week, we got a call from a reader concerned after receiving a Seattle City Light notice alerting to them for a planned daytime power outage later this week in Highland Park so a pole could be replaced. A 4-hour outage in the daytime might not have been a big hardship in the pre-pandemic days, but now a “residential” outage means cutting the power to many homes-turned-workplaces. So we asked SCL about it. Spokesperson Julie Moore tells WSB that the outage has been canceled and new notices about that were being taken around yesterday:
Seattle City Light remains committed to providing safe and reliable power while prioritizing the safety of our customers and crews. While important to maintaining and upgrading our infrastructure, we know planned outages can be burdensome, and even more so as our customers are at home working, teaching children, and maintaining a healthy life during the COVID-19 crisis. We’re temporarily adjusting our work to have the lowest impact on customers during this time.
As such, we are pausing all planned outages. Exceptions to this include emergency pole replacements where the work cannot safely be performed “hot”, emergency work necessary to restore service for customers who may be experiencing an outage, or to add a service connection for an essential facility (quarantine site, homeless shelter, etc.). As able, City Light will provide at least 48 hours advance notification for any of these situations.
Other pole replacement work will continue by placing new poles adjacent to poles in need of replacement and lashing them to the existing infrastructure, but we will wait until later to transfer services. City Light also will continue to do streetlight work and other work deemed essential as long as it does not require outages. Any work is in accordance with Governor Inslee’s Stay Home, Stay Healthy order and with protocols in place to meet all COVID-19 guidelines from the CDC, Washington Department of Health, and OSHA.
We will maintain this pause in planned outages at least through May 4, in alignment with the governor’s order. We recognize even as that order is lifted, many customers may continue to work or attend school from home. We will be thoughtful in our resumption of these activities, which are required to make repairs and upgrades to our infrastructure in a safe and efficient manner, and will do our best to work with customers to minimize impacts.
Reminder of two events tonight addressing the West Seattle Bridge closure:
DIGITAL TOWN HALL: City Councilmembers Lisa Herbold and Alex Pedersen are hosting this, with an SDOT preentation and community Q&A, 5-6:30 pm. You need to RSVP here; the link will be sent about an hour in advance to everyone who RSVPs. (Update: 2,200+ as of this morning, according to Herbold’s office.) That link also will explain how to ask a question. Go here to RSVP. (4:22 pm update: Livestream will be here.)
HPAC MEETING: 7-8 pm, the community council for Highland Park, Riverview, and South Delridge – neighborhoods now carrying the weight of bridge-detour traffic – will meet online, with an SDOT guest. Unlike the city-organized town hall, there is an attendance limit for this meeting, so they ask that only people from those three communities participate. Details are here.
5:53 AM: 30th morning without the high-rise West Seattle Bridge. Tonight, a digital Town Hall about the closure, including traffic management and continuing low-bridge restrictions.
For general traffic, the main route across the Duwamish River is the 1st Avenue South Bridge (map) – that’s also the main way to get to I-5, exiting at Michigan.
The other option is the South Park Bridge (map), which drops you onto East Marginal Way one mile south of the north end of the 1st Ave. South Bridge.
Check the @SDOTBridges Twitter feed to see if a bridge is opening for marine traffic.
ROAD WORK ALERT: Striping/marker work continues this week in the 35th/Avalon/Alaska project zone.
TRANSIT ALERTS:
Metro’s third round of service cuts took effect this week – details here. The Water Taxi continues its reduced (and shuttle-less) schedule.
OTHER LINKS
SDOT’s traffic map
Our traffic-cams page
Let us know what you’re seeing – comment, or text (not if you’re at the wheel!) 206-293-6302.
Another amazing sight off West Seattle’s west-facing shores …
That photo by David Hutchinson, and the one below by Matthew Olson, show Bonaparte’s Gulls, not often seen around here, apparently drawn to our section of Puget Sound by the herring-spawning event we noted last weekend.
You can hear them in Robin Sinner‘s video:
We don’t know if these were the same birds, but the waters have drawn flocks for days – Jonny L. sent this sighting from last Saturday’s sunset:
On Sunday, “Diver Laura” James recorded this aerial view of how the spawning changed the water’s color:
As we showed you that day, it was also a big draw for sea lions – Diver Laura photoggraphed them too:
Jamie Kinney shared an aerial view of one as tt swam:
If you walk on the beach sometime soon, watch out for herring eggs – our 2017 story shows them close up.
Though the governor annoonced his “recovery plan” tonight, it was devoid of dates. That tops tonight’s roundup:
‘A SAFE RETURN TO PUBLIC LIFE’: That seems to be the subtitle for what Gov. Inslee discussed in tonight’s short speech; our coverage, with video, is here, including notes from the non-streamed media Q&A shortly afterward. His office has since published a “policy brief” including this visual explanation:
NEWEST KING COUNTY NUMBERS: From the Seattle-King County Public Health data dashboard:
*5,379 people have tested positive, up 86 from yesterday
*372 people have died, up 12 from yesterday
One week ago, those totals were 4,620 and 303.
STATEWIDE NUMBERS: Find them here.
WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: Find them here.
BUDGET HIT: The city estimates COVID-19 will take $210 million to $300 million from its coffers. This news release explains some of what’s being done about that.
CO2 SHORTAGE? Reader Lara called our attention to this report in The Guardian, suggesting a pandemic-related carbon-dioxide supply shortage,might affect water treatment. She hadn’t seen anything about it in local media. So we asked the city about it. The response:
Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) was made aware of a supply chain issue involving CO2 in early April 2020. We quickly worked to find solutions to the potential issue, including identifying back-up chemical suppliers and sourcing options.
After detailed discussions with the vendor and other utilities, SPU determined that its vendor can meet the Utility’s CO2 supply needs. The vendor considers SPU an essential customer, a designation which gives highest priority for deliveries. To date, there has not been any interruption in CO2 delivery.
SPU will continue to closely monitor its chemical storage levels, future chemical needs and vendor supplies.
SPU has identified backup treatment options if future CO2 supplies become limited. Even if there was a shortage of carbon dioxide in the future, water delivery from the treatment plant would not be compromised.
SPU uses CO2 “for pH adjustment at the Tolt Treatment Plant,” which supplies about 30 percent of Seattle water. (More background on city water, by the way, is in this WSB story from 2016.)
SCAM ALERT: Scammers are continuing to try to take advantage of people worried about COVID-19. Here’s the latest warning.
QUARANTINE REINDEER: In last night’s roundup, we featured another cheer-providing display, an inflatable dragon. Tonight – Diane‘s photo of Rudolph‘s springtime return.
She spotted Rudolph east west of Westwood Village.
GOT INFO? westseattleblog@gmail.com or text/voice 206-293-6302 – thank you!
7:38 PM: SFD is checking out a possible fire in a 6-story building in the 3200 block of SW Avalon Way. Updates to come.
(Added: Photo by Jason Harbison)
7:40 PM: SFD says the fire, in one unit, is out, “extinguished by tge sprinkler system.” No injuries.
7:55 PM: Most units have been dismissed, but Avalon traffic is still a bit bollixed (photo added).
4:59 PM: That’s the TVW livestream of Gov. Inslee announcing his plan for the state’s recovery. We’ll be adding coverage notes of both his speech and a media Q&A scheduled at 5:45 pm.
“The spread of COVID-19 is likely declining in Washington,” the governor says he’s been told. He acknowledges that people are eager to get back to work and reopen businesses. He says reopening will be “more like turning a dial than flipping a switch.” But “we will not be able to lift many of the restrictions by May 4th.”
He says it will be a “strategic” recovery plan that “begins with widely available testing for individuals who may have had COVID-19” and contact tracing that he says 1,500 people will be working on “by the second week of May.” But the state is lacking in testing supplies – it has “more lab capacity than test kits,” he says. About 4,000 tests are being processed per day and that should be more like 20,000, he says.
Workplaces “are going to look much different” until there’s a vaccine, he says. “We’re going to provide guidance to let industries know when and how they can reopen. … We’re going to have to steel ourselves against this virus … for many months.” He says many innovations will be needed for “life in the era of COVID-19.” He will be appointing “three groups consisting of key community leaders” soon, focused on reopening as well as social services.
He concludes his speech at 5:10 pm with no mention of dates. We’ll pick up the coverage again when his media Q&A, scheduled for 5:45 pm, begins.
5:45 PM: The video window above now shows the governor’s speech, archived. We are listening to the media briefing via phone. The governor’s chief of staff David Postman reiterates what the governor mentioned as three areas that will likely see relaxed restrictions in the “near term” – elective surgery, residential construction, and outdoor recreation.
Overall “it’s not going to be a simple process” of restarting multiple industries, he says, “lot of work to be done on that.”
First question is about time frames. “Some of the things the governor mentioned could happen before May 4th.” What kind of a heads-up would other industries get? The state would want to “work with them so they are ready when it’s time.” How soon can the testing needs mentioned by the governor get ramped up? That’s unknown because of “supply chain issues.”
Then: What “modeling” was the governor referring to, that he hopes to see later this week for potential decision-making? One # is the infection rate – they’re looking for each infected person to be infecting fewer than one other.
Then: What does “outdoor recreation” refer to? Too soon to say. After that, another question trying to clarify time frames. “We have work to do between now and May 4th on” the aforementioned three things, the chief of staff says, but no elaboration beyond that.
6:05 PM: As for working toward reopening more businesses, the Commerce Department director says they want to hear from businesses – especially” “small and main-street businesses” about what they need to operate safely.
Then: What industries after medical and construction? “We don’t have that answer,” says Postman. Can cities/counties go rogue and reopen before the state gives its OK? They can be stricter, but not looser, than the state requires, he says. (Franklin County is going rogue and Postman says they are “preparing a letter” because “it’s not legal.” He adds that it’s important to hear from local officials who support the restrictions to speak up, too.)
6:24 PM: Another question about the frustration felt by people who think it’s time to reopen; Postman says the governor understands that, but protests like the one last weekend in Olympia are not going to change their “data-driven” course. “Nobody should think they are out of the woods on this,” he warns, even the counties that have not been hit hard. He also says he hopes people will be encouraged by some restrictions possibly lifting in the “days or week ahead.”
The Q&A ends at 6:26 pm.
8:14 PM: Here’s the governor’s office’s writeup, which in turn links to this “policy brief” (PDF).
Two more business updates this afternoon:
POTTER CONSTRUCTION: Above are Gary Potter, proprietor of Potter Construction (a longtime WSB sponsor), and Renee Vo of Washington Federal. We photographed them this morning at the WF Morgan Junction branch, where Potter was receiving his check for a loan from the federal Paycheck Protection Program. Though the program is already maxed out – awaiting an additional allotment from Congress – he told us he found out his company had been approved for a PPP loan the same day it was announced the program had run out of money. His company had several projects in progress when they shut down on governor’s orders a month ago; the funding will help him continue to retain his staff, who will resume those projects when construction businesses get the green light to resume work.
WESTWOOD VILLAGE QFC: We usually publish a grocery-store update on Saturdays but this is notable enough to get the word out now: The store just joined the list of those offering a pickup service. From the announcement sent to us:
This service is being rolled out at most QFC locations in response to the COVID-19 stay-at-home orders, to offer more piece of mind for older and at-risk population, or anyone who doesn’t want to shop in store. Customers order online, we shop, you drive up and we put the groceries in your trunk,-all done. All our pickers have been trained to pick the best and freshest product on our shelves. If something ordered is out of product we are able to find appropriate substitutions and price match to original item. This service typically does have a service fee, but is waived during the stay-at-home order along with our bag fee.
We haven’t heard yet whether the chain’s Junction store has, or will have, this service too.
2:58 PM: Good thing automotive businesses are considered “essential.” One here just helped police catch a crime suspect. SPD Blotter just posted the story:
Police recovered three stolen vehicles on Monday after a suspected car thief tried to buy new tires with a forged check.
A West Seattle tire store contacted police after a 41-year-old man brought in a Mercedes and asked to replace some of its tires. He later returned and tried to pay with a clearly forged check, and then asked to apply for a line of credit even though he was unable to provide ID.
Employees at the tire shop became suspicious and contacted police and officers arrested the man Monday after he arrived at the shop to pick up the Mercedes. When officers took him into custody, he was carrying a license plate from another vehicle, which had apparently been stolen hours earlier but not yet been reported to police. At the time of the arrest, he was also wearing a jacket for a valet company, which had reported the Mercedes stolen.
During the investigation, police recovered several key fobs for other expensive cars, stolen checks taken in a recent burglary at a business, and ID cards belonging to other people, as well as modified keys typically used by auto thieves.
Police booked the 41-year-old man into the King County Jail for investigation of auto theft and are requesting charges related to the stolen license plate, possession of auto theft tools and providing a fake name to police. Major Crimes Unit detectives continue to investigate.
We’re following up to find out which shop, as well as the suspect’s status.
4:58 PM: The store was Les Schwab in The Triangle, according to the probable-cause document we have obtained. The suspect’s bail was set at $20,000 this afternoon. We’ll add more notes a bit later.
6:20 PM: The probable-cause document says the suspect “dropped off a blue 2020 Mercedes” at the shop last Thursday. He “returned several times over the course of the weekend and attempted to pay for services rendered to the vehicle using checks that either did not belong to him or were falsified (the business refused to accept these checks).” He “finally attempted to establish a line of credit through the business on 04/20/2020 but was unable to do so. At that time, the management at Les Schwab began to feel (he) was being suspicious and contacted SPD. In the process of reporting the incident to Dispatch, it was discovered that the Mercedes was a unverified stolen vehicle out of Seattle. At that time SPD officers responded to Les Schwab and management contacted (the suspect) to return to the store to pick up the vehicle.” He did, and was arrested. The report continues: “Inside the vehicle and upon search we located several shaved keys that are commonly used to steal vehicles.” The suspect gave various aliases, police say, but finally was identified; he has an extensive out-of-state record and was charged earlier this last year in another Seattle car-theft case – also involving a blue Mercedes.
Something to do on this gray afternoon, if you haven’t done it already – make your window/yard display for Earth Day – which is tomorrow! Last week, we published the call from the Care for Creation team (from Holy Rosary and Our Lady of Guadalupe parishes) to “place Earth-related photos or illustrations in windows or signs in yards to demonstrate solidarity with our planet.” Businesses are participating too – here’s the very first photo we received, from Cynthia at West Seattle Chiropractic, who says this is in the window at their (temporarily closed) clinic:
We’ll be showing more tomorrow – send a photo of YOUR display to westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!
Governor Inslee has just announced a 5 pm speech that he says will “lay out Washington’s plan for recovery from the COVID-19 outbreak.” This comes with two weeks to go until the current expiration of the stay-home order. It’ll be livestreamed via TVW; we’ll also carry it here, with as-it-happens notes, including coverage of a media briefing/Q&A he and other state officials are having at 5:45 pm.
(WSB photo of Highland Park Way/Holden traffic signal, rush-installed after bridge closure)
The West Seattle Bridge Town Hall is the first of two local online meetings tomorrow night focusing on the bridge closure and how it’s affecting peninsula mobility. At 7 pm Wednesday (April 22nd), the neighborhood group whose area is most affected by the detouring traffic, HPAC, is hosting its monthly meeting online – but please note the important disclaimer:
HPAC virtual meetings are limited to 100 participants (this is due to cost of the software and what HPAC has the budget for) and are intended for residents of Highland Park, South Delridge, and Riverview, if you are not a resident of one of these neighborhoods, we ask you kindly to step back from attending this one.
April Agenda:
7:00: Welcome and overview of attending a virtual meeting
7:10: Q & A with SDOT: Impact of West Seattle Bridge Closure on Highland Park, Riverview, and South Delridge.
A representative from SDOT will attend to answer questions about the West Seattle High-Rise Bridge closure and how it impacts our neighborhood, as well as provide an update on the intersection at Highland Park Way SW and SW Holden Street.
7:50: Outstanding Items/Closing
If you are in one of HPAC’s neighborhoods, you can find the meeting-access info here.
(WSB photo, last week)
9:56 AM: As mentioned in our coverage of Monday’s council briefing about the West Seattle Bridge closure, Councilmember Lisa Herbold announced that she would host an “electronic Town Hall” Wednesday night. She has just sent details of how to be part of it:
West Seattle Bridge Digital Town Hall
Wednesday at 5 p.m.Councilmember Pedersen and I will co-host a digital town hall with SDOT on the West Seattle Bridge and traffic management in West Seattle while the bridge is closed. The town hall will be from 5 p.m. to 6:30 on Wednesday, April 22nd.
SDOT Director Sam Zimbabwe will be presenting, and available for your questions.
You can sign up to participate here; you’ll receive the link to the meeting an hour or so before it begins.
(Councilmember Alex Pedersen chairs the Transportation Committee.)
ADDED 2:34 PM: We sent a few followup questions to Councilmember Herbold’s office; legislative assistant Newell Aldrich replied. How will participants be able to ask questions? The email you’ll get about an hour in advance, if you RSVP, will include the link for questions. You’ll also be able to ask during the event. They’re not yet sure what platform the event will use – they want to ensure they can handle all the participation (1,000 RSVPs already).
Family and friends are remembering Irene Anna Olson, 76, and sharing this remembrance with her community:
Irene Anna Olson passed away at her home in Seattle on April 14, 2020, from bile duct cancer.
She was born in Tukums, Latvia, on February 24, 1944, to Irene and Nikolajs Beleiciks. Her maternal grandparents were Aleksandra Michailovsky of Riga and Michael Dulimow, a Cossack officer from Kargalskaya. Her family fled Latvia while she was still an infant, and she grew up in a displaced-persons camp in the British sector of Germany. In 1950, she immigrated to the United States with her mother and two brothers. They settled in a housing project in White Center and were joined by her great-aunt Irene Michailovsky. Fluent in four languages (Latvian, Russian, German, and English), she attended Evergreen High School, where she was the valedictorian of her class despite spending six months in a tuberculosis sanatorium her junior year.
She went on to graduate Magna Cum Laude from the University of Washington in 1967. After college, she taught Russian and German at Renton High School. A skilled pianist, singer, and dancer, Irene enjoyed performing with the Trejdeksnitis Latvian dance group. In 1968, she moved to Germany, where she taught in Frankfurt and worked as a translator. Her adventures in Europe included bicycling to Greece and visiting the Soviet Union.
In 1971, she returned to Seattle and married Wallace S. Olson. They lived in a cottage on the beach near the Fauntleroy ferry terminal and enjoyed watching the sunset over the Olympic Mountains. Irene attended graduate school in Germanics while Wally worked as a printer for the Boeing Company. They later had three children and moved to a house near Madison Middle School. Irene was an active member of St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Cathedral and the Seattle Latvian community for over sixty years, including serving as director of the Seattle Latvian School. Later in life, she sang for the Vashon Island Chorale.
In 1993, after her husband passed, Irene began a new career in elementary education while raising three children as a single parent. She accepted a position as librarian at Hazel Valley Elementary and doggedly pursued professional development. In 2000, she joined the Renton School District, serving for five years as Vice Principal of Bryn Mawr Elementary and twelve years as Principal of Tiffany Park Elementary before retiring in 2017. Under her leadership, Tiffany Park became one of the top-performing schools in the district. She was a regional leader in implementing positive behavioral interventions and support systems. Irene was particularly proud to work in a school with many immigrant families, since she fondly remembered the generosity of her own teachers when she first arrived in Seattle as a refugee.
Irene was an inspiration for countless friends, fellow educators, neighbors, and students. Her enthusiasm, loving heart, and sense of humor will be sorely missed. She is survived by two brothers, Igor Beleiciks of Seattle and George Beleiciks of Vancouver, Wash.; one daughter, Sonja Olson Feuerborn of Seattle; two sons, Alex Olson of Bowling Green, Ky., and Max Olson of Seattle; three grandchildren, Ocean, Skaista, and Igor; and many nieces, nephews, and cousins. She will be buried at Evergreen-Washelli Cemetery in Seattle.
Donations in her memory may be made to the Seattle Latvian School or the Renton Regional Community Foundation’s Irene Olson Memorial Scholarship. This scholarship will provide $500 of college support for aspiring teachers. Any junior or senior attending a high school in the Renton School District will be eligible to apply. If you are interested in giving, click here and enter the name of the fund (Irene Olson Memorial Scholarship) where it asks for that information. Donations to the Seattle Latvian School can be sent by check to Seattle Latvian School, 2336 N 58th Street, Seattle, WA 98103.
(WSB publishes West Seattle obituaries by request, free of charge. Please e-mail the text, and a photo if available, to editor@westseattleblog.com)
5:53 AM: 29th morning without the high-rise West Seattle Bridge. A City Council briefing on Monday mostly recapped what was announced last week, as well as reiterating low-bridge restrictions.
For general traffic, the main route across the Duwamish River is the 1st Avenue South Bridge (map) – that’s also the main way to get to I-5, exiting at Michigan.
The other option is the South Park Bridge (map), which drops you onto East Marginal Way one mile south of the north end of the 1st Ave. South Bridge.
Check the @SDOTBridges Twitter feed to see if a bridge is opening for marine traffic.
ROAD WORK ALERT: Striping work continues this week in the 35th/Avalon/Alaska project zone.
TRANSIT ALERTS:
Metro’s third round of service cuts is in effect – details here. The Water Taxi continues its reduced schedule.
OTHER LINKS
SDOT’s traffic map
Our traffic-cams page
Let us know what you’re seeing – comment, or text (not if you’re at the wheel!) 206-293-6302.
Two weeks to go in the current stay-home order; no state, county, or city executive statements (about that or anything else) today, but we do have a variety of notes in our nightly roundup:
NEWEST KING COUNTY NUMBERS: From the Seattle-King County Public Health data dashboard:
*5,293 people have tested positive, up 121 from yesterday
*360 people have died, up 14 from yesterday
One week ago, those totals were 4,549 and 296.
STATEWIDE NUMBERS: Find them here.
WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: Find them here.
FIRST QUARANTINE-FACILITY DEATH: The King County isolation/quarantine facility n Top Hat (east of White Center) has not opened yet. But the first death at one of the facilities the county has opened – a former motel in Kent – was reported today.
UNEMPLOYMENT-APPLICATION DELUGE: On the second day since the state opened applications to an expanded group – adding self-employed people and independent contractors – they’re still having some online struggles. Here’s the latest.
GETTING GRADED: Seattle Public Schools‘ struggle to ensure equitable education for its 50,000+ students during building closures has led to a new grading policy for high-schoolers.
‘QUARANTINE DRAGON’: You’ve seen teddy bears and other critters in neighbors’ windows. But have you seen the “Quarantine Dragon”?
It guards a garage in Gatewood. Thanks to Michelle for the photo!
GOT INFO? PHOTOS? Email westseattleblog@gmail.com or text/voice 206-293-6302 – thank you!
Life goes on, with adjustments. The video and report are from Bill Schrier:
Nancy Morrison is a long-time resident of the North Admiral District. Today a bunch of her neighbors got together to sing her Happy 91st Birthday, from the street and with social distancing.
| 12 COMMENTS