Followup: No Junction pay stations – but what about other areas?
One note of interest, following up on this afternoon’s bulletin that the city is NOT considering pay stations for street parking in The Junction, because the statistics just don’t show a need. (See our 1:02 pm bulletin here.) Knowing that the city had originally said it would do parking reviews in Morgan Junction next year, Admiral in 2011, and Alki in 2012, we asked if those timetables had slid, since this review has taken a year and a half. Here’s the reply from SDOT spokesperson Rick Sheridan:
The Morgan Junction is the only West Seattle area on the near term schedule for a review of parking. This community parking project is tentatively planned for 2010, but that may change due to staffing availability. We still plan to work with the Admiral and Alki/Harbor Drive neighborhoods, but that will occur much further down the road.
Update: Metro/Ferry District proposal “swapping taxes”
(12:06 PM NOTE: Official news release on this can now be seen here.)
ORIGINAL 11 AM REPORT: We’re at King County’s Chinook building downtown (south end of 5th Avenue) for County Executive Kurt Triplett’s briefing on the Metro budget situation – there’ve been warnings throughout the year that it’s in dire straits and that service changes/cuts are likely to result. We’ll add announcements as soon as they are made. 11:01 AM UPDATE: We just got the news release. 
He’s proposing a 5.5 cent property tax (taxing authority granted recently by the Legislature) to “save RapidRide” among other things. Triplett says he will reduce other levies by an equal amount – including a 4 1/2 cent reduction in the King County Ferry District levy (we should find out what that means to the Water Taxi – Council Chair Dow Constantine is here as well). He also says he has no details yet today of what service cuts will be needed. He says he will dedicate part of the money to save the RapidRide plan (note that it was previously reported the West Seattle RapidRide “branding” would be delayed a year, to 2012 instead of 2011). Triplett says the budget problem is a 4-year problem, not a 2-year problem. 11:09 AM UPDATE: Reading ahead in the printed news release – while the Ferry District “demonstration route” plans outside West Seattle would be affected, the plan for “enhanced” West Seattle service and a new vessel will NOT be affected. Triplett calls the demonstration routes “a luxury we cannot afford when Metro ridership has gone up 20 percent yet is facing deep cuts” because of sales-tax revenue drops. 11:14 AM: Triplett says “this is not buses versus boats” but also acknowledges his office has no formal role in Ferry District budgeting so he is going to send a recommended budget alternative and hopes the Ferry District Board of Supervisors – the county council – will adopt it, using the one-cent tax that would remain if 4 1/2 cents are indeed taken off the Ferry District taxing. 11:18 AM: County Council Chair Dow Constantine has just spoken – he chairs the Ferry Board and the Regional Transit Committee as well. He said a fare increase may be required in the future instead of a tax increase. Now County Councilmember Larry Phillips, who like Constantine is running for County Executive, says he’s going to present a separate “action plan” for Metro at an event after this one. 11:20 AM: Triplett says that next week he will roll out a plan that will include service cuts as well as fare increases but wanted to address Ferry District and RapidRide separately. 11:22 AM: We just asked whether the year-round Water Taxi plan and the Seacrest dock improvements would be affected. Harold Taniguchi from Metro says no – the brunt of the Ferry District cuts would be the demonstration routes (which were not going to involve West Seattle anyway). 11:36 AM: Briefing over. It’s clear that this is just a small piece of a puzzle that we won’t fully see till next week – Council Chair Constantine just came over to talk with us for a moment to further clarify. He says this boils down to an attempt to keep transit rolling as much as possible through the “trough of the current recession” until its funding source picks up. He also notes that regarding the Seacrest dock improvements, their final price tag is lower than originally proposed anyway (we have to track down the exact cost of that). We’re leaving the county building now and will digest this into a “bottom line – what it means to you” report in a bit. 2:25 PM: The news release for Phillips’ plan is now out. He is proposing repealing the King County Ferry District tax levy entirely, saying “Buses are … more important to our regional transportation system than water taxis.” Read on for the full text; we’ll be pursuing comment on whether he is seeking to cancel the King County Water Taxi program altogether (which runs the Seattle-Vashon foot ferry as well as West Seattle-downtown) or instead proposing it find some other source of funding:Read More
Happening today/tonight – the quick roundup
METRO BUDGET: We’ll be downtown at 11 am to hear County Executive Kurt Triplett discuss the latest on Metro’s budget troubles, so we can find out how that might affect transit service. Look for live updates here.
ENCAMPMENT EVICTION? We’re awaiting word of whether organizers of the 2nd SW/Highland Park Way camp that calls itself “Nickelsville” will get a court order holding off eviction from the state-owned land. If not, they say they’ll be packing up starting around 5 pm.
DESIGN REVIEW FOR 4532 42ND SW: 6:30 pm, Senior Center of West Seattle. Here’s our preview from yesterday.
DELRIDGE PLAYGROUND’S GRAND OPENING: Six days after a volunteer army built it, tonight kids get to play on it, it opens tonight at 6:30. Look for a story later with our “Digital Darkroom” interns from Delridge Community Center taking one more look at the amazing playground-building day.
ADMIRAL OUTDOOR CONCERT SERIES KICKOFF: Summer Concerts at Hiawatha begin tonight – 6:30 pm, east lawn, Alma Villegas (find out about her music here), FREE, series presented by the Admiral Neighborhood Association and co-sponsored by local businesses including WSB. B/Y/O blanket/chair.
REMEMBERING TERESA BUTZ: 7:30 tonight in the grassy area between the parking lot and ballfields at South Park Community Center (map), a memorial for the woman stabbed to death in her South Park home last Sunday morning. More here.
Update: New California SW bike lane explained
That’s the view of a small section of the new California SW bike lane, as seen from one of the big chairs outside Caffe Ladro in Morgan Junction. Since we first told you about the new lane last Sunday, more work has been done, and one stretch of California SW just north of here (south of Fauntleroy Way) now has bike lanes on both sides of the street. We had sent an inquiry to SDOT after noting the bike lane wasn’t called for in the Bicycle Master Plan, which simply recommended “sharrows” in this area (they’ve been painted in the same area between the bike-lane-lined sections). Here’s the explanation we received today:
The recommendations for bicycle facilities in the Seattle Bicycle Master Plan were based on detailed field work and available data regarding traffic volumes, turning movements, speeds and other factors. However, the plan also recognized that “in most cases, the facilities and actions identified in the Plan will require additional traffic analysis….”
In this particular case, there is about 48′ from curb-to-curb on the stretch between Fauntleroy and Myrtle, yet the 2-way left-turn lane is only present between Fauntleroy and Willow. That provided some extra room on the section between Willow & Myrtle, so we were able to install bike lanes on both sides of the street for those 3 blocks. We also determined that there is enough roadway width (~40′) to upgrade to a climbing lane (bike lane going uphill, sharrows going down) between Myrtle and Ida. In general, we prefer to install bike lanes over sharrows if there is space available.
Also today, the city issued a midyear “Bridging the Gap update” news release regarding how much road work’s been done so far this year – read it here.
Traffic alert: Highway 99 lane closures; Viaduct closure Sat. night
Just got this note from the folks working on the various Alaskan Way Viaduct-related projects:
On Wednesday (July 22) crews will close the far right lane of northbound SR 99 between the West Seattle Bridge and the Railroad Way S. ramps from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. On Thursday (July 23) crews will close the far right lane of southbound SR 99 between the Railroad Way S. ramps and the West Seattle Bridge from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m.
This is related to the South End Replacement work – more info here.
ADDED 4:14 PM: And we’ve received two reminders that the northbound lanes of The Viaduct are closed for two hours Saturday night because of the Seafair Torchlight Run – 5:45-7:45 pm.
Construction notes: 16th SW and Denny-Sealth site
(photo added 12:33 pm – Denny-Sealth construction view from the north side, along SW Kenyon)
Two reminders: The 16th SW road-rebuilding work north of South Seattle Community College is scheduled to get into full swing next week, but SDOT has warned that preparation work this week (such as equipment arrival) may result in delays. Also, the Chief Sealth High School-Denny Middle School project has moved into a new stage; work is under way on the foundation, utilities and retaining walls for the new Denny, and crews are starting installations of electrical/mechanical upgrades at Chief Sealth, as well as asphalt removal at the site’s north driveway. Work at the high school is scheduled to be done in time for classes to resume there in fall of 2010; the new Denny is to be completed in 2011.
Bike lane just added to south stretch of California SW
Much of the main south stretch of California SW, from south of Morgan Junction up toward the Gatewood/Fauntleroy border at SW Thistle (map), not only has received bicycle-awareness “sharrows” in the past week-plus, but now also of this weekend has a bicycle lane, mostly in the southbound/uphill direction. (The bike lane ends at SW Ida [map], which is also where the Route 22 bus turns.) Striping crews have been working night and weekend hours in the past several days — they first moved the center line a few feet east, where it’s now marked by reflective yellow “turtles” (so many of which had come off during last winter’s snow/ice/sanding), and then the bike lane appeared. The West Seattle section of the citywide Bicycle Master Plan (see it here) does not call for a bike lane in this area – bike lanes are marked by broken dark-blue lines, sharrows by light turquoise, and this stretch is marked only with the latter (here’s a screen grab; link to the full plan is here):
We’ll be checking with SDOT tomorrow about the appearance of the bike lane and if bike lanes are on the drawing board anywhere else in West Seattle that’s not included in the Master Plan. (In the plan, the stretch of Fauntleroy that’s getting a bike lane as part of the “rechannelization” following the current road-rebuilding/repaving work is coded in the plan as “more study needed.”)
SW District Council: Traffic-calming how-to, plus backyard cottages
The Southwest District Council usually meets the first Wednesday of the month but moved and shortened its meeting this month to combine with an SDOT presentation about neighborhood traffic calming – and that brought out more than a dozen extra attendees. At left, SDOT’s Christina Legazpi with a radar gun, which her colleague Jane Rebelowski explained is often the first tool to determine if your neighborhood really needs help. If you sign up and get at least four more people on your street to join you, you’ll be able to take a class on how to use a radar gun, which will be loaned to you. She suggests neighbors work in pairs to track how fast cars are going and what type of cars are seen speeding. They notch two hours of logged observations to gauge the speed problem. Then comes the next phase – SPD enforcement and/or installation of calming measures. They can include signs, humps, chicanes, chokers (chicanes right across from each other) … all explained here, all potentially funded by money you can apply for. So how effective are the various measures? she was asked – and: Why not put up more stop signs? She says the federal government outlaws simply using stop signs for traffic calming – and they’re easily ignored anyway. Some attendees said they’d applied for traffic calming and gotten turned down; Rebelowski said she’d take a look at the specifics of their applications. If you’re interested in finding out more about how to confirm whether your neighborhood has a problem, and then figure out what to do about it, e-mail her: jane.rebelowski@seattle.gov – and note that this year’s deadline to apply for projects like traffic circles is fast approaching, end of the month.
The group also heard from Andrea Petzel with the same presentation on “backyard cottages” that she gave to the Delridge District Council last month – the city is considering allowing them in more areas. One attendee asked if there would be a vote or whether the City Council would “just ram it down our throats.” Junction Neighborhood Organization president Erica Karlovits expressed concern about density; Petzel said the cottages would only be allowed on single-family lots, but Karlovits pointed out that in The Junction, single-family residences are in close proximity to the ongoing new high-density building. Petzel countered by saying the city planned a maximum of 50 permits per year and she didn’t think that would ultimately affect density. (According to the “backyard cottage” program website, they’ve been allowed in Southeast Seattle for three years, but only 18 permits have been sought.)
From MoCA meeting: Fauntleroy Way road-rebuilding update
First of several updates from tonight’s Morgan Community Association meeting: The most intensive phase of the Fauntleroy/California section of the Fauntleroy Way road work 
is on track to be done by the end of this week as promised, according to an SDOT update read by MoCA president Deb Barker. The update provided to MoCA by project manager Jessica Murphy also mentions the crews are using a “special fast-setting mix” that is enabling the rebuilt road sections to be used within 24 hours. Right now, according to Murphy’s update, the north access to West Seattle Thriftway and surrounding areas should be open again by Saturday afternoon. One thing that’s still up in the air – exactly when repaving will start in that area – could be as soon as late July. As for the rest of the road-rebuilding project stretch, SDOT says crews will “work their way north from Morgan Junction” starting next week, working on the concrete panels in the northbound lanes – the east side — just uncovered by grinding, and then that long stretch up to Alaska will be reduced to one lane in each direction “for the duration of the project” (into fall). SDOT also acknowledges the bumpiness between the patching on the edge of the redone concrete panels and the yet-to-be-tackled center section, but says that will be eliminated when the center section of the roadway is completely rebuilt. More updates to come: The Viaduct, the Spokane Street Viaduct widening project, RapidRide and the Lowman Beach pump project – and that’s just what we’ve heard so far, with even more on the agenda!
Spokane St. Viaduct project updates – including lower bids
SDOT has just sent one of its periodic updates on the Spokane Street Viaduct (basically the stretch between the high-rise bridge and I-5) widening (etc.) project – which incidentally is considered to be one of the components in the overall Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement work. Among the toplines: Bids are in for the actual widening work, and SDOT says three of the bids were less than $62 million – for a project that was estimated to cost up to $80 million. Read on for the full update:Read More
Tunnel backers’ briefing: It’s not a $4 billion tunnel, it’s $2 billion
Five prominent supporters of the plan to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct with a deep-bored tunnel and other road/transit projects summoned reporters to Ivar’s Acres of Clams on the downtown waterfront today, saying they needed to correct “falsehoods,” “confusion” and “mis-impressions” that they say are circulating. They blame the “falsehoods” in particular on some political campaigns, specifically citing the campaigns of two anti-tunnel candidates, mayoral hopeful Mike McGinn (who calls the tunnel “unnecessary”) and council hopeful Mike O’Brien (whose tunnel concerns are detailed here). First, the group pointed to the numbers in the graphic you see above: While opponents refer to it as a “$4 billion tunnel,” they note the tunnel itself will cost about half of that total transportation package. State Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, a sponsor of the legislation that made the tunnel plan law, says there’s a “sizable built-in contingency” for the estimated $1.9-$2.2 billion tunnel cost “so cost overruns will be very unlikely and if any minimal.”
She also reiterated that the controversial amendment saying Seattle property owners would have to pay for overruns would almost certainly not hold up in court, if there was any attempt to apply it. And she stressed it was “not an easy feat” to get the tunnel plan through the Legislature in the first place. Briefing participants also stressed that they believe this is the only plan that will “keep traffic flowing” while it’s built. We asked about some West Seattleites’ concerns that accessibility will be hampered by the fact there are no downtown exits in the tunnel:
Read More
Followup: City Council unanimously passes bridge resolution
(Seattle Municipal Archives photo of The Bridge while it was being built)
As previewed here last week, the City Council voted today on a resolution to give the West Seattle Bridge a “secondary name” in honor of the late City Councilmember Jeanette Williams, who fought to get key funding for its construction. Thanks to Brian Hawksford in the office of City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen – who worked for and with Ms. Williams for many years and sponsored today’s resolution – for confirming it passed unanimously, 9-0. Williams’ son Rusty Williams, who is running for City Council this year, thanked the council for honoring his mom. Also today, a proclamation was read in honor of tomorrow’s 25th anniversary of the opening of the high bridge, six years after a freighter smashed into and shut down the drawbridge that preceded it. Read on for the full text:Read More
Reminder: Fauntleroy Way road work just revved up again
Quoting one driver’s frustrated note a short time ago on Twitter, “Seven minutes to get through Fauntleroy and California!” (map) That’s because as previewed last week, the Fauntleroy Way road-rebuilding work has revved up again today. At the aforementioned intersection, this means traffic’s down to 1 lane each way, and it also means you can’t use the north entrance to West Seattle Thriftway during work hours:
(The store’s west and east entrances are open as usual.) As per the city bulletin from last week, grinding work is also happening on the eastbound lanes further north along the road-rebuilding stretch, which runs all the way to SW Edmunds. The official city project-info/overview/updates page is here; the project is expected to continue into October, but the Fauntleroy/California work that started up again today is supposed to be done by the end of the week, “weather permitting,” per SDOT.
Rolling through West Seattle (& beyond) for Tour de Watertower
While most of West Seattle’s attention was on Summer Fest and/or the rain for most of Sunday, another event spun through the peninsula: Tour de Watertower, with a route including two of West Seattle’s water towers. Gatewood bicyclist Tom Furtwangler, who writes the new-ish site bikejuju.com, shared photos and a report:
I stopped by my local water tower at High Point [Myrtle Reservoir] to catch some of the Tour de Watertower bicycle racers as they came past their first stop.
Tour de Watertower is an urban bike race organized by Go Means Go. While ten thousand cyclists (were) on their way to Portland in the STP this weekend, (Sunday)’s water-tower race was a more modest affair, with 25 registrants running a 33-mile urban course that includes seven water towers. Racers started from Capitol Hill in two-minute intervals to race the clock around the course. The first two stops were in West Seattle at High Point and Charlestown.
Minding the High Point stop was West Seattle artist Karl Addison, and as we chatted between racers, we agreed we were impressed with the diversity of cyclists attracted to this event. Then I cycled down to Morgan Thriftway and back up the hill and was grateful I wasn’t racing around to six more water towers!
Tom also shared this Google map link for all the stops. The results are published on Go Means Go – 22 of the 25 registrants finished, in times ranging from 2 hours, 19 minutes, to 3 hours, 42 minutes.
Fauntleroy Way road-rebuilding update: Revving up again Monday
Manuel e-mailed earlier this week to ask if there was a reason major work on the Fauntleroy Way road-rebuilding project had slowed, leaving rough edges between lanes, among other difficult spots. We asked SDOT for the latest, and they’ve just issued a complete update, addressing those edges and also the California/Fauntleroy intersection’s status – read on:Read More
City Council to consider West Seattle Bridge name proposal
Almost half a year ago, we brought you first word (January report here) of a campaign to name the West Seattle Bridge in honor of the late former City Councilmember Jeanette Williams, whose efforts helped make it reality. 
A version of this proposal is finally coming before the City Council next Monday (2 pm), according to the office of West Seattle-residing City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, who worked for and with Ms. Williams for many years. Here’s the resolution he is sponsoring to give it the secondary name “Jeanette Williams Memorial Bridge.” Rasmussen staffer Brian Hawksford tells WSB, “The resolution requests SDOT to install signage at all approaches to the bridge. It will be similar to the signage on SR-520 that honors former Governor Rosellini. The secondary naming will mean that no maps or freeway signage will need to be changed and the costs will be minimal. The official name of the bridge will remain the West Seattle Bridge. We expect that there will be a dedication in a few months after SDOT completes its work.” He says there’s no exact cost estimate yet, and also notes that there will be a proclamation next week noting the 25th anniversary next Tuesday of the dedication of The Bridge (July 14, 1984).
West Seattle road work update #2: 16th SW project start date set
We received e-mail this morning asking for an update on when the 16th SW road-rebuilding work will start north of South Seattle Community College. In our last update in late May, SDOT had projected “late July.” Checking with SDOT’s Marybeth Turner today, we learned the city has just set the start date for the week of July 20th; people who live in the area are getting flyers today. See the entire flyer here – it includes the detour map shown above, which will affect northbound traffic only, according to SDOT. (The red stretch is the “project” zone, where SDOT says there will be some “minor widening” as well as “reconstruction” work.) The official project page on the city website – just updated today – is here. If you haven’t seen that stretch of badly pitted road, by the way, even Google Street View captures it (likely photographed sometime last year):
View Larger Map
Sharrow-painting soon on Gatewood stretch of California SW
First of 2 road-work updates we have for you this afternoon: During Sustainable West Seattle‘s Bike-A-Palooza meeting in April (WSB coverage here), city rep Gina Coffman mentioned one of the next WS road stretches to get sharrows would be California SW between Fauntleroy and Thistle, and indeed, the prep work has begun: They’ve been roughed out this week along part of that stretch in Gatewood; we took the photo on the northbound side at Holden (map). “Sharrows” (full explanation here) indicate road stretches which bicyclists and drivers are supposed to share and have already been painted on several West Seattle arterials; to see where else they’re scheduled to go in the future, check the city’s Bicycle Master Plan – specifically, this map section (zoomable) shows what’s planned/proposed for West Seattle streets.
Viaduct/Tunnel work: Alaskan Way “trail” closure coming up
View Alaskan Way Viaduct and Seawall Replacement Program in a larger map
If you click each marker on that map, you’ll see information about the state’s plans to drill there as part of the geotechnical work in the Viaduct/Tunnel/etc. project (which put together the map). Starting next Monday, the pedestrian/bicycle “multi-use trail” along Alaskan Way will be closed for some of that drilling, as per this notice from the Viaduct project, forwarded by local pedestrian advocate Chas Redmond:
Drilling work will close the multi-use trail along Alaskan Way S. between S. Royal Brougham Way and S. Dearborn Street during the week of July 13.
Starting on Monday, July 13, crews will drill three holes in the multi-use path (see map above) that runs adjacent to the Alaskan Way Viaduct.
What you can expect during this work:
* The section of the multi-use path between S. Royal Brougham Way and S. Dearborn Street will be closed approximately Monday through Friday (July 13-17).
* Detour routes will be clearly identified; bicycle traffic will be diverted to Alaskan Way S., and pedestrian traffic will be diverted across the street to the sidewalk on the west side of Alaskan Way S.
* Signage will be placed near the path one day in advance to notify cyclists and pedestrians about the closure and detour.
* Excavation will take between three and five business days to complete; all work will occur between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.
* When drilling is complete, the surface of the multi-use path will be restored and detour signage removed.
More drilling work throughout the summer
The drillings on the multi-use path are part of a series of drillings that will be completed throughout the summer. A map and schedule for this work are available on our Web site at www.alaskanwayviaduct.com/Current_Work.htm
Questions or concerns about this work can be directed to our hotline at 1-888-AWV-LINE or program e-mail at viaduct@wsdot.wa.gov.
We appreciate your patience and understanding, and apologize in advance for any inconvenience this work may cause. We will continue to inform you of upcoming work that may affect pedestrian routes.
More from last night’s
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