Mayor Greg Nickels will declare open season on potholes at a press conference tomorrow morning, kicking off a campaign by the city’s Pothole Rangers to fill a record number of the axle-bending offenders over the next week.
The mayor will issue a pothole hunting license to all drivers and bikers to flush out the worst potholes in the city and report them to 684-ROAD. He will then join the Rangers as they fill the first pothole in their record-setting attempt.
The press conference is going to be in — no, not West Seattle, our kindred spirit across the bay, Ballard. Which of course means we must hereby show you the best “Almost Live” clip ever:
Noting that the Alki Ave paving wasn’t completed by last Friday as per the original city announcement (previous coverage here), we checked with SDOT to ask about both the new schedule and any other near-future West Seattle paving plans. Here’s what SDOT spokesperson Marybeth Turner replied:
The Alki paving was delayed due to the weather and an equipment breakdown last week. The new completion date is March 24, weather permitting.
The plan is to also pave the following two segments this year, depending on how far the available money stretches:
-SW Genesee St from 51st Ave SW to 47th Ave SW
-16th Ave SW from SW Findlay St to SW Brandon St
Looks like my fellow Fauntle-rut Way drivers and I are out of luck for now – but keep reporting individual potholes to 206/684-ROAD, or online by using the form here.
As noted here, The Viaduct will be closed northbound tomorrow morning, 8-10:30 am, for the St. Patrick’s Day Dash. And next weekend’s the big inspection-closure weekend — currently scheduled to be closed in both directions, 6 am-6 pm Saturday & 6 am-6 pm Sunday, with the Battery Street Tunnel closed continuously 6 am Saturday-6 pm Sunday. Another road note: Looks like the Alki Avenue paving didn’t get finished in the expected window – we drove that stretch earlier today and there’s clearly work yet to be done, but we don’t have an advisory from SDOT on when it will resume and how long it will take, so we’ll check Monday.
Saw the sign this morning – now here’s the full alert from the city Transportation Department, plus a few other downtown changes for the weekend that you might want to know about:Read More
As promised during our briefing last month with city Transportation Department managers about the upcoming Junction parking review, SDOT is starting to make the rounds of West Seattle meetings to outline what’s ahead and answer questions. One of the first stops: last night’s meeting of the Junction Neighborhood Organization (JuNO), whose members have a somewhat different take on area parking issues than people who don’t live in the Junction vicinity – they are interested in possible Residential Parking Zones (RPZs), which are marked with signs like the one shown in the photo at left (from a street near the Fauntleroy ferry dock), and require residents to pay a relatively small fee for a permit exempting them from the restrictions. Here’s a city page with more about RPZs; they’re set up to help neighborhoods besieged with a large amount of non-resident parkers for long periods of time. Right now in the residential areas surrounding The Junction, the challenges are twofold: “Park-and-hiders” — people from other neighborhoods who drive and park there to get closer to major bus routes — and construction workers coming in to work on Capco Plaza (41st/42nd/Alaska) and Mural (behind Petco), a subset of parkers that will only get bigger as other projects are launched, such as Fauntleroy Place (Whole Foods) and the California/Alaska buildings that will be presented to the Southwest Design Review Board on April 10. (By the way, the location for that meeting is now set — Chief Sealth High School – and after the California/Alaska project is reviewed at 6:30, the Harbor Properties project at 4550 38th has been added for 8 pm — more on that in our next post.) At JuNO last night, Mary Catherine Snyder from SDOT outlined the process for the Junction Parking Review and answered questions about where RPZ consideration might fit in:Read More
911 shows a crash around 2 pm on the westbound high bridge parallel with Delridge; the other half of our team is in westbound traffic now about a mile west and says it’s extremely slow going. In case you’re leaving somewhere to head back this way, now you know, alternative routes might be better for a little while.
In addition to the two Alki Ave projects we’ve been telling you about, we just happened onto rod work that’s got flaggers in action on Beach Drive too, just south of Lowman Beach. Along Alki, the heavy equipment for this week’s paving work was just getting into gear in the 1700 block, and just a few blocks past the end of the paving zone at Bonair, the 53rd SW Pump Projectcrews have flaggers too – with equipment like this taking up one full lane:
Unless the weather changes the city’s plan, the Alki Ave paving work announced last week (full details here) from the 1700 block to Bonair is scheduled to start this morning.
We mentioned last weekend that the ferry Issaquah would leave the Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth run this weekend for “fuel-tank cleaning.” Didn’t know till tonight (official Washington State Ferries news release here) that the cleaning is to prep it for the latest biodiesel test starting Monday. Two other ferries are set to try biodiesel starting this spring, including the Tillikum, which also is currently on the Fauntleroy run. The “triangle route” was also involved in a biodiesel test in 2004, suspended because of fuel-filter trouble. (That test involved 20% biodiesel; this new one involves a 5% mix.)
The state’s monthly Alaskan Way Viaduct e-mail update just came out (read it here), and it confirms the inspection shutdown previously announced for March 22-23 is planned for 6 am-6 pm each day – The Viaduct WILL reopen 6 pm Saturday-6 am Sunday, but the Battery Street Tunnel will stay closed for the entire weekend, 6 am Saturday 3/22 through 6 pm Sunday 3/23. Also, if you’re interested in joining a walking tour for a firsthand look at The Viaduct while it’s closed to traffic, they’re offering tours on the lower deck 9 am-noon on 3/22; no kids, no pets, and you must make a reservation — call 888/AWV-LINE or e-mail viaduct@wsdot.wa.gov.
Next week SDOT paving crews will work on Alki Avenue
Southwest between 1732 Alki Avenue Southwest and Bonair Drive Southwest.
From 7:30 a.m. until 3 p.m. one lane will be open, shared by northbound
and southbound traffic, assisted by traffic flaggers. Once the asphalt
surface is ground down, until new asphalt is laid, the roadway surface
will be rough and there will be raised castings.
The crews plan to begin on Tuesday, March 11, and complete the project
by Friday, March 14.
That explains all the extra “no parking” signs we saw this afternoon east of the 53rd SW pump-project site — we THOUGHT that was a little too much to be blocking off.
(photo by WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli)
As reported here earlier this week, West Seattle-residing City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen‘s campaign for rush-hour restrictions on the opening of the “low bridge” is making some headway. We told you yesterday that the Coast Guard’s regional bridge commander was quoted in a newspaper story as saying the proposal was about to be published for public comment and that we had a call out to him for further elaboration. He called back this morning and indeed had more details than were included in that newspaper article:Read More
Just in from WSDOT: “Crews must close two right lanes on northbound I-5 approaching I-90 to perform temporary emergency repairs on an expansion joint. Crews will weld the steel expansion joint cover in place.” This could take at least an hour or so and is apparently under way now; more work is planned later tonight (and those same two lanes will be closed 10 pm-4 am as a result), but bottom line, if you have to head to I-5 right now, wait if you can, or find a way to get onto I-5 from mid-downtown.
Attention, bike riders – this city announcement is for you:
The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) released today a Special Edition Bike Map highlighting 20 miles of new bicycle facilities and promoting the 2008 International Pro Walk/Pro Bike conference coming to Seattle this September. Seattle and the northwestern region have embraced sustainability and are making major investments in bicycling and walking. The conference will showcase some of these accomplishments and inspire hundreds of other communities around the United States to undertake similar programs. The map identifies bike lanes, climbing lanes, the new section of the Burke-Gilman Trail from the Ballard Locks to Golden Gardens Park and the Chief Sealth trail starting at S. Dawson Street and ending near 51st Avenue S. It also includes information on ‘sharrows’ and illustrates routes where they are used.
The bike map is one of SDOT’s most requested informational pieces. Thanks to Bridging the Gap SDOT has funding to implement many of the recommendations in the Bicycle Master Plan. As a result, updated versions of this popular cycling tool will continue to be released. This will help the city reach its goal of tripling the number of bicyclists over a period of 10 years.
Bike maps are available:
· at the Bike Expo this weekend, March 8 and 9, at Pier 30
· by calling the Bike Alliance at 206-224-9252
· by contacting SDOT online at www.seattle.gov/transportation/bikeprogram.htm
This fall, a second version will be printed that will include 30 miles of new bike facilities being installed over the summer. If you have any suggestions or corrections for the fall printing, please email SDOT at walkandbike@seattle.gov.
We checked the SDOT link listed as a bike-map source – can’t tell if the downloadable map there is the new one or not (the page declares “the map was updated in 2003” though it also has an icon for that upcoming conference).
8 o’clock sharp this morning, we took that photo from Spokane/Marginal, with truck traffic backed up three ways while the low bridge was open about a mile ahead. Two days ago, we told you West Seattle-residing City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen was intensifying his push to restrict bridge openings during AM and PM rush hours, in hopes of cutting down on situations like the one you see above; today, there’s word of progress on the proposal — according to the Times, the regional U.S. Coast Guard district plans to publish a notice that will start a 60-day period for comment from the marine industry, after which another 30-day review period would be required before the restrictions (7-9 am and 4-6 pm) would potentially take effect. We have a call out to the USCG to find out more.
This month marks one year since the Viaduct Vote. Some things have happened in the ensuing year, perhaps most notably Governor Gregoire declaring what’s left of The Viaduct will come down by 2012 (if not sooner). Second most notably, the state, city, and county agreed to work together to figure out what to do in the wake of the city vote that said no to a tunnel and no to an elevated replacement. Details of that ongoing work have emerged recently at a meeting here and a meeting there, like the briefing the Seattle City Council got today from key city, state, and county leaders. No discussion of what happened this morning — this was all about what’s to come — but there’s no denying that traffic mess was a clear reminder of what traffic nightmares could be in store if dramatic, creative action isn’t taken before and during the upcoming construction projects. Here are some of this afternoon’s highlights:Read More
(photo by WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli)
During commutes like this morning, when something goes wrong with The Viaduct or the high bridge, many eastbound West Seattle commuters flock to the low bridge. Just one glitch with that: It sometimes opens for vessel traffic during peak-commute hours. That’s a sore spot for drivers such as WSB’er Jennifer, whose question about the situation was featured here last November. West Seattle-dwelling City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen has been pushing for rush-hour restrictions, especially as traffic-affecting work on the Spokane Street Viaduct section of The Bridge gets closer, and talked to WSB about where this stands:Read More
The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) crew installing the temporary flex-rail on the Alaskan Way Viaduct northbound between Cherry and Main Streets has completed the work early. An overnight vehicle accident which damaged the guardrail forced the closure of the far left lane while Seattle Police investigated the accident and the SDOT crew worked to install a temporary guardrail. All lanes are now open and flowing smoothly on the Viaduct.
1:12 PM UPDATE: SDOT spokesperson Peg Nielsen tells WSB they should know tomorrow when the permanent repairs will be done, and says that they always try to get that sort of work done during the “non-peak” hours of 9 am-3 pm.
While we were downtown, this update came in from SDOT:
The far left lane (westernmost lane) remains closed on the Alaskan Way Viaduct northbound between Main and Cherry streets due to an overnight accident. SDOT crews are installing a temporary flex-rail. The work should be completed by noon or 1:00 p.m. and the left lane will be re-opened at that time. At this time three lanes are open for traffic past the work zone.
P.S. You can now get Viaduct-related news as part of the mix on our new MORE page — we just added it to the parameters by which the automated feeds there are sorted.
As reported here about this time yesterday, at least a few eastbound drivers heading out of West Seattle were startled to see those semi-new “Alaskan Way Viaduct Closed” lights flashing yesterday morning –considering The Viaduct was wide open at the time. We called the city Transportation Department and were told it was a test. Why no warning, then, some commenters sensibly asked. We had a followup question out and didn’t hear back till SDOT communications chief Rick Sheridan just called with new information: It was a system failure, after all. He says SDOT was confused when we first asked yesterday morning because some testing WAS actually happening elsewhere along the chain of warning lights — a crew was out in the north end along Aurora, where similar lights are set up for southbound drivers, testing individual lights; Sheridan says that was at the same time a “field communications device component” failed here in West Seattle, turning on the whole system. The faulty component has since been replaced. We asked why there was no advance public alert about the test that WAS going on; Sheridan says there wouldn’t be one for a “one light at a time, quickly off and on, with a crew standing there” test like the one on Aurora, but he promises there will be one for a systemwide test he says is planned in about three weeks. (Which would be right before the actual scheduled inspection closure of The Viaduct March 22-23.)
First came the plan for a sidewalk along Alki Ave west of the spot shown above – then came concern – then the protest – then word the plan would change (and incorporate some improvements to the 63rd/Alki arterial-turn route) – now (hat tip to AlkiNews.com for first word), the city will send a delegation to Alki on April 2 to show and explain potential alternatives. Larry Carpenter of the Alki Community Councilis helping coordinate the meeting; he explains:
SDOT will present several alternative plans at a public meeting on Wednesday, April 2nd from 6:30 to 8:30 PM at the Alki Community Center. Drawings of the variants will be available on tables or along the walls as early as 6 PM so that people can come in early and familiarize themselves with the plans. Sidewalk program manager Sandra Woods (handles all 16 Seattle projects), Alki project manager Therese Casper, and some project engineers will present the plans and answer questions with the intent of getting consensus. … Alki Council will also have reps on hand to answer any questions on the history of the project (going back to the early ’90s).
Thanks to two WSB’ers who e-mailed us to report seeing those semi-new “VIADUCT CLOSED WHEN FLASHING” lights in action this morning — one report at 9 am on The Bridge, one report at 10 am on 35th. Marybeth Turner of SDOTconfirms it was a planned test, not a malfunction, and is checking to see if any more testing is planned; good thing they’re checking now, since the next weekend-inspection closure for The Viaduct is just a few weeks away (March 22-23).
SDOT is starting to make the rounds of West Seattle meetings to outline what’s ahead and answer questions. One of the first stops: last night’s meeting of the 
The Viaduct WILL reopen 6 pm Saturday-6 am Sunday, but the Battery Street Tunnel will stay closed for the entire weekend, 6 am Saturday 3/22 through 6 pm Sunday 3/23. Also, if you’re interested in joining a walking tour for a firsthand look at The Viaduct while it’s closed to traffic, they’re offering tours on the lower deck 9 am-noon on 3/22; no kids, no pets, and you must make a reservation — call 888/AWV-LINE or e-mail 
lights flashing yesterday morning –considering The Viaduct was wide open at the time. We called the city 
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