West Seattle, Washington
23 Friday
(Triangle Route ferry, photographed from Lincoln Park by Theresa Arbow-O’Connor)
Like other transportation/transit modes, Washington State Ferries has seen reduced traffic/usage during the pandemic. That’s meant two-boat service on the Triangle Route – Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth – and WSF says it’s not planning on adding a third boat for three more months:
As Washington State Ferries continues to operate under the constraints of the COVID pandemic, it is extending the Fauntleroy/Vashon/Southworth route’s current 2-boat schedule through May 8. However, WSF plans to restore three-boat service to the route beginning May 9 as part of a modified “peak season” schedule. The peak season schedule will be posted online in the coming weeks.
The route’s usage was down more than a third last year. Got questions about this or another aspect of WSF operations? Community meetings are coming up next week, as previewed here.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Proposals for the north stretch of West Marginal Way SW are about to go under the public-feedback microscope.
They were briefly discussed as part of SDOT‘s presentation at Thursday’s West Seattle Transportation Coalition meeting, but they were the major news from the meeting, including an announcement of a February 18th “open house” and an upcoming mailer.
SDOT‘s been considering possibilities for West Marginal for some months – beyond the safety improvements near the Duwamish Tribe Longhouse, which are already locked in. One previously discussed idea, turning one northbound lane into a freight-only lane, is off the table, as we’ve reported before. So what this is all about is what’s going to happen to the southbound side, from the bridge to the Longhouse:
Here’s what’s being proposed – first, two options for what is being referred to as “Section 1”:
(West Seattle SkyLink advocates’ 12-minute presentation video)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Sound Transit‘s light-rail extension to West Seattle is already expected to be later and costlier than originally planned – with the schedule and cost changes far from finalized.
Advocates for building a gondola system instead of light rail think this mode of aerial transportation could fix both problems, by being cheaper and faster to build.
The idea of aerial transit between West Seattle and downtown has been discussed for a few years. But supporters recently bestowed the concept with the name West Seattle SkyLink, launching a new campaign to muster community interest and enthusiasm, while also angling for official support.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Shut down the busiest street in the city, and suddenly numerous other streets have to deal with unprecedented traffic trouble.
10 months after the West Seattle Bridge closure, SDOT is still working on ways to handle that – including the Home Zone program, a major topic at Wednesday night’s meeting of HPAC, the neighborhood coalition for Highland Park, Riverview, and South Delridge. After community conversations and walking tours, draft plans have just debuted, and it’s time for your feedback, via a new survey.
Here’s a video recording of the meeting. First, what you need to know about what’s being proposed:
(Photo by Theresa Arbow-O’Connor)
In the wake of a change at the top, Washington State Ferries has scheduled two online community meetings “to provide updates and answer questions.” New WSF head Patty Rubstello will lead the meetings with her predecessor Amy Scarton (now WSDOT deputy secretary), at 11 am Tuesday, February 9th, and 6 pm Wednesday, February 10th. WSF’s announcement says, “Both meetings will cover the same material and are designed to give participants the option to join the meeting that best fits their schedule. Meeting participants will be able to ask questions and provide comments.” Pre-register by going here for the February 9th meeting, here for the February 10th meeting, You can also attend a meeting for Ferry Advisory Committees at 6 pm Thursday, February 4th “to discuss issues related to their role in advising WSF on customer service and schedules”; preregister here.
(WSDOT photo)
If you’ve been dreading those upcoming lane closures for repair work on the southbound 1st Avenue South Bridge – you can put your dread on hold for a while again. Two weeks ago, WSDOT told us that the work originally expected to happen in January wouldn’t start until February. Today, WSDOT spokesperson Tom Pearce told WSB that the schedule has been pushed back again, and now it’s not expected to begin before early March. Pearce says they’re expecting “a firm schedule in the next couple of weeks.” We first reported the need for repairs back in October (that story explains the bearing-replacement work that needs to be done). Once the work starts, contractor Massana Construction will close two of the bridge’s southbound lanes around the clock for about three weeks, bookended by two overnight closures of the entire southbound bridge.
Steve sent that photo this morning showing “Stay Healthy Street”-style signage facing north/westbound trffic at 61st SW/Beach Drive, a little more than a block from the south end of the Alki Point Stay Healthy/Keep Moving Street. SDOT hasn’t announced any expansion of the program – hasn’t even decided the fate of the 63rd/Beach stretch – so we were a little skeptical, especially when we went to check it out and found this less-official-looking sign a block north, at 61st/Spokane:
We weren’t the only ones wondering; we got texts asking about it, and someone even called police to investigate, according to a scanner conversation. That call and our research reveal this is a legitimate “Stay Healthy Block” – shown on the map on that program’s webpage. The “Stay Healthy Block” program allows residents to request permission to close non-arterial blocks to through traffic up to 20 hours per week. The officer who checked out the signage told dispatch that it was authorized 10 am-4 pm on Saturdays; we went back for a look around 5:30 pm and the barricades were gone. Steve, an area resident, notes that using 63rd between Beach and Alki is faster anyway – if you haven’t been on 61st in a while, as we hadn’t, take note that it now has several sets of speed humps south of Admiral.
P.S. The city’s asking for feedback on Stay Healthy Blocks, which were launched – take the survey by going here.
When the state Transportation Commission set toll rates for the Highway 99 tunnel, the rates were planned to increase 3 percent every 3 years, starting in July 2022 – subject to annual review. Today, the commission was told tunnel tolls might have to rise sooner, since traffic is down and therefore revenue is down. The commission’s monthly meeting included an update on toll revenues from WSDOT facilities, particularly Highway 520 and the 99 tunnel, which started charging users in late 2019. For the 99 tunnel, revenues are 45 percent below what was expected, pre-pandemic.
That’s particularly problematic because an intradepartmental $10 million loan is due soon. The governor’s proposed transportation budget would allow that to be deferred, the commission was told, but $4 million would still be due in a few years, and the financial picture doesn’t look much rosier in the next few years. Raising tolls and/or cutting operation/maintenance costs are the main options WSDOT has for dealing with it. The latter doesn’t seem terribly likely, as another presentation at today’s meeting also mentioned higher costs systemwide from a variety of operational elements, including “repair/replacement” costs and changes in “back-office” and tolling systems. No specific potential increases were mentioned, but staffers told commissioners that if they wanted to implement a toll increase this July, they would need to get the process going ASAP.
Announced this afternoon by SDOT:
The Seattle Department of Transportation will restrict all traffic from the Spokane Street Swing Bridge (West Seattle Low Bridge) on Saturday, January 23 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. This temporary restriction applies to everyone, including all vehicles which are normally authorized to use the bridge except for emergency vehicles. Both the roadway and path on the bridge between West Seattle and Harbor Island will be closed to all people driving, walking, biking, rolling, and taking the bus.
This short-term traffic restriction will allow crews to survey the system that latches the two spans of the bridge together. The bridge will remain operational for maritime traffic during the restriction.
Emergency vehicles will continue to be allowed to cross the bridge. Signs are in place to guide people driving, biking, and taking transit through routes over alternative crossings of the Duwamish Waterway, like the First Avenue South Bridge.
One week after revealing new, sharply higher cost estimates for expanding light rail to West Seattle and Ballard (WSB coverage here), Sound Transit went public with another set of numbers, showing that the cost of tunneling into The Junction is suddenly a lot closer to the cost of the default elevated line. These numbers were presented to ST’s System Expansion Committee on Thursday, along with the revised cost estimates first shown to the Executive Committee last week; Thursday’s meeting video is above, and the full slide deck is here. Here are the new West Seattle tunnel-related numbers that were presented:
Those numbers reflect the estimated cost of the entire West Seattle segment, not just the station itself. The new estimate showing as little as $100 million difference between running elevated or tunneling to the heart of The Junction is a big change – previously, the difference was projected to be about $700 million, as shown in this slide from a 2019 presentation:
Whatever the cost differential is, it would require “third-party funding,” but Seattle Mayor and ST board member Jenny Durkan said during the Thursday presentation that she was “heartened” to see the new estimates, observing that they now had a better idea of what extra funding would be needed.
The biggest looming issue, though, remains the gap between ST’s pandemic-shrunken revenues and even the original price tags of the West Seattle-Ballard extension and other projects approved by voters in the ST3 ballot measure. So ST remains on a path to “realignment” of its plans, with a decision due later this year; board members have a workshop planned this Thursday. ST also is proceeding with an independent review of the new cost estimates, expected to be complete in April.
WHAT ELSE IS NEXT: The West Seattle-Ballard project remains in the environmental-study phase, with its Draft Environmental Impact Statement now expected in the middle of this year, opening a new public-comment period. Final routing and station-location decisions are expected in 2023. The extension’s projected launch date already has been pushed back a year to 2031, a date that the upcoming “realignment” could move further down the track.
P.S. You can catch up on what’s proposed, what’s being studied, and how the process works by checking out ST’s “online open house.”
Four and a half years after 35th/Graham was mentioned as the potential site of a new signal, it’s about to become reality. SDOT announced today that work will start this month on Phase 2 of the West Seattle Greenway, including the pedestrian/bicycle signal at 35th/Graham. This phase goes from High Point to The Junction, from SW Graham to SW Edmunds, using 38th SW, SW Findlay, and 42nd SW (as first discussed in 2017). The map shows both phases:
The work at 35th and Graham will start seven years after the second of two deaths there, separated by seven years – pedestrian James St. Clair in December 2013 and bicyclist Susanne Scaringi in September 2007.
Some restriping work has already been done, and tomorrow, pay stations will be installed at the about-to-no-longer-be-free West Seattle Junction Association-operated parking lots. We first reported eight days ago that the change was on the way. At 12:01 am Friday, the lots are officially paid parking. So here’s what you need to know. First, here’s a map:
Medium blue marks the Junction lots that are changing from free to paid – off 44th SW just south of Oregon, off 42nd SW just south of Oregon, on the southeast corner of 44th and Alaska, and off 44th north of SW Edmunds. Dark blue marks lots that are already paid, but are not and have not been managed by WSJA.
Not shown on the map – parking that’s not affected and remains free – street parking as well as some parking spaces adjacent to businesses and marked for exclusive use of their customers, such as the spaces behind Chase Bank and Verity Credit Union (WSB sponsor), plus parts of some garages in the area. WSJA says the lots that are changing over include 228 spaces, a little less than a third of the 720 free and paid parking spaces throughout the business district.
From the WSJA FAQ on the parking change, here are the rates for the lots that are changing, not including taxes and credit-card fees (if any):
$2 for up to two hours
$4 for two to three hours
$6 for three to four hours
$10 for four to ten hours
The charges apply 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Plans for an “early bird” special are on hold pending a review of the first few months of paid parking. (Some monthly parking is available – email info@wsjunction.org if you are interested in information on that.)
You will be able to pay via either the pay stations or via CallToPark. Citations for running overtime or not paying will cost $49, and vehicles with multiple tickets are subject to towing. The first week – January 15th through January 22nd – parkers that go overtime will get warning notices; citations start after that.
The change was inevitable. Backstory, as we explained in this report almost three years ago: The WSJA, a nonprofit Business Improvement Area organization, leases the lots from West Seattle Trusteed Properties, a consortium of local business/property owners. In addition to base rent, WSJA has to cover the cost of the property tax for the sites, which has risen sharply in recent years – tripling between 2016 and 2018 – as it’s all prime, developable land in the heart of one of Seattle’s “urban centers.” WSJA had tried various fundraising campaigns in recent years, but none provided a sizable-enough stream. This won’t cover all the costs either, but it’ll help.
(WSB file photo, Fauntleroy WSF terminal)
As with other transit/transportation, Washington State Ferries has seen usage fall during the pandemic. Today WSF went public with its year-end report, showing just how much. Systemwide, 2020 ridership was down 41 percent from a year earlier. That includes 2020 becoming the first year ever – since WSF began operations in 1951 – that the system carried fewer passengers (6.4 million) than vehicles (7.6 million). The two routes serving downtown Seattle, from Bremerton and Bainbridge Island, saw the biggest drops. For Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth, WSF reports that total riders were down 39%, vehicles down 31% (of the three legs of the so-called Triangle Route, Fauntleroy-Southworth saw the biggest drops). The other route serving Vashon Island – Tahlequah-Point Defiance – was the route with the smallest drop. See the full 2020 report here. P.S. WSF says ridership has been rebounding, lately back to 60 percent of pre-pandemic levels, with vehicle usage at 70 percent of 2019 usage levels.
(File photo – southbound span is the one in the background)
Just last Wednesday, we checked in with WSDOT to ask about the schedule for the work that will close part of the southbound span of the 1st Avenue South Bridge (first reported here in October). Spokesperson Tom Pearce told us at the time that the hoped-for mid-January start seemed unlikely. Today, an update – they’re now hoping to start “in early February.” Here’s what WSDOT says you can expect when the work begins:
Our contract allows for up to 15 nights of work. At the start of the project we will need to close all lanes of southbound SR 99 between 10 pm and 5 am for one night so our contractor can set up their equipment. Travelers can expect about three weeks with the southbound bridge reduced to two lanes. We’ll also need a full overnight southbound closure at the end of the project to remove equipment.
As we reported last week, the contractor is Massana Construction of Gig Harbor. Today’s WSDOT update explains the work they’ll be doing on the 25-year-old southbound span, to “replace bearing pads (and) some steel repair and concrete bridge deck repairs.”
(File photo)
In case you need one more reminder, tomorrow (Monday, January 11th) is the first day that the city is scheduled to start using automated cameras to enforce restrictions on the West Seattle low bridge between 5 am and 9 pm, seven days a week. Vehicles cqught on camera violating the rules will get a $75 ticket sent to the registered owner’s address. Here’s a refresher on the current rules (from SDOT‘s announcement two weeks ago):
Who Can Use the Low Bridge
-Emergency vehicles
-Transit vehicles (King County Metro buses and school buses)
-Freight vehicles
-People walking, rolling, using a scooter, or biking
-Employer shuttles
-Vanpools
-Pre-authorized vehicles*
-All Personal vehicles at night (from 9 pm to 5 am daily)Who Cannot Use the Low Bridge
Taxis and ride-hail app vehicles like Uber and Lyft (from 5 am to 9 pm daily)
Personal vehicles, including motorcycles, during the day (from 5 am to 9 pm daily)
Regarding the “pre-authorized vehicles,” SDOT says:
Pre-authorized use is currently limited to select maritime/industrial vehicles proximate to Harbor Island, International Longshore and Warehouse Union vehicles, and West Seattle business vehicles. If you believe you are eligible for pre-authorized use based on the description above, please email us westseattlebridge@seattle.gov or call 206-400-7511.
SDOT had been working with West Seattle’s two major business organizations, the Junction Association and Chamber of Commerce, to determine who had access. Before the cameras, they had a limited number of placards they loaned out to members who had to make business trips across the river.
SDOT has said that the traffic patterns following the activation of camera enforcement will be studied to see if changes in low-bridge access policy are merited. The policy is one of the topics on the agenda for this Wednesday’s meeting of the West Seattle Bridge Community Task Force (noon January 13th – watch here).
(WSB photo, looking westward across Delridge at SW Thistle)
SDOT says this coming week will likely finally see some major work it’s been warning about for a while, as the repaving/utilities project preparing for the RapidRide H Line continues. Top of the list: The SW Thistle closure between Delridge and 20th; crews started working on the west side of Delridge/Thistle last week (as seen above) and are scheduled to move across the street as soon as tomorrow. That’s also the potential start date for the installation of vehicle-detecting looping at Delridge/Oregon. SDOT’s weekly bulletin says, “Traffic will be split around the planned roadway median during this work.” Other plans include paving at the bus stop on the west side of Delridge/SW Andover, the start of demolition between Puget Blvd SW and SW Brandon, the completion of paving between SW Willow and Croft Place SW, and the start of paving on the west side of Delridge between SW Henderson and 20th SW. See the full weekly preview by going here.
When – and how – will SDOT decide whether the no-through-traffic Keep Moving/Stay Healthy Street around Alki Point will be permanent?
The plan got only a vague mention during Wednesday night’s briefing on the citywide SHS program for the Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Boards, and SDOT didn’t clarify it further on followup.
It was early May when the city announced the north end of Beach Drive, along Constellation Park, would get the designation. A few days later, the west end of Alki Avenue SW was added. In a usage-comparison chart shown at Wednesday’s meeting, the Beach Drive/Alki Avenue stretch was the most used, the two other West Seattle stretches – High Point/Sunrise Heights and Highland Park/Puget Ridge – among the least:
The two non-coastal West Seattle Stay Healthy Streets’ futures are not final yet either – SDOT’s SHS program leader Summer Jawson told the boards that the city has 26 miles of Stay Healthy Streets now and will make “up to 20” of those miles permanent by summertime. So, she said, “community engagement” is ahead both for those streets and Beach Drive/Alki Avenue SW. as well as the others round the city.
She shared results from last year’s SHS online survey, including how respondents said they use the streets:
Results, Jawson said, also indicated the confusion over when it’s OK to drive on a SHS or KMS, given the “street closed” signage. So what next? Jawson said they’re working “to make sure we’ve got (SHS) in the right place moving into a post-pandemic situation” – for example, with more students returning to in-person learning, how will they deal with streets that school buses need to access? In general, here’s how they’re going to decide what becomes permanent:
The Alki Point stretch, however, is something of a special case, the SDOT reps said. “We’re going to talk more about Alki Point,” which is shown as a neighborhood greenway ‘eventually” in the Bicycle Master Plan, they said (though it’s not on the “implementation plan” running through 2024), so that might be one option for its future – keeping it a KMS and making it a greenway. They said “community-based design” is the next step, with other options including keeping it the way it is now, or splitting the street with a one-way vehicle-traffic lane and a walking/riding/rolling lane. “We’ll look at a couple different alternatives.”
The day after the meeting, we asked SDOT to elaborate on the timeline and process for the Alki Point decision, seeking more specifics – would the “outreach” entail a meeting? a survey? or? Spokesperson Dawn Schellenberg, who had also been at the boards’ meeting, would only say, “We are working on possible street concepts and developing the outreach scope,” and that the “outreach” would start in the first quarter – sometime before the end of March.
(Seattle Municipal Archives photo of what’s described as the Highland Park-Burien line’s Hillside Station – possibly in Riverview – 1915)
Even as our transportation future remains in flux, there are lessons to be learned from our past. Historic Seattle offers you a chance to learn about West Seattle’s streetcar history a century ago, in a free online event two weeks from today (11 am Saturday, January 23rd). Here’s the announcement:
Join us for an exploration of West Seattle’s streetcar history from 1916 to 1940 with Mike Bergman. This virtual lecture will cover the construction of the streetcar system and the many ways in which it influenced West Seattle’s development and growth in the first half of the 20th century.
From an early age, Mike Bergman was interested in Seattle’s transportation history – especially the city’s bridges, railroads, and public transit systems. Mike joined a transit consulting firm shortly after graduating from UW, followed by tenures at, both, King County Metro and Sound Transit. Following his retirement in 2016, Mike has maintained a strong interest in local transit and transportation history. He is a volunteer at the Pacific Northwest Railroad Archive (PNRA) and has organized PNRA’s large collection of material on the Seattle Municipal Railway. He is the president of the Tacoma Chapter- National Railway Historical Society, and regularly contributes articles of local historical interest to The Trainsheet, the chapter’s monthly newsletter.
Although the event is free, registration is required. More information, including the registration link, is here.
Bergman gave a similar presentation back in August for the Southwest Seattle Historical Society.
Even as Sound Transit figures out how to deal with a revenue shortfall, it’s warning that future projects such as West Seattle to Ballard light rail will cost a lot more than originally expected. The ST Board’s Executive Committee was told today about what board chair Kent Keel described as “unprecedented cost increases”: Among them, the cost estimate for the West Seattle-Ballard light-rail extension have risen by more than 50 percent – it’s now estimated to cost more than $12 billion, up from $7 billion when the ST3 ballot measure went to voters. The numbers were part of a presentation to the committee about revised estimates for multiple projects. Here’s the slide deck:
The West Seattle-Ballard project overall is becoming “more complex,” ST’s Don Billen told the board; his part of the presentation starts 49 minutes into the meeting video. (You can read the accompanying memo to the board here.) These are still rough estimates, since the project remains relatively early in the planning process, but the increase is attributed mostly to the increased cost of property acquisition – since development has continued on the potentially needed parcels – and construction.
As an example of the former, the presentation cited the potential need for right-of-way on the Fauntleroy/Alaska corner, including the site of the two-building Legacy Partners project that’s now under construction, if that site were chosen for the Junction station (sites further west drew more attention during the public-comment process). The cost of that site, if needed, was previously estimated at $76 million – and now estimated at $252 million. (Board member Dow Constantine, the West Seattle-residing King County Executive, inferred underground development may look more attractive as a result of numbers like that.)
“While these numbers are sobering, they’re not catastrophic,” said CEO Peter Rogoff, promising that ST is still committed to all the projects. But overall, the increased cost estimate for West Seattle-Ballard (which includes a new downtown tunnel) and other ST projects is so dramatic that ST plans to hire a consultant for an “independent cost review” to be complete before April – as ST continues its “realignment” process, to decide how projects’ schedules will have to change because of the funding gap. (The West Seattle completion date already has been pushed back one year to 2031.) Board members are expected to get a closer look at the “affordability gap” when they meet for a workshop on realignment two weeks from today (January 21st). In the meantime, ST is still working on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the West Seattle-Ballard project, due out later this year.
As we first reported in October, the southbound 1st Avenue South Bridge is due for some repairs that will mean lane closures. We’ve been getting some questions about whether WSDOT has set the date yet, since it had been discussed as likely to happen “in early 2021.” Now that it’s early 2021, we checked back today with WSDOT spokesperson Tom Pearce. He tells WSB, “We are still working with our contractor to set a start date. A mid-January start is in doubt.” The contractor is Massana Construction of Gig Harbor, which won the contract with a $380,000 bid.
You’re invited to the District 1 Community Network‘s first meeting of 2021, 7 pm tomorrow (Wednesday, January 6th) online. The coalition of community advocates usually focuses on a variety of priorities, but this agenda also includes one presentation, the recently relaunched gondola-transit concept West Seattle SkyLink. We talked recently with its supporters, who believe gondolas could get people across the Duwamish River more cheaply and simply than light rail, especially with Sound Transit facing funding shortfalls and schedule realignment. If you’re interested in attending, connection and call-in information is in our calendar listing.
(WSB photo: 44th/Oregon lot)
For years, we’ve been reporting on the West Seattle Junction Association‘s struggle to keep the “free parking” lots free, despite the ever-rising property-tax bills – the lots are assessed as potentially developable land. They’ve tried fundraisers and other tactics to hold off the inevitable – but now, the “free-parking lot” era is about to end. Here’s the WSJA announcement we received this afternoon:
For more than 30 years, the West Seattle Junction merchants have paid for the ‘free’ parking lots in the heart of West Seattle. A benefit that has been shared with the community will be turning a new chapter in the parking-lot book in 2021.
“We live in a world where the definition of transportation has changed since the 1970s. People have the power to get around West Seattle in different ways,” says Lora Radford, West Seattle Junction Association Executive Director.
In partnership with Diamond Parking, who has been working with the Junction since 1997, the merchant-funded parking spaces will be upgraded to pay parking on January 15th, 2021.
The change comes at a time where the Junction has been shouldering the full cost of rapidly increasing taxes that have become unsustainable. 100% of the Junction’s portion of the revenue from the paid parking will be applied to the tax burden, lessening the amount due, but by no means paying for the entire obligation.
The idea of maintaining free parking in an urban village like the Junction (the last in the City of Seattle), is no surprise for the residents. In early 2019 the Junction conducted a community survey (through a grant), that underscored the sentiment free parking was an anomaly in a rapidly growing city.
Especially in this time, the Junction has asked the community to include the support of small business in their daily lives. The request for West Seattleites to pay a modest $2 to $3 per hour (the cost of a greeting card, cup of coffee, or craft beer) to preserve the economic vibrancy of their downtown should be a simple request.
“For many, experiencing the downtown of West Seattle will become easier,” continues Radford. “The ability to find parking each time you visit the Junction will increase dramatically with the movement into paid parking. Gone will be the days of cars parked in the lots for hours at a time.”
The experiences of West Seattleites are a true reflection of who they are and what they care about, and visiting the Junction is one of the most vivid examples of normalcy in a far-from-normal world. For some, a trip to the West Seattle Junction is, in itself, the only and best destination. People can feel the heartbeat of some of the best small businesses through a perfectly scooped ice cream, to the bite of a tangy piece of pizza, or through quirky items found at local independent shops. They can reflect on collections of cultural significance through the murals or take a stroll under the flower baskets heavy with summer blooms.
Luckily for them, the Junction can continue to offer an avenue to attract those uniquely Northwest experiences in West Seattle.
The Junction strongly believes in the continued community benefit provided to West Seattle residents. We believe the West Seattle Junction is the core of West Seattle where neighbors come together to meet which promotes community openness and sense of place. The wellbeing of West Seattle will continue through the ease of parking close to the very heart of our community through a new and modern version of history.
As explained in this WSB story almost three years ago, the Junction Association doesn’t own the lots, but its lease with the owners, West Seattle Trusteed Properties, leaves WSJA on the hook for the taxes, in addition to the rent. The lots include 228 spaces that have allowed customers up to 3 free hours.
ADDED 6:47 PM: To clarify a couple points raised in comment discussion – this involves only the four lots managed by WSJA – off 42nd south of Oregon, off the east side of 44th just south of Oregon, on the southeast corner of 44th/Alaska, and off the east side of 44th just north of Edmunds. Street parking is managed by the city, which has reviewed the Junction area twice in the past 12 years and concluded both times (2009 coverage here, 2018 coverage here) that metered/pay-station street parking was unnecessary, though an RPZ was added in 2019.
(WSB photo, December)
The creation of no-through-traffic “Stay Healthy Streets“ was a hot topic here on WSB in 2020, taking two spots on our list of the year’s 10 most-commented stories. West Seattle has three stretches – one in High Point/Sunrise Heights (map), one in Highland Park/Puget Ridge (map), and one around Alki Point (map), technically a “Keep Moving Street” because much of it is adjacent to a park. That stretch’s future is to be determined this year; if you’re interested, the next major city briefing is coming up Wednesday (January 6th). It’s a joint meeting of the city Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Boards, online at 6 pm; the “Stay Healthy Streets” briefing is expected to start around 6:30 pm. The meeting includes public-comment periods at the beginning and end, as you can see on the agenda, which includes information on how to attend via videoconferencing or phone.
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