West Seattle, Washington
03 Sunday
From this morning’s coverage of yesterday’s City Council hearing, seems like the Third Option for viaduct (non)replacement is truly on life support, if it’s even still breathing at all. If you have anything to say about it, OR the tunnel, OR the replacement viaduct (thanks to FoS for the direct video links), tonight’s your chance to do it without leaving West Seattle — 5-8 pm, Madison Middle School.
Two things:
-The Tunnel Tussle has finally hit the Fauntleroy Walkover. Big bold banner hanging where downtown-bound traffic will see it: NO BIG DIG/VOTE NO TUNNEL.COM (which actually is a URL for the “No Tunnel Alliance,” minus the spaces).
-In actual road-construction work going on right now — the Junction has a lot more torn-up turf tonight than last week. In the southernmost block (between Ovio and Super Sup), most of the center of the road is ripped out or blocked with heavy equipment (and, when I passed through, an enterprisingly parked car). Definitely passable, but be ready for slow going.
Big Dig or Big New Viaduct — the folks working on Alaskan Way 2.0 continue to exclude all forms of The Third Option out of the dialogue — but whichever you favor, time’s running out to pipe up before the next stage of the game. And you’ve got a chance in just a few days: The roadshow’s coming back to our side of the bay next week — Tuesday night, 5-8 pm, at Madison Middle School.
Our trek around The Junction tonight revealed that city crews have done a pretty job roughing up the street surface already. Getting a parking spot along the newly grooved pavement was a cinch — most people don’t seem to realize yet that the NO PARKING signs are posted for DAYTIME only — it’s OK to park at night. (Though a few spaces are out of commission in front of Taqueria Guaymas & Poggie, taken up by monster-sized pieces of city equipment.) Also seen in The Junction tonight: The “for lease” sign is down and the liquor-license-app posting is up at the future home of Garlic Jim’s Pizza.
If you haven’t noticed already — the slightly delayed road work through The Junction has begun. Here are more details from the city. And check out the changes we apparently will find, once the work’s done.
Despite not being boat owners, we managed to get out on the water anyway — started the day with a ferry ride, ended it with a Water Taxi trip.
Inbetween, some snags and some sightings:
SNAG: Wanted to have lunch at the new Cactus on Alki. We even called — twice — to make sure it would be open for lunch. We were assured yes, it would be. Then we showed up … nope, not open. Through the open roller doors, workers told us, no, it would only be open tonight for dinner. Bummer. We proceeded to Bamboo, which we’d never tried, believe it or not. (Having now tried it, I don’t believe we were missing anything. The sand under the outdoor tables is a nice touch, but the food was meh.)
SNAG: Since we planned to be downtown a few hours, we were glad to hear the Water Taxi was running into the evening. Unfortunately, we discovered belatedly that its transit connections did NOT run into the evening — the shuttle to the Junction stopped about half an hour before we returned, and no regular Metro buses were running past Seacrest. If we hadn’t had someone to call for a ride home, we’d still be walking.
SIGHTING: Still not entirely sure what kind of store “Divina” (north of Hotwire & its adjoining dentists) is meant to be, but it’s now posted as opening tomorrow.
SIGHTING: Interesting things tacked to the front glass of Liberty Bell Printing — a frantic note pleading for the new Homestead menus not to be printed because of some kind of error — and a month-old “lost bird” flyer that says the bird FLEW THE COUP. (Which coup was that, I wonder — have to go catch up on my international news.)
SIGHTING: Dall’s porpoises from the ferry, jumping fish from the Water Taxi. What a cool life.
Steer clear of 35th & Morgan tomorrow, warns the city.
(And if you want to know more about the cool center that’s going up there, here’s info.)
Just read that the man who helped morph our state’s elections into California-style initiativefests is getting involved in the road tax vote this fall — even though he doesn’t live in Seattle. I personally am no fan of his. But I haven’t made up my mind about this tax yet and whether it seems like it will really help. If you haven’t looked too closely at it yet either, here’s a page that might help us both — although since it’s a city page, there’s no independent analysis.
The latest in the what-will-replace-a-viaduct vying: The pro-tunnel drums grow louder (though this Times columnist manages to hear right through them). But there’s good news for us viaduct drivers: sixth line from the bottom in this story says it’s at least not in imminent danger of collapsing under its own weight! Whew!
But reading between the lines … it seems less likely by the second that if we do all vote this fall, we won’t even get the chance to voice our views on The Third Option. And that, according to an allegedly secret study we paid for, would be a mistake.
Transportation votes we’re facing in November:
—Tax to fix up roads (Fauntleroy didn’t make the Dirty Dozen but would THIS smooth it out?)
–Tunnel vs. no tunnel, unless council members decide to just be the deciders, which is what today’s P-I recommends
The first and third ones might be a nearly moot point, though, given that driving is getting less affordable by the second. Perhaps time for Councilguy Dow to propose keeping the Water Taxi in service TFN, instead of sailing on toward the usual September shutdown. (Not like Elliott Bay freezes over or anything, though the dock at Seacrest could use a little salt at times.)
Yet another viaduct report is out. This one apparently says, reinforcing the existing viaduct doesn’t seem to be the solution.
Seems like every viaduct report has the same theme. “Give me tunnel, or give me (death?).”
Reminds me of the ’90s animated series “Dinosaurs” — the Baby Dinosaur character kept rejecting the Dad Dinosaur by referring to him, in a high shrieky little voice, as “NOT the mama! NOT the mama! NOT the mama!” I imagine Mayor Nickels throwing similar tantrums, looking at each and every viaduct option (other than his oft-voiced preference) and shriekingly describing them as “NOT the tunnel! NOT the tunnel! NOT the tunnel!”
BASKETBALL: Full details on the Chief Sealth ruling, from the P-I here, and from the Times here.
BASEBALL: I hate the Mariners. They’ve ruined my commute for three nights straight.
SOCCER: In two weeks, David Beckham’s going to ruin my commute.
VOLLEYBALL: This Sunday, on Alki, concurrent with the Art Fair, and there’s something of a baseball tie-in.
FOOTBALL: I got nothin’.
Looks like the big news further into the report is the latest on how long construction would take. Ouch.
Got home from another tough commute to find out we’re inching closer to Decision Time regarding the (cue ominous music) Future of the Viaduct. Another thick new report has appeared, the Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement. (All 8 chapters available here.) Wait, wait, don’t fall asleep yet … this is important stuff. Haven’t seen any impartial analyses yet (guess the reporters are still reading those 8 chapters) but among many other things, this report reminds us the official “deciders” (to borrow the President’s term) are only really considering two options: the tunnel and the replacement. Nothing more, nothing less. Wish they’d quit calling the tunnel “cut-and-cover”; sounds too much to my ears like the dread old phrase “duck-and-cover,” which is what I keep fearing we’ll have to do on the Viaduct sometime anyway.
So now the question remains: When will City Councilmembers decide if they have the you-know-whats to make a decision themselves, or if they’ll just “let” us decide — till somebody starts trying to force a re-vote till they get the results they want?
PIRATES! In a double dose … the Seafair Pirates and the Caribbean Pirates (no relation to Cap’n Jack & company), both in tomorrow’s parade. Viewing tip: The east side of the street starts in shade. Just save us a spot over near Petco.
**unrelated vent**
Unrelated but I gotta say it … ONE HOUR to get through downtown en route home tonight, before I could get onto the Viaduct. ONE HOUR IN 96-DEGREE AIR, NO AIR CONDITIONING IN THE MODEST WSB-MOBILE. Once I finally got onto the Elevated Freeway of Doom and past the Mariners backup in the left lane, it didn’t even take 10 minutes to get home. I’m sure somebody out there went through something similar, so I’m mentioning it here for virtual commiseration. MY, the air coming off the bay felt great … once the jammed traffic was past …
Well, you knew someplace in Hizzoner’s home turf would make the Dirty Dozen list.
I still say Fauntleroy between California and Alaska is worse.
A few more details in today’s P-I re: Ron Sims’ “lots o’buses, no waiting” plan. Our neck of the woods is in line for part of it (somebody had to earmark West Seattle for SOMETHING, given the fact the monorail is toast and light rail is nowhere nearby) … but the part about “approve the tax, THEN we’ll decide the details” is just a bit disturbing. Isn’t that where the monorail went wrong — voters said yes (repeatedly), THEN a revolt brewed when some of the details (like the Financing Plan From Hell) appeared?
Just back from Father’s Day lunch on Alki … and the parking-spot-search backups were intense. We went to Duke’s and had to park up near Alki Community Center. Driving back toward this side of town, we saw a huge jam of folks trying to get into the Salty’s lot. At least one person gave up, dropped off someone near the Salty’s entrance, and then went off in search of somewhere to leave the car — we last saw them evaluating whether they’d get away with parking near the Harbor Avenue 7-11.
I mention all this not to say “gee, don’t drive to Alki,” because I am aware we were part of “the problem” by doing that very thing. I mention it because the eateries just keep opening and you have to wonder where the cars will go. For example, compared to the 100-plus capacity for the future Cactus, how many cars does that little underground garage really fit?
BTW, on the Salty’s end of things, Alki Fish and Chips has a flyer up saying they’re adding an “outdoor patio with beer and wine.”
This story contains an interesting description of Beach Drive, apparently courtesy of our own WS-based city poobah, Hizzoner. Which section do you suppose he’s referring to? The long straight section with the speed bumplets got repaved several years back. So I’d vote for the section from Lincoln Park Way northward … although I still don’t think that’s as rutted as certain busy stretches of Fauntleroy Way. Anyway, your nominations are welcomed by Hizzoner’s office, and the “winners” supposedly get repaved. (Guess my street is out of the running; we’ve already gotten a postcard about impending chip-seal replenishment.)
Got our first post-monorail car-license renewal notice today. Wow, that really was a chunk of change. Maybe we can lay claim to a brick when the “Former Monorail Station Site Park” takes shape over on the Fauntleroy Auto Repair lot.
You’ve laughed your way through the video we now know WE actually paid for!
You’ve bitten your nails while driving its scenic topside and muttering under your breath “just let me get to the other side before the Big One hits!”.
Now … just a week and a half to register for your annual chance to actually WALK on the viaduct. Hope to see you there.
Surprise — the sun’s out. Forecast still insists it won’t be for long, but I have faith I can at least get out and pull weeds for a while. If you’d rather do something else environmentally friendly that also happens to get you out on the water, Cami from ever-trusty AlkiNews.com tells us Alki Kayak Tours over at Seacrest Boathouse is offering demos on Eddyline Kayaks till 3 pm today. (I personally think West Seattle needs a few more businesses with “Tours” in their name — why not show off our beauty? — so I don’t mind the occasional plug!)
OK, I have to mention this here because I haven’t seen anyone else point it out yet.
Two little factual/timeline inaccuracies in the mayor’s viaduct/tunnel spoof video …
Narration says “The Blob” came down in the ’80s and the Kingdome in the ’90s.
Actually, “The Blob” was demolished in 1997, and The Dome in 2000.
OK, I feel better now.
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