West Seattle, Washington
02 Thursday
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.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
The latest meeting of the Fauntleroy ferry-dock replacement project‘s Community Advisory Group was as notable for what members didn’t get as for what they did get.
First, they were expecting to get long-awaited research information at Wednesday’s meeting on promised studies of how dock traffic might be affected by changes such as using the Good To Go! electronic payment system. That information, as Fauntleroy resident Frank Immel said, is what “we all have been waiting for.” Some have long contended that the more efficient fare-paying can be made, the less space the new dock will need. WSF promised at last month’s meeting (as we reported) that the information would be available at this meeting, but said Wednesday it wasn’t ready after all.
Second, some members complained that they didn’t get the time they needed to review a 64-page environmental-analysis report that Washington State Ferries had sent to them the day before the meeting. (See that report here.)
Otherwise, there was one major headline from the meeting:
Despite the latest round of community concern, SDOT has reiterated that the final Alki Point Healthy Street design will be built, as first reported here last December.
In a reminder email sent Wednesday to those who had previously signed up for the project mailing list, SDOT’s project team recapped the design announced last winter, including some parking removal, and confirmed to WSB this morning that nothing has changed since the winter update. For example, here’s how the Beach Drive section north/west of 64th works now:
And here’s what it’ll be changed to:
All the cross-section renderings remain available on the Alki Point Healthy Street webpage. The last point of clarification we’ve been seeking from SDOT is how soon construction will start – Wednesday’s email to the list simply said “spring,” which could be any time in the next three months. SDOT spokesperson Ethan Bergerson told WSB this morning that it’s not imminent but won’t have to go out to bid: “This will be an SDOT crew-delivered project. We have not scheduled the exact date yet, and are currently working to determine the schedule. It will likely be in the next few months, depending on crew availability.”
New on the city’s bidding website: The project to resurface the eastbound lanes of the West Seattle Bridge’s eastern half, formally known as the Spokane Street Viaduct, has just gone out to bid.
(Framegrab from SDOT camera. Eastbound SSV at left, westbound at right)
Bidding opened this morning. SDOT spokesperson Ethan Bergerson tells WSB, “This project will include repaving the eastbound lanes, as well as drainage improvements and bridge deck repair on the westbound lanes.” The city got a $5 million federal grant two years ago to help cover the cost. The (corrected) eastbound (south) side of the Spokane Street Viaduct is the older side, built in the ’40s; the westbound (north) side was built in the late ’00s/early ’10s. It was closed several times for repair work during the 2 1/2-year-long full closure of the rest of the West Seattle Bridge; pothole problems have persisted on both sides, and as SDOT described it in 2022, “The existing concrete deck overlay exhibits significant signs of ‘alligator skin’ cracking and damage.” As part of preparation for this project, a “deck scan” was done in 2021. When will the SSV work start and how long will it last? TBD, says Bergerson: “Once a contractor is selected, we will work with them to determine the exact construction timeline.” It is expected to be complete by the end of the year, though, he added. Bidding is open for three weeks, so a contractor won’t be chosen for more than a month.
(WSB photo, March 6)
Metro has just gone public with its list of what’ll be different after the next semiannual “service change,” which takes effect two weeks from tomorrow (on Saturday, March 30). The full list is on this page; here are four West Seattle routes with changes, with links to their new timetables:
ROUTE 21 – adding one trip late Sunday nights
ROUTE 56 AND ROUTE 57: Changes (including three weekday deletions on 56) are planned to “align” these two routes “and provide service approximately every 20 minutes between routes 56 and 57.”
RAPID RIDE H LINE: “On Saturday and Sunday, between 6 am and 8 am, several trips will be added at the direction of the city of Seattle to better align Seattle Transit Measure service investment with the city’s goals.”
Laurel emailed us wondering about what appeared to her to be a high percentage of RapidRide runs being handled by non-RR coaches – running with the green/yellow or blue/yellow buses instead. She said that as a rider, it’s more than just what the bus looks like: “When there are not ORCA readers throughout the bus and when there are fewer doors, many of the ‘rapid’ benefits of load/unload disappear.” We went out to look for examples of fill-in RapidRide buses, and in fact, the first four we saw, on both H and C Lines – including the one in our photo above – were not red/yellow RR coaches. So we asked Metro’s Jeff Switzer about it, mentioning Laurel’s concern about card readers. He replied, “We intermittently make coach substitutions to ensure a trip is delivered. By the way, more blue/yellow and green/yellow buses also have ORCA readers at back doors as well as at the front door as we phase that in. Also, because RapidRide routes have high frequency, there will be another bus shortly behind, which is most likely a red RapidRide coach. As we hire more mechanics and better match our fleet with service, we’ll go back to seeing 100% (or close to it) of RapidRide service delivered by red buses.”
If you travel along the north end of West Marginal Way SW, you’ve seen the work that’s part of the Terminal 5 Quiet Zone project, changing some of the railroad crossings so that trains headed to and from T-5 won’t have to use their horns as much. Don Brubeck sent these photos and update earlier this week:
The T5 Quiet Zone project crew was removing detour barriers and putting signs in place at Chelan/Spokane/West Marginal Way/Delridge to allow bike riders to start using the new curb cut and crossing from the Alki Trail to the Bridge Trail and Duwamish route. The dedicated bike signal is not installed yet. The shared-use path and driveway paving looks like it is nearing completion on east side of West Marginal Way SW from Chelan to 16th/17th SW.
Here’s what the project is meant to provide:
When last we checked in with SDOT at the end of November (also after a photo Don sent), the project was scheduled for completion in May. The project website now says “summer.”
(Video is coded to start with State of Bridges briefing; if it doesn’t, go to 1 hour, 38 minutes into the meeting)
SDOT‘s “State of the Bridges” briefing – another reason we went downtown for the Seattle City Council’s Transportation Committee meeting on Tuesday (besides this) – was an informational overview rather than a bridge-by-bridge update, and it was somewhat rushed because the preceding item, a discussion of the Seattle Transportation Plan, had run long.
And one critical component was missing – the bridge-asset management plan called for in the bridge audit requested by the former committee chair Alex Pedersen during the West Seattle Bridge closure. Pedersen noted in a post before leaving office in December that it’s troubling the new transportation levy proposal is being developed without this “foundational document”:
SDOT is still behind on completing its Bridge Asset Management Plan and yet asset management plans should be foundational documents driving (the investment) for the next transportation capital package, as the 9-year, $930 million “Move Seattle” levy expires at the end of 2024.
Pedersen’s observation was made three months ago, and the plan’s not done yet, though the next levy proposal is expected to be made public this spring. The bridge asset plan’s current status was listed as “pending/drafting” in Tuesday’s briefing led by SDOT’s chief infrastructure engineer Elizabeth Sheldon, who said this is what it will include.
The list of “assets” is long: Sheldon’s briefing (see the full slide deck here) noted that the city’s portfolio of roadway structures includes 135 bridges and almost 500 stairways. The city also operates the South Park Bridge, though King County owns it. She also said that Seattle bridges are an average of 60 years old, while the national average bridge age is 47. Only a third of Seattle bridges are in good condition, and changing that, she said, would cost a lot.
No specific numbers, but Councilmember Dan Strauss suggested it sounded dire enough that the city perhaps should consider a levy just to address its bridges. Those currently considered to be in “fair” condition, he said, represented a “watch list,” recalling that “the West Seattle Bridge moved from fair to poor in the span of a week.”
For his part, committee chair and District 1 Councilmember Rob Saka said bridges are “near and dear” to him and that he appreciates “geeking out” on this type of information. He added that he has a field visit to the West Seattle low bridge scheduled toward the end of the month.
(Image from December 2023 council-committee agenda, incorporating Google Maps photo)
Not including the Duwamish Tribe in a highly visible Native-art project barely a mile from their Longhouse would be a “systemic erasure,” the City Council’s Transportation Committee was told by tribal officials this morning.
The committee, chaired by District 1 Councilmember Rob Saka, was scheduled to be briefed and to possibly vote on the project at today’s meeting, three months after the previous membership of the committee tabled it at the request of Saka’s predecessor Lisa Herbold. At the start of the meeting, Saka announced that it would not be voted on today; then after the previous two (unrelated) agenda items ran long, he announced the art-project briefing would be tabled entirely, “possibly” to an unspecified later date.
Though this project has been in the planning stages for almost two years, it was not mentioned publicly until the agenda emerged for a committee meeting last December. The project is proposed to involve the Muckleshoot and Suquamish Tribes, sharing an estimated 15 West Seattle Bridge columns and $133,000 from the West Seattle Bridge repair/mitigation project. The Duwamish say the art project was never even mentioned to them (and the slide deck prepared for the meeting bears that out). At the committee briefing in December, SDOT countered by saying the Duwamish Tribe was involved with a different art project – but it turned out to involve the sidewalk close to the Longhouse, and, according to the tribe, was in the works long before this came to light.
(WSB photo, Council Chambers today)
At the start of the meeting, the public-comment period included more than half a dozen people telling the committee that the Duwamish Tribe should be included in the bridge-columns project. Here’s our video of the entire public-comment period (including several speakers talking about other agenda items); the first speaker, reading a statement from Duwamish Tribe chair Cecile Hansen, was Longhouse director Kristina Pearson:
Several of the Duwamish representatives who spoke said they’re being excluded because their tribe is not federally recognized, a status they’ve been fighting for years to regain. And to add insult to injury, said one speaker, the project excluding the Duwamish Tribe is in “an area that is culturally sensitive to” them.
Saka noted from the dais that he will be visiting the Duwamish Longhouse soon for a meeting; before adjourning, both he and the committee’s vice-chair, District 3 Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth, thanked the Duwamish members for coming to City Hall. She said, “You being the original caretakers of this land, when you speak, we need to listen.”
(Side note – we will cover the rest of the meeting, which focused on the Seattle Transportation Plan and a “State of the Bridges” overview, in a separate report.)
That’s an SDOT photo from work done these past three days to reinstall a refurbished cylinder removed from the low bridge last fall. This is part of an ongoing process, SDOT reminds us:
Last October, we reinstalled the refurbished cylinder from the east pier that was damaged when the piston head became stuck in January 2023. When the unexpected damage occurred, preparations to overhaul all four of the bridge’s hydraulic turning cylinders were already underway as part of our comprehensive repair and maintenance efforts. This allowed for repairs to be completed sooner than if we had started from scratch. Our bridge maintenance crews, and our design and repair experts redeveloped a part of the turn cylinder so that this type of malfunction is much less likely to occur in the future.
Between March 1-3 [this past Friday-Sunday], crews successfully reinstalled the refurbished cylinder that was removed during the October 2023 low bridge closure! We will continue to rehabilitate the remaining two turn cylinders in the west bridge pier this year.
That’s not the only low-bridge work that’s yet to come. Next month, SDOT says, “crews will reroute the control tower wires from the high bridge to a new conduit beneath the West Duwamish Waterway that connects to the motors that open and close the bridge. … The original system, composed of buttons, switches, and wires, is about 30 years old. To remedy this, we will be rerouting the wires connecting the control tower with the motors that open and close the bridge off the high bridge to a new conduit under the West Duwamish Waterway. This work will increase the resiliency of the West Seattle Bridge system and help decouple the low bridge from the high bridge.” More details on this work and how it will affect bridge users are promised soon.
(WSB photo, last week)
“We really bumbled out of the gate,” acknowledged Metro‘s Robbie Frankel at last night’s HPAC meeting, referring to how the proposed bus-stop closures in Highland Park/South Delridge were – and were not – initially communicated. As first reported here, the only initial notification was via paper notices posted at the stops, and they pointed would-be commenters to an email address that bounced. That emailbox – which apparently had been deactivated since the last time Metro gathered feedback on stops in this area – has since been reactivated, and Frankel said the feedback already has likely taken one pair of stops off the table for closure consideration: He says they’ve heard a lot about the importance of the SW Thistle stops, two of six stops proposed for changes on the original list.
Otherwise, Frankel stressed that the proposal is in the very early stages. As to why stop closures are being proposed at all, he said it’s because of the City of Seattle’s plan to give Metro money to beef up weekend/night service on Route 125, and to improve some of the stops – maybe adding shelters, benches, paved pads, etc. They wouldn’t want to waste that money on stops that might eventually be removed in a future Metro review of the route, so they stepped up the review (though otherwise their next look at local routes isn’t scheduled until 2026).
It was stressed to Frankel that 16th SW serves South Seattle College (WSB sponsor) and the community really wants to ensure the college is getting the support it needs to thrive, so that’s another reason to tread lightly with this route. It was also suggested that Metro will want to reach out to the 16th SW Safety Committee that’s been active in advocating for traffic calming and other concerns closer. Meantime, the extended deadline for comments is two weeks from today – March 14 – and you can email your feedback to busstopsw@kingcounty.gov.
P.S. More on the rest of last night’s HPAC meeting later.
(Updated photo: Constellation Park section of Alki Point Healthy Street, today)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Two local wildlife advocacy organizations say the final design for the Alki Point “Healthy Street” – Beach Drive and Alki Avenue from 63rd to Alki Point – is an impediment to their work and the wildlife and people who benefit from it, as well as to Constellation Park visitors.
After what they say was a fruitless appeal directly to SDOT, Seal Sitters Marine Mammal Stranding Network and The Whale Trail are taking their case to the mayor and asking for community support in a new campaign they’re calling “Alki Point for All,” with an online petition. Both groups have historically used Constellation Park, along the Beach Drive section, extensively, Seal Sitters for responding to beached, sick, and/or dead marine mammals, The Whale Trail for assisting land-based viewing when orcas are in the area.
While the “Healthy Street” designation has been on the stretch for almost four years, what’s new is the final design, reported here in December, removing more than 60 on-street parking spaces, mostly to add a 10-foot-wide “walking/rolling lane” adjacent to the waterfront sidewalk. That was a major change from the design proposal on which SDOT gathered feedback a year earlier, which did not include major parking removal. Regarding their challenge now, the Alki Point for All coalition explains:
An SDOT representative has informed our organizations that SDOT will not be reconsidering our request to keep the existing beach-side parking spaces around Alki Point as well as the public vehicle access. … We are disappointed by this decision since it not only impacts our organizations but many others who come to these parks and rely on the existing parking configuration.
We have asked to meet with the Healthy Street project manager, but that meeting has not yet been scheduled by SDOT.
Our coalition met with Councilmember Rob Saka and his staff regarding this matter. In addition, we sent a letter to Mayor Bruce Harrell appealing this decision and asking that his office review the SDOT decision to designate Alki Point as a “Healthy Street” with very restrictive public access as well as removing sixty-seven beach side parking spaces around Alki Point.
We have established an online petition to allow the broader Seattle community to respond to the negative impacts this decision will have on public access to a premiere marine reserve and the city park. We invite West Seattle and the wider community to join us in voicing their concerns and join our campaign Alki Point For All!
The coalition points to this excerpt from SDOT’s most recent FAQ document regarding the Healthy Streets program:
(The question “Will the permanent Healthy Street take away parking spaces on my street?” is answered “No, permanent Healthy Streets will not remove any legal street parking spaces.”) What became “Healthy Streets” were originally announced in the early pandemic days as places where more people could walk, run, roll, etc. while safely “social distancing,” but were kept in place even after the pandemic ebbed. The Beach Drive section of Alki Point, however, was also an undeniable solution to a long-running problem about which nearby residents had complained for years – recklessness and noise related to driver gatherings – as acknowledged by police in 2020.
Most of West Seattle’s arterials get shoutouts in the newly released Seattle Transportation Plan, billed as the city’s long-term vision for people will get around over the next 20 years or so.
We reported several times last year on comment opportunities for the draft version of the plan; today, Mayor Harrell officially sent his recommended final version to the City Council for consideration. The SDOT announcement describes the plan as the “20-year vision for the future of Seattle’s streets, sidewalks, and public spaces.” In addition to philosophy and goals, it includes a list of dozens of potential projects meant to help achieve those goals.(You can see them in the “implementation strategy” section – 103 pages into the plan with more project-by-project details in Appendix A.)
The plan does not address funding – that’ll be in the spotlight within a few months, when the next transportation levy proposal is unveiled. Nor does it include specific dates for the potential projects. But it does offer prioritization.
Two West Seattle projects are listed in the “highest tier” of prioritization – 35th Avenue SW and “Fauntleroy Boulevard.” The latter is a project that was supposed to be in the nine-year transportation levy that’s expiring this year, shelved because of the possibility that light rail would follow the same path and lead to relatively new roadwork being torn up. The former is of interest because 35th SW got a significant amount of attention, including partial rechannelization, last decade. The overview of this potential project (19 pages into Appendix A) says:
This project will improve a major street that connects many West Seattle neighborhoods. This could include:
• Repaving portions of the road
• Redesigning the street to better support transit
• Repairing sidewalks and making it safer to cross the street with elements like extensions of curbs and better crossings
• Adding bicycle routes for people of all ages and abilities
• Enhancing access to destinations like shops, businesses, restaurants, and cultural centers in the area
The “middle tier” of prioritization includes projects for California SW, SW Alaska, and the south section of Fauntleroy Way (separate from the Triangle-area section involved in the “Fauntleroy Boulevard” plan). The rest of the list includes possible projects for 16th SW, SW Orchard/Dumar, Highland Park Way, Roxbury, the Alki Trail, and an Admiral Way project that’s definitely many years down the line – redirecting the RapidRide H Line to Admiral/Alki once West Seattle’s light-rail extension opens (currently projected for late 2032).
Again, the projects are just part of the plan. SDOT says things will get more specific when they create an “implementation plan” for the Transportation Plan next year; meantime, the City Council will be accepting public comment before voting on whether to accept the plan – council@seattle.gov, and public comment during a council meeting on March 5 (watch for the agenda here).
Last weekend, reader Juan tipped us to notices on some Metro bus stops in Highland Park/South Delridge, saying Metro is considering closing them and requesting feedback. No information was available online, so we published this and then, right after the holiday weekend, we asked Metro for the overview of which stops are on the chopping block, and why. This afternoon we finally got the details – and, says Metro spokesperson Jeff Switzer, there’s more to it than just a stop-closing plan. First, the stops proposed for closure – note that the list includes one that’s not on 16th:
Now, the big picture – including an extension of time to comment on the proposed stop closures/relocation (they’ve fixed the emailbox problems):
Metro is working on ways to improve travel times for West Seattle riders, upgrade bus stop amenities, and help riders make better connections.
There are 56 bus stops on route 125. Metro staff are currently evaluating proposals to improve up to 14 bus stops, remove up to five stops, and relocate one bus stop. The section of 16th Avenue SW between SW Holden Street and SW Henderson Street is the only portion of the route with consecutive bus stops located 500 to 700 feet apart. These short distances are about half the desired stop spacing distance, as defined in Metro’s Service Guidelines.
At the same time, Metro has been working with Seattle Department of Transportation staff to consider how the Seattle Transit Measure could be used to fund improvements for Route 125. This will likely include funding approximately 4,000 additional service hours focused on improving evening and weekend service, starting in fall of 2024. The City of Seattle and King County are also considering locations along Routes 125 and 128 in Delridge, Riverview, and Highland Park where there is the opportunity to improve bus stop safety and accessibility by building improvements such as sidewalk extensions and benches.
In mid-February, Metro staff posted hardcopy notices asking for feedback regarding the proposals to close the bus stops [on 16th] at SW Kenyon Street, SW Thistle Street, and SW Trenton Street. Metro is considering closing these five bus stops to improve the travel times and reliability for routes 125 and 128. By consolidating ridership at fewer stops, it also makes it possible to provide higher quality amenities (like shelters) at the remaining stops. Metro staff also posted a rider alert at the eastbound bus stop on SW Barton Street at 22nd Avenue SW asking riders for feedback about the possibility of relocating the stop to Delridge Way SW to improve the transfer between Route 125 and the RapidRide H Line.
No decisions have been made on whether any stops will be closed or relocated. We want to hear from riders about their priorities and how they use these stops. The feedback gathered this month will help us refine the project scope. We are extending the window for initial comments through March 14 and welcome any feedback regarding the proposed stop rebalancing, proposed bus stop modifications, or any other comments regarding route 125. Feedback can be submitted to busstopsw@kingcounty.gov. Additional information regarding these improvements will be shared in the coming months, once the project team can review the feedback, follow-up with community members, and refine the project scope.
(WSB photos/video)
If you’re going to be The King of Potholes, you might as well go get a firsthand look at your kingdom. That’s what District 1 City Councilmember Rob Saka did this morning, joining an SDOT “Pothole Rangers“ crew at work in South Park and West Seattle. We heard him mention the plan during yesterday’s meeting of the Transportation Committee, which he chairs, so we contacted his staff and arranged to meet up at his first stop.
In this case, the Pothole Rangers had a fairly deep rut to deal with immediately south of the city transfer station in west South Park – an industrial area heavily traveled by trucks. Saka put on a hard hat and vest and joined the crew.
The rain stopped just in time, but SDOT’s crew told us they work in every kind of weather except snow/ice. So first task was to dry out this pothole best as they could.
Then came the application of “tack,” to which the asphalt fill would adhere. And finally the asphalt itself, with which the councilmember assisted:
Here’s the “after” view, and how the process concluded:
As recently noted here, SDOT crews – which are based regionally, including one assigned to West Seattle – filled more than 25,000 potholes around the city last year. And there’s always more waiting to be filled – here’s a screengrab from the map of reported-and-waiting potholes:
(Go here for options on how to report one.) Saka told us this is just the first visit he plans to make to a variety of frontline crews – he’ll be visiting bridge-maintenance workers too. He also reiterated that he’s well aware the underlying cause of potholes needs to be addressed too – streets in desperate need of repaving. The next transportation levy is expected to address that, though Saka said he hasn’t been involved yet in specific project lists, so he doesn’t know whether, for example, SW Roxbury (which was supposed to be repaved with Levy to Move Seattle money, then got shelved) will be addressed.
16 minutes into that Seattle Channel video, the City Council Transportation Committee – chaired by District 1 Councilmember Rob Saka – hears SDOT recap the past eight years of the $930 million Levy to Move Seattle, which expires at the end of this year. (See the slide deck here.) This is a precursor to announcing the plan for the next levy, which Mayor Bruce Harrell said in his State of the City address today that he expects to do in spring. The SDOT contingent briefing the Transportation Committee today was led by director Greg Spotts and Francisca Stefan. They noted that the levy funding comprises almost a third of SDOT’s budget, and that this is the 18th year SDOT has had levy funding. They also noted the levy “pivot” for the pandemic, and then the later course correction to get back on track with its original intent. One program that’s getting back on track is seismic upgrades for bridges – though no new specifics were given, two are pending for West Seattle this year, the Delridge pedestrian overpass and the twin Admiral Way bridges over Fairmount Ravine. (A check of records shows that the contract for the former is about to be awarded, and bidding is still open for the latter.)
It was also noted that one major West Seattle project promised when the Levy to Move Seattle went to the ballot in 2015, known as Fauntleroy Boulevard, remains “paused,” as it has been for six years, since Fauntleroy Way became a possible path for the Sound Transit light-rail extension, which now seems likely to tunnel into The Junction instead. (The project actually was included in a revised version of the levy announced by then-Mayor Ed Murray, two months after the original proposal.) Not mentioned today, but also unfulfilled though it was expected when the levy was passed – Roxbury repaving. (Initial planning happened, but then in 2019 we discovered it was shelved until at least the next levy.)
SUNDAY: The photo and report are from Juan:
I noticed that a number of bus stops along 16th Ave SW in Highland Park had signs stating the stops were under consideration for closure by Metro. The provide a deadline of February 29, 2024 to submit comments. I have not seen this information provided anywhere else and this came as a complete surprise.
The feedback address on the sign is busstopsw@kingcounty.gov. We’ll be inquiring with Metro on Tuesday (since offices are closed for Presidents Day tomorrow); if you’ve seen closure alerts elsewhere, please let us know.
ADDED MONDAY: We traveled along 16th for a closer look at where the stops are posted for removal. We saw the signs on some – not all – stops from south of Donovan to south of Holden.
The traffic flow – or lack of it – into and out of the Fauntleroy ferry dock has long been a challenge. At peak times, when available and funded, a law-enforcement officer helps. So what about a stoplight? The idea is far from new, but it’s resurfaced during the planning process for the dock-replacement project – and suddenly there’s talk it could be installed a lot sooner. That’s part of what was presented in the most recent meeting of the project’s Community Advisory Group.
First, here’s video of the entire meeting, published Monday (the meeting was held online last Wednesday):
Washington State Ferries managers told the CAG members – who represent all three stops on the route served by this dock, Fauntleroy, Vashon Island, and Southworth (Kitsap County) – that they’ve been talking with SDOT about the possibility of installing a stoplight sooner rather later, and talked about preliminary ideas for how it would work. They also said they had ruled out one controversial idea discussed at an earlier meeting – cutting into the bluff across the street from the dock in order to widen the intersection. (The bluff is topped by a lookout known as Captain’s Park.)
The diagram they showed (top image) was based on the concept of signalizing the intersection based on its current configuration. And the signal would be set up to use vehicle detection – obviously the dock-into-Fauntleroy Way direction wouldn’t be needed in the times between boats’ unloading. Discussion with CAG members included questions about how, or whether, the signalized intersection would discourage drivers from turning left into the dock from northbound Fauntleroy, and how it would be sequenced so that pedestrians and bicyclists could safely get across.
No specific time frame was listed for potential installation.
As for the dock itself, the process is moving toward design and construction in 2027-2029, and a “preferred alternative” size and shape for the replacement isn’t expected to be chosen until next year.
But WSF is continuing to consider seven alternatives (above) – potentially longer and/or wider than the current dock – so another major section of this meeting was devoted to new sets of renderings of how those alternatives would look. The renderings’ views were presented as from the pump station north of the dock, from the Cove Park beach north of the dock, looking toward the water from the street end of the walkway to/from the dock (which could run a fifth of a mile in the longest-new-dock scenario), and from the Captain’s Park lookout across the street. Since there were so many renderings, we have to refer you to the slide deck PDF for a look instead of posting them all here. Here’s a sample set, though – the existing view from Captain’s Park and the rendering of what the longest, largest alternative – C, which could hold up to 186 vehicles, a boatload and a half – would look like from there:
The WSF project engineering lead who presented the various sets of renderings, Edd Thomas, was asked questions such as how the motorcycle and bicycle loading – envisioned to have their own lanes – would work, and what sort of elevation change would be required from street to dock in order to prepare for sea-level rise. (Not much, was that reply – the current dock is a bit of a drop from the tollbooths, so that would instead be leveled out.) Another question: With the dock surface potentially much larger, what kind of light permeability would be built in, in order to avoid shading so much more water? Still under evaluation, was the reply – maybe some glass block along the south side of the dock.
The project is currently in a variety of studies before moving into the next phase of alternating alternatives. One major issue that’s being studied is how ferry traffic would be affected by advance ticketing or the Good To Go! automatic-payment pass system – potentially enabling the new dock to have a footprint similar to the existing one. WSF managers promised they will have that information at the next meeting, probably sometime in March. (UPDATE: It’s scheduled for 6 pm March 20.) In the meantime, the project is a major topic on tonight’s Fauntleroy Community Association meeting agenda, with guests from WSF, 6 pm at Fauntleroy Schoolhouse (9131 California SW), open to the community (also viewable online).
The new-era City Council‘s first committee meeting happened this past week, when the Transportation Committee – chaired by District 1 Councilmember Rob Saka – convened on Tuesday morning. Before the meeting moved into public comment and presentations, Saka said his focuses will be on “preserving and maintaining our infrastructure, with a heavy focus on bridges and streets, in hopes, he said, no other community has to go through anything like the 2 1/2-year West Seattle Bridge closure. He said his other priorities will be the “safety and comfort of pedestrians,” improved transit-rider experience, climate-related issues (particularly increased electrification of transportation), equity, and the size/scope of the next transportation-funding measure.
Of the two introductory presentations made by SDOT, the one of widest interest was an explanation of the department itself, led by director Greg Spotts, who noted he’s had the job for 17 months now. Spotts said he’d done some reorganizing of SDOT management to better handle priorities. For example, toward Saka’s top priority, Spotts said Elizabeth Sheldon serves as chief infrastructure engineer. Venu Nemani, previously chief traffic engineer, is chief transportation safety officer. Shortly after arriving, Spotts noted, he’d ordered a “top to bottom” review of Vision Zero – in light of the fact that traffic deaths and serious injuries were not declining – and he said there’ll be an implementation plan in the next several months. (As an aside, he said he does not own a car.) He talked about the Seattle Transportation Plan, pulling together many separate predecessors (bicycle plan, freight plan, transit plan, etc.), and said upcoming documents will include a Bridge Asset Management Plan. He briefly ran through some of what is on SDOT’s schedule for the year ahead, including bridge seismic upgrades (in West Seattle that includes the Delridge/Oregon overpass and the Admiral Way bridges over Fairmount Ravine).
His presentation included many stats – from 500 cameras in the traffic-control center downtown, to 14,000 openings per year for the city-owned movable bridges, including the West Seattle low bridge. (Spotts noted that shipments requiring those openings include a lot of food destined for Alaska.) Another stat of interest: There are about half a million street parking spaces in the city, but “we only charge for about 12,000 of them.”
One more note of West Seattle interest – Spotts briefly mentioned the city’s involvement with Sound Transit for the West Seattle and Ballard extensions. That group, he said, also reports to Sheldon, the chief infrastructure engineer.
The presentation also touched on the SDOT budget and the “83 sources of funding” that feed into it, “more than most city departments.”
Eventually Saka brought it back to his interest in pothole-filling as a symbol of what the city can do for its residents; not only does he want to be “the king of potholes,” but he also declared his fellow committee members “pothole royalty” too, though in a more serious vein, he suggested the “underlying causes” of potholes should be examined and addressed too.
You can watch the meeting in the Seattle Channel video above, and see the “introduction to SDOT” slides here. In addition to chairing the Transportation Committee, Councilmember Saka is vice chair of the Public Safety Committee, which will meet at 9:30 am Tuesday (February 13) for the first time this year; as we previously noted, all three of the city’s public-safety chiefs (CARE’s Amy Smith, SFD’s Harold Scoggins, SPD’s Adrian Diaz) are on the agenda to provide overviews of their departments.
(WSB photo, looking toward the northwest)
Last month, our brief mention of a reader-reported problem with the 47th/Admiral signal led to a comment discussion about recurring trouble there. One reader said they’d reported it in December and received an explanation that the vehicle-detection system was failing. We followed up with SDOT, which after a lengthy research period provided this response:
We completely replaced the vehicle detection system and made other repairs to this traffic signal in the summer of 2023. The old detection system originally was built with a 5-year product lifespan and had begun to show signs of failure. Since we finished these repairs, our technicians have made several field visits to test the signal, and have not observed any operational problems. The most recent site visit took place last week, when our technician watched the signal for approximately 90 minutes and did not see any issues.
Nonetheless, we will continue to take this issue seriously and will continue to make field visits if people continue to report problems. We appreciate members of the public who have taken the time to notify us when they think they see a problem, and especially appreciate when people are able to provide specific details such as the direction and time of day that they were traveling, which may help us to catch any issues that might not be occurring consistently at all times.
The signal was installed in 2015, two years after the City Council funded it following years of community advocacy for intersection improvements. As for reporting trouble – aside from using the Find It/Fix It app, you can report signal (and other) problems to SDOT via 206-684-ROAD – after-hours, 206-386-1218 – or 684-Road@seattle.gov via email.
The new City Council starts committee meetings tomorrow (Tuesday, February 6). First up: The Transportation Committee, chaired by District 1 Councilmember Rob Saka of West Seattle. When his committee meets at 9:30 am, the agenda includes public comment, an “Introduction to SDOT” (here’s the slide deck), and an “Introduction to Term Permits and Street Vacations” (here’s that slide deck). See the agenda for information on how to participate in the public-comment period, in person at City Hall or via phone; if you just want to watch the meeting, it’ll be live via Seattle Channel. You can look ahead to other council-committee meetings by checking this page, which links agendas once they’re available.
(SDOT pothole crew, photo via seattle.gov)
If you’ve noticed new and/or worsened potholes since the recent subfreezing cold, SDOT says it’s on them – provided somebody has reported them:
The Seattle Department of Transportation filled 25,000 potholes in 2023, the most potholes filled in the past five years. Crews are continuing to work hard to address more potholes caused by recent freezing temperatures.
SDOT typically fills over 80% of potholes within three days after receiving a request from the public. While this is always the goal, it may take longer than usual to repair all the street damage after a severe winter storm or prolonged freezing temperatures when hundreds of potholes can suddenly appear all at once.
Every winter, storms and freezing temperatures damage Seattle’s streets, as water from rain and snow finds its way through cracks in the ground and erode the pavement. When the temperatures drop below freezing, this water expands into ice which forces the cracks apart and slices up our streets from the inside out. This causes previously filled potholes to reappear. SDOT is prepared for many new potholes to appear this winter due to recent freezing weather and the possibility of more winter storms to come.
SDOT also proactively looks for potholes before they are reported by the public. This year, crews will patrol major streets to search for new potholes. They will prioritize looking along snow plow routes, which are the most essential streets in the City’s transportation system and experience an increase in heavy vehicles during winter storms making them the most likely place for new potholes to appear.
It may take SDOT longer than usual to respond to potholes during severe weather because the crew members who fill potholes are the same people who work day-and-night during storms to drive snow plows, shovel snow, clear landslides, and respond to flooding. When SDOT is faced with multiple challenges, we prioritize our work to promote public safety.
Potholes are less likely to occur on streets that have been recently paved. Thanks to the Levy to Move Seattle, SDOT has re-paved over 215 miles of Seattle streets since 2016. SDOT crews also add a thin layer of protective sealant to over 200 blocks of city streets a year to keep water out and extend the life of the pavement.
SDOT crews cannot fill a pothole that they do not know about. The public can report new potholes to SDOT in a variety of ways, including using the Find It, Fix It App, submitting an online report, emailing 684-ROAD@seattle.gov, or calling SDOT at (206) 684-ROAD (7623).
That’s a page from a slide deck presented earlier this month to the Levy to Move Seattle Oversight Committee in a briefing on levy-funded earthquake-resistance work for bridges around the city. We’ve already reported on two of the projects on the list, Admiral (listed twice because technically it’s two bridges) and Delridge. But the “silt removal” project for the low bridge was something we hadn’t previously heard about. We asked SDOT for more information – at the committee briefing, it was just a quick mention – and got this explanation:
This project will remove silt that has built up around the western bridge foundations and replace rusted steel collars that are secured around the piles that support the bridge pier.
The western pier is supported by several piles surrounded by a steel casing. There is a circular gap between the support piles and the steel casing which allows the bridge to freely move during an earthquake, reducing the force and stress on the pier foundations. There is a steel collar that fits around the top of each of the steel casings to prevent debris from entering the circular space. Over time, the collars have rusted and the gap has filled with silt. A contractor specializing in underwater construction will remove the silt and replace the collars so that the bridge can move as it was designed to do during an earthquake.
We expect to complete this work later this year, and we do not expect that this will have any effect on travelers or vessels. The estimated project cost is about $650,000. This is one of 16 bridge seismic reinforcement projects being funded by the Levy to Move Seattle.
The silt problem apparently goes back quite some time – we found a mention in this 2019 SDOT report.
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