Two main topics at the West Seattle Transportation Coalition‘s every-other-month meeting, held online this past Thursday night:

RECONNECT SOUTH PARK: Maria Ramirez from the Duwamish Valley Affordable Housing Coalition was the guest to talk about this campaign to either cover or remove the section of Highway 99 that cuts through South Park – and cuts it apart. The idea is picking up momentum, and money. Ramirez explained that this started with one person’s idea about a year ago, suggesting that removing the highway could undo some of the injustices suffered to people in the area. “For some reason, this became sort of a sexy idea,” and drew national attention as one of too-many highway sections that have resulted in environmental and other burdens on communities of color. The state allotted $600,000 for a feasibility study, and two weeks ago, the feds allotted $1.6 million for “modeling studies … and an equitable development plan.” (That was a grant for which the city wrote the application, Ramirez explained.) They’ve had South Park community engagement meetings to start developing a vision of what could be done (not necessarily simply closing the highway – maybe covering it). A bigger community meeting is planned for 1 pm May 13th at Concord International Elementary – the first of at least three such meetings. She’s working with a group of 20 people – from activists to writers, “all people who live and work in the area.” In Q&A, WSTC’s Deb Barker wondered “who are the naysayers” or people who aren’t necessarily on board (yet) with the concept? Ramirez said the port and truckers are high on the list of entities/people they need to talk more with. She also said she welcomes ideas of who to talk to, groups to talk with, who else could get involved. You can reach the coalition, and learn more, at reconnectsouthpark.org.

FERRY-DOCK PROJECT: Mike Dey from the Fauntleroy Community Association was there to ask WSTC to join the community organizations who have sent letters of support for FCA’s position that the ferry dock shouldn’t be expanded when rebuilt later this decade. Dey first recounted history including a 1997 city resolution against expansion. He said ferry traffic is growing p past what a state study decades ago said should be the maximum allowable traffic volume. And he recapped what Washington State Ferries has been looking at – not widening the dock, but potentially lengthening it. While the FCA supports rebuilding the dock/terminal, the group contends the expansion is unnecessary, and that it raises traffic and environmental concerns. Dey said the FCA believes expansion is unnecessary because the backups onto the street are largely caused by the tollbooth bottlenecks in the afternoon – automated fare collection (like Good To Go bridge-toll collection) could eliminate that. Street holding is already enough to hold projected traffic increase, he added, and an expanded dock would be a “very expensive parking lot” empty 21 hours a day. Regarding environmental concerns, he mentioned Fauntleroy Creek’s salmon runs; the creek’s mouth is just south of the dock. WSTC did not commit to sending a letter but will consider the issue.

NEXT MEETING: 6:30 pm May 25, since they’re meeting every other month. They’re still working on in-person arrangements so they can transition to hybrid meetings.

One more thing to add for tonight, not on our event list published this morning because the announcement just came in this afternoon: The West Seattle Transportation Coalition meets online at 6:30 pm. Two major topics – Reconnect South Park, the proposal to decommission the stretch of Highway 99 that goes through SP, and the Fauntleroy ferry-dock replacement. Here’s the connection information: Video here, or by phone 253-205-0468. For either option, it’s meeting ID 8768293 5206, passcode WSTC.

Thanks to Joe Laubach for the photos and report:

The old bike counter on the East end of the Spokane Street bridge has been out of order for several years. I’m pleased to see SDOT has installed a new bike counter and it is up and operational!

On a related note, I’m happy to see so many people biking around West Seattle now that the weather has warmed up. Motorists – please drive carefully and be attentive. Thank you.

This is near the site where Robb Mason was hit and killed last July (his accused killer‘s case continues making its way through the court system, with another hearing next month). We have an inquiry out to SDOT for more information about the new counter and will add whatever we hear back. (The stats page is here.)

ADDED WEDNESDAY: SDOT spokesperson Mariam Ali responded to our inquiry: “We have replaced the bike counter on the Spokane St Swing Bridge (West Seattle Low Bridge) to address inconsistencies with the data from the old counter. The previous bike counter was experiencing intermittent issues storing and transmitting data which has led to periodic gaps in our historical data beginning in May 2021, despite multiple repair attempts.”

(WSB photos/video)

That’s Metro driver Ermias Mulugeta, a 14-year veteran transit operator who had a starring role in today’s ribboncutting-and-speeches event celebrating tomorrow’s launch of the RapidRide H Line. He drove the newly rebranded red-and-yellow bus into the lot at Steve Cox Memorial Park in White Center, with dignitaries aboard including King County Executive Dow Constantine and Metro’s new general manager Michelle Allison:

Before the ribboncutting, 26 minutes of speeches – here’s our unedited video:

Allison emceed, with opening and closing remarks. Constantine declared that RapidRide is “the evolution of Metro Transit.” (Long-running evolution – West Seattle’s first RR line, C, launched 10+ years ago.) Route 120, which becomes the H Line tomorrow, carried 1.7 million people last year, he said, and he observed that the new line’s route between Burien and downtown will help people “enjoy more of what this part of King County has to offer.”

It’ll also help with everyday tasks, added the next speaker, White Center Food Bank executive director Carmen Smith.

WCFB’s new location will be close to an RR stop, and that means people carrying food won’t have to hike uphill with heavy loads any more. Other speakers included King County Councilmember Joe McDermott – who is leaving office this year but has helped shepherd the H Line into reality – and Burien Mayor Sofia Aragon (who happens to be running to be McDermott’s successor), who said her city is proud of how this is factoring into many improvements along its main thoroughfare, Ambaum Boulevard. From Seattle city government, executive general manager Adiam Emery reoresented Mayor Bruce Harrell‘s team:

She noted that Seattle had invested (corrected) $90 million in the H Line, as well as projects such as the Delridge repaving/reconfiguration. And District 1 City Councilmember Lisa Herbold noted that the “multijurisdictional project” is an enhancement to what’s already King County’s sixth-busiest bus route. After Allison wrapped up with a few more stats – 51 new stations, 40 new crosswalks, five miles of new bus lanes – it was ribboncutting time:

As reported here Wednesday, the H Line officially begins running with a 5:26 am northbound departure from Burien on Saturday morning. The first coach, we’re told, will be the same one that rolled up at the start of this morning’s event – 6209. The launch comes four years later than the originally announced 2019.

(Admiral Way Bridges from Fairmount Avenue, via Google Maps Street View)

Three years after voters approved the “Move Seattle” transportation levy in 2015, SDOT announced a work plan that included various West Seattle projects. Among them, seismic retrofitting for the Admiral Way bridges over Fairmount Ravine (technically two structures). Fast-forward to late 2021, when SDOT told us planning for the retrofit was under way and that construction was likely to start in late 2022-early 2023. It’s been pushed back again, we learned, after following up on a mention of the Admiral Way bridges last week when an SDOT rep briefed the Levy Oversight Committee. Wes Ducey‘s briefing focused on studying various bridges around the city for eventual replacement, including Admiral:

Here’s what an “alternative analysis” is about:

In the briefing, Ducey suggested, among other things, that the city might consider designating one particular bridge to be the next in line for replacement, rather than continue to study and re-study multiple bridges:

After that briefing, we checked with SDOT regarding the Admiral Way bridges retrofit project. And we learned the retrofit is now not expected to start in “early 2023” after all. SDOT spokesperson Ethan Bergerson told WSB, “We are still planning to complete a seismic retrofit on the Admiral Way Bridges by the end of 2024, thanks to funding from the voter-approved Levy to Move Seattle.” As for studying it for potential replacement, Bergerson explained,”While we do not anticipate the need to replace this bridge anytime soon, the planning study will incorporate what we learn during the seismic retrofit and be a valuable resource in the future if the City ever needs to choose between investing in additional major maintenance or completely rebuilding the bridge decades from now.”

P.S. During last week’s Levy Oversight Committee briefing, City Councilmember Alex Pedersen – who’s a committee member – mentioned that the council committee he chairs, Transportation and Public Utilities, will talk about bridges later this month, in the context of the citywide bridge audit.

Metro has published the list of which routes will be affected by its next twice-yearly “service change,” which happens on Saturday, March 18th. Three West Seattle routes will have changes this time:

*RapidRide C Line – “On weekdays, two southbound and three northbound trips will be added, on Saturday & Sunday, two southbound trips will be added.” (See the timetable here.)

*Route 50 – ” On weekdays, two eastbound trips will be added, on Saturday & Sunday, two westbound trips will be added.” (See the timetable here.)

*Route 120 – Will be replaced by the RapidRide H Line. (See the timetable here.)

The full citywide list is here. You can read more about RapidRide H Line, and see the list of stops, here.

(Image from kingcounty.gov)

Metro‘s next twice-annual “service change” is set for March 18th, two weeks away, and this one will include a major change for West Seattle – the long-planned, long-delayed conversion of Route 120 into the RapidRide H Line. That means many things, from more service to fewer stops (though the H Line stops are closer together than the usual RR half-mile, because of community concern – see the map here). This won’t be the only Metro change on March 18th, but we don’t have the full list yet; that’s expected to be available “approximately March 8th.”

From King County Councilmember Joe McDermott‘s newsletter:

Last week, we launched the 2023 Van Grant Program. Every year, the Council allocates retired passenger vans to nonprofit organizations and local governments. These vans must be used to transport people with special needs or to transport goods and services to those with special needs. These include seniors, low-income, youth, or people with disabilities. This year, the requirements differ slightly from previous years in that the vans can now be used for the transport of goods and supplies to special-needs groups. If you are part of an organization in District 8 or know of an organization in District 8 that meets these requirements, please reach out to Helen Dahl (helen.dahl@kingcounty.gov) on my staff. The deadline for van applications through the District 8 office is Monday, March 13th at 5 pm.

P.S. For some background on the program, see this report on its first 20 years.

11:15 PM: Thanks for the tip and pic. A texter sent that from the scene of a car-on-side crash on Dawson near Fauntleroy about an hour ago, just north of Fairmount Park [map]. Apparently no serious injuries – only one engine was sent, and the incident log shows it was only on scene a few minutes. The texter says a tow truck is on scene now.

2 PM FRIDAY: Police confirm what’s mentioned in comments – the driver was arrested for investigation of DUI.

Multiple levels of transit-service updates were presented at s King County Council committee meeting that just wrapped up. In the big picture, transit executives and councilmembers alike observed that transit usage has changed in a big way, largely because of the pandemic-triggered change in work styles – only about half as many people as pre-pandemic commute five days a week, for example. Metro‘s new general manager Michelle Allison noted that the system will recognize this in its marketing: “We want transit to be your first choice” for all kinds of transportation needs. (It’s not just Metro – the councilmembers also heard from a Sound Transit executive who said that for one example, Saturday ridership on light rail has doubled.)

However, it was also acknowledged that the bus system is not yet back to full speed – “near-term delivery challenges” is how the ongoing problems were described. While the steering issue that took more than 200 buses out of service are “on track” to getting handled, a worker shortage is still a major factor. Allison gave the councilmembers the newest numbers:

-119 fewer full-time-equivalent operators (drivers) than needed
-36 fewer maintenance mechanics than needed

The first number is higher than a month ago, when Metro told us they estimated 99 more FTE drivers were needed. So trip cancellations aren’t going to go away any time soon.

Back to the big picture – the councilmembers also were asked to approve a “recovery plan” that basically acknowledges the current level of service – including reduced/suspended routes – and a new strategy for future planning. As explained in the plan’s staff report, one component of the strategy will be regional “restructuring” that will, among other things, review suspended/reduced routes. From the staff report:

To allow time to address operational capacity and staffing shortfalls and to coordinate service restoration with several significant high-capacity transit expansions, the Service Recovery Plan proposes that Metro will use service restructure projects as the primary means for reshaping service and reinvesting suspended hours back into the system. The Plan notes that Metro’s adopted policies would be followed in developing these service restructures. It also states that Metro does not plan to restore all suspended hours to the system in the same routes and times that they were removed, but that each mobility project would maintain service investments (service hours) within their geographic project areas, so there would be no net reduction in the total amount of service in an area.

As proposed, the service restructures would be organized into six geographically focused mobility projects:

(including)

•Seattle, Vashon Island Restructure and Restoration. For routes within Seattle and on Vashon Island that are not part of the other mobility projects described above, Metro proposes to pursue a new mobility project to consider service recovery options for routes that are currently reduced or suspended.

The Service Recovery Plan states that the following routes with reduced or suspended service hours would be included in this restructure, coordinated by geography:

o Central Seattle: 3, 4, 7, 9X, 11, 12, 27, 40, 43, 47, 48.  
o Queen Anne/Magnolia: 19, 24, 29, 33.
o North Seattle: 15X, 17X, 18X, 31, 32, 45, 62, 79, 255, D Line, E Line.
o West Seattle/Vashon Island: 21X, 22, 37, 55, 56, 113, 116X, 118X, 118, 119X, 119, 120, 131, C Line.
o Other areas: 231, 631, 906, 914, 915.

Metro says 17 routes remain fully suspended – that would include West Seattle’s Route 37. Allison also noted at the meeting that, as we’ve reported, RapidRide H Line is launching March 18th – but rather than an addition, that’s a conversion, of the existing Route 120.

(SDOT photo)

A two-part advisory/update from SDOT regarding the low bridge:

Between 1 AM Saturday, February 11 and 5 AM Wednesday, February 15, maritime vessels will have limited access under the Spokane St Swing Bridge to navigate the Duwamish Waterway. We do not expect impacts to people driving, walking, or biking.

During this time, only one span (side) of the bridge will swing open and close for maritime vessels on the Duwamish Waterway.

-East bridge span single openings: 1 AM Saturday, Feb. 11 through 1 AM Tuesday, February 14
-West bridge span single openings: 1 AM Tuesday, Feb. 14 through 5 AM Wednesday, Feb. 15

We’ve been communicating with the U.S. Coast Guard and mariners about this work, which will limit when some larger vessels can pass through.

This change is necessary for us to remove the bridge’s hydraulic pumps for routine maintenance. These pumps push hydraulic fluid to the bridge’s cylinders, allowing the cylinders to swing the bridge open and close for maritime vessels.

How the bridge is performing since turn cylinder repairs in January

After completing repairs and reopening the Spokane St Swing Bridge on January 13, the bridge is operating as expected and the turn cylinder we removed is being analyzed to determine the next steps for refurbishment.

We have more work planned for 2023, including rehabilitating the east-side lift cylinder and upgrading the bridge’s control and communications system.

(From presentation on Seattle Transportation Plan presented to Pedestrian Advisory Board earlier this week)

Reminder today from SDOT – its second phase of community input to shape the Seattle Transportation Plan has a week and a half left:

The STP is our commitment to building a transportation system that provides everyone with access to safe, efficient, and affordable options to reach places and opportunities. We need your help to create this plan.

Second phase of engagement continues through February 21

No matter how much time you have, how you participate, or how much you share, your input is valued. We want to hear from you! Share your feedback using the below options by Tuesday, February 21.

Have 10-20 minutes? COMMENT ON FIRST DRAFT TRANSPORTATION MAPS
Have 5 minutes? REVIEW OUR VISION, GOALS, AND OBJECTIVES
Have 1 minute? SELECT THE FUTURE YOU WANT TO SEE
Have 10 minutes? TELL US WHAT ACTIONS YOU LIKE

Between February 21 and the beginning of Phase 3, you can always email us at STP@Seattle.gov or call us at 206-257-2114.

Among other things, the plan will be used to shape the proposed successor to the current city transportation levy.