(WSB photo, Bike Everywhere Day 2023)

Tomorrow (Friday, May 17) is “Bike Everywhere Day,” formerly “Bike to Work Day,” and that means “celebration stations” around the city. The one for our area will be set up 6 am to 9 am at the west end of the low bridge, organized by West Seattle Bike Connections, which outlines the plan:

Homemade baked goods, coffee and information on bicycling routes and planned improvements will be available, and local enthusiasts can answer questions about commuting, recreational cycling and other biking issues. Local bike repair shops will provide simple, on-the-spot bike repairs, and BIRD scooter and bike share will provide demos of their services. For more information, see westseattlebikeconnections.org The SDOT East Marginal Way Corridor Improvement Project team will host an information booth to share updates on construction between S Spokane St and S Atlantic St on E Marginal Way S. Stop by or visit seattle.gov/transportation/eastmarginalway to learn more about what bicyclists can expect.

As promised, last night’s Admiral Neighborhood Association community gathering brought new information about the Admiral Way Bridge earthquake-strengthening project – one of two seismic retrofits planned in West Seattle this year (the other, the Delridge/Oregon foot/bike overpass, is already under way). An SDOT rep, Dr. Matthew Howard, was at the meeting. Though ANA was not able to display his slide deck, we received a copy from SDOT (see it here, with selected slides below). First, a bit of background – as noted previously, this bridge is actually two bridges:

At the time of our most-recent update, published in March 2023, SDOT said the project would be completed this year. That timeline has slid a bit – they’re now expecting to start in June, but with an expected duration of up to nine months, it’ll stretch into 2025.

The points that generated the most discussion at the meeting involved the traffic effects expected while the work is under way – including a total closure of Fairmount Avenue beneath the bridge(s), for the entirety of the project:

The Fairmount closure drew more interest than the lane and bridge closures planned up top. Detour plans are yet to be finalized, Howard said, so he promised to get back to the group with more information about those. Same goes, he said, for neighbors on the streets closest to the bridge – they’ll get route plans but not until the work is close to starting.

He also was asked about the contractor and cost and said neither was finalized yet. (However, the city’s bidding website says the project has been awarded to Max J. Kuney Co., total base price $7.1 million.)

P.S. We’ll report on the rest of the ANA meeting’s toplines – primarily focused on the summer events the group is presenting – later.

(Added, WSB photo: SDOT truck at project site this morning)

Just announced by the coalition opposing the Alki Point Healthy Street plan, with SDOT planning to launch major construction shortly – a community meeting tomorrow (Tuesday, May 14):

EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT
What: Alki Point For All Presentation and Community Meeting
Where: C&P Coffee Company, 5612 California Ave SW
When: Tuesday May 14th, 6:30 to 8:30
Doors open 6 PM
Tickets: FREE
Prergister at brownpapertickets.com – Pre-registration recommended but not required.

Alki Point is one of the places that sets Seattle apart. A public shoreline and city park offer spectacular views of Puget Sound, adjacent to a marine reserve. People come from all over the world to visit the Lighthouse; to storm-watch, bird-watch, whale-watch, and go tide-pooling; to walk, bike, skate, run or simply enjoy the view. Alki Point has provided respite and recreation for generations.

For nonprofit organizations and schools, Alki Point offers a unique opportunity to educate and inspire. From octopus to orcas, the site offers direct and easy access to a marine ecosystem a front door to the Salish Sea.

That’s all about to change. As early as this week, Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) will begin construction on a project that will radically alter the use of this public space. SDOT will replace most of the parking on the beach side of the street with a 10-ft-wide “walking, jogging, rolling” lane. The harmful impacts of this change haven’t been considered, and key questions haven’t been answered.

For example, the loss of parking means that even fewer people will be able to visit Alki Point. Traffic will be pushed into nearby neighborhoods, where parking is already a problem. ADA parking spaces will only be on the east side of the street, away from benches, the beach and the view. Where will the school busses park? Marine conservation and outreach will be crippled.

Join us Tuesday night at C&P to discuss these and other changes. In February the Alki Point for All coalition launched a petition directed to Mayor Harrell, asking that the City halt this project until its impacts were fully considered. More than 1350 people have signed the petition so far. change.org/AlkiPointforAll.

The group will present updates about their efforts, including a recent meeting with SDOT. The group will also share their ideas for how street art could be used to calm traffic, increase safety, and create a Healthy Street that better serves the needs of the wider community.

There is no charge for this event. Pre-registration is recommended but not required. Pregistering will help us estimate how many people to expect.

The Alki Point for All coalition consists of organizations (The Whale Trail and Seal Sitters) and individuals (Vlad Oustimovitch, Leo Shaw, Bill Rogers.) Hope to see you there!

3:01 PM: Two and a half weeks ago, SDOT announced it was about to start work on some of the permanent features of the Alki Point Healthy Street (Alki Avenue SW and Beach Drive SW between 63rd SW and Alki Point) project. We haven’t been back yet for a look at that work, primarily described as added speed humps, but today, SDOT sent an update – the next phase of construction starts “as soon as Monday.”

As soon as Monday, May 13, crews will begin the next phase of construction on the permanent treatments for the Alki Point Healthy Street. This work will include:

-A 10-foot-wide shared walking/rolling space
-Three ADA parking spaces
-Stop controls at intersecting streets
-Pavement markings, parking signs, and striping the public parking lot

Unauthorized on-street parking located within 20 feet of intersections will be removed for new installation.

The project page elaborates on the zone numbers shown in the map above.

ADDED 6 PM: David Hutchinson sent this photo of the lines for the new path, roughed out:

(Constellation Park section of Alki Point Healthy Street, February)

When SDOT reiterated one month ago that it would build the permanent features of the Alki Point Healthy Street – both Beach Drive and Alki Avenue SW, west of 63rd SW to the point – the construction schedule was still pending.

(Rendering of design for Beach Drive north/west of 64th)

This morning, they’ve announced via email that work is imminent:

We are excited to share an update that last week crews marked the five new speed hump locations. As soon as this week, they will start construction of the permanent treatments for the Alki Point Healthy Street. This work will include:

-Removing two speed humps and installing five new speed humps
-Marking for the new street layout, pavement markings, and sign locations

Once the new speed humps have cured, crews will install:

-A 10-foot-wide shared walking/rolling space
-Three ADA parking spaces
-Stop controls at intersecting streets
-Pavement markings, parking signs, and striping the public parking lot

Unauthorized on-street parking located within 20 feet of intersections will be removed for new installation. Please visit the project webpage for more information on design elements.

SDOT originally announced those design elements last December, more than a year after saying the “Healthy Street” would be made permanent. It was originally designated a “Stay Healthy Street” in the early months of the pandemic, starting with the Beach Drive stretch – which had long been the source of resident complaints about driver gatherings – and quickly expanding to add the Alki Avenue stretch. More recently, the final parking-removal plans for the project sparked a new round of opposition, but the plan apparently is proceeding unmodified.

(Photos courtesy SDOT. Above, by Tim Durkan)

As previewed here last night in our report on the West Seattle Transportation Coalition‘s latest meeting, dignitaries including Mayor Bruce Harrell gathered this morning for the East Marginal Way Corridor Project‘s ceremonial groundbreaking. One point of the event – also spotlighted at the WSTC’s meeting – was the mayor’s plan to later this week debut a draft of this year’s proposed transportation-levy renewal. From SDOT‘s summary of this morning’s event:

Later this week, Mayor Harrell will share a draft proposal to renew the transportation levy and address critical safety and maintenance needs across the city, including freight improvements. The levy renewal would fund repairs, maintenance, and modernizations to keep people and freight moving safely and reliably.

The levy proposal will allocate millions specifically for freight improvements and paving on major truck streets, supporting delivering goods and services, and focusing repair on the 20 percent of major truck streets in poor condition identified as part of SDOT’s data-driven Asset Management Strategy.

The levy renewal proposal builds upon the significant groundwork and community input that is shaping the future of transportation in the Seattle Transportation Plan.

(Photo by Luke Gardner)

The mayor also made a point of noting that part of the funding for the East Marginal project – currently in Phase 1, north of Spokane Street – came from the current transportation levy, which expires this year.

According to the project website, the central section of the project is in design, but the south segment is “unfunded for both design and construction” so far.

Tomorrow (Tuesday) morning, Mayor Bruce Harrell will lead a ceremonial groundbreaking for the many-years-in-the-making East Marginal Way Corridor project. It’s just east of West Seattle, but important to many people on the peninsula because it’s a key route to/from downtown, particularly for bicycle riders. Work on the north section of the three-phase project has actually already begun, and SDOT’s project manager attended last Thursday’s online meeting of the West Seattle Transportation Coalitionwith an overview and Q&A opportunity.

Project manager Joey Aitken said the north-section construction is starting with water-line work, but will include full reconstruction of the street in concrete, from South Massachusetts to South Spokane, as well as the long-anticipated two-way protected bicycle lane from Spokane to the “port trail” connection, plus pedestrian- and freight-geared improvements. All that will take about two years, Aitken said. Here are the key points he presented:

One of the factors in the long planning period has been “working with railroads,” and that’s not complete yet, Aitken explained, while saying the railroads have “agreed to relocate some tracks.” In addition to the current detours related to the water work, the full northern stretch between Massachusetts and Spokane will be closed to through traffic during the entire two years of work. “We should be done before the World Cup,” he said. You can get project updates by email (register on the project webpage), or by text – to sign up, text eastmarginal to 206-222-0105.

The WSTC’s other guest was Heather Marx, the West Seattleite who serves as policy adviser to District 1 City Councilmember Rob Saka, who chairs the Transportation Committee. Major issues coming up for the committee include continued consideration of the Seattle Transportation Plan, for which amendments will be considered when the committee meets tomorrow at 9:30 am (linked from the agenda), with a possible vote two weeks after that. The committee soon will start its consideration of the proposed transportation levy renewal, too. Marx said they’re expecting the mayor to share a draft this week, with the legislation continuing its actual verbiage likely to be out by month’s end. The first discussion will be in early May, and the levy proposal – expected to span eight years (compared to the expiring levy‘s nine years) – is likely to be the focus of five committee meetings. An evening public hearing is expected too. One other quote of note – Councilmember’s oft-repeated quest to be the “king of potholes” isn’t just about potholes, she verified. He intends it to encompass all maintenance matters (among other things).

NEXT MEETING: The WSTC continues meeting every other month, 6:30 pm, usually fourth Thursdays, but watch for the announcements. And if you’re interested in joining the board, it’s got another opening. info@westseattletc.org to find out more.

The long-in-the-works East Marginal Way Corridor Improvement Project has begun, on a path many West Seattleites take into downtown. If you have questions, the West Seattle Transportation Coalition‘s meeting Thursday is the place to get answers – SDOT will be at the online meeting to talk about the project. The agenda for WSTC’s every-other-month meeting also includes a representative from the office of City Councilmember Rob Saka, who chairs the council’s Transportation Committee. All are welcome at the 6:30 pm meeting; see our calendar listing for online/phone connection information.