JayDee
I wouldn’t mind if the point of the “Car Free Days” in Alki Ave was similar to the “Car Free Days” on Lake Washington Blvd–which is a relatively bucolic street that is difficult to get to even if you want to go there. This street is an ideal bike street for those very reasons. You can get to the areas it services by myriad other ways.
Alki Ave/Harbor is serviced by an off-ramp on the West Seattle Fre…I mean “Bridge”. All of the non-WS folk who haven’t rec’d the press release will wondering what’s up that weekend when they get turned back. Others will go to Alki via Admiral, a major arterial that normally does a wonderful job handling traffic. What does a “car-free day” do to “teach” or “instruct” these folks? That they shouldn’t drive to Alki? What does it teach locals?
Yes, I plead guilty to being “half-empty” in my outlook, but I would rather be wrong and have things go right than deal with other’s dreams of what is right for me. I ride the bus during the weeks and sometimes on weekends because I have a Metro bus pass, and use re-useable bags because I remembered to bring them. That is my choice, and I don’t need experiments to prove it to me.
I understand that light rail will go from downtown to the airport in 25 minutes if it works as promised. I live in West Seattle, and light rail is but a pretty dream today. After the light rail is running, make direct bus connections every day to the ID station from the Junction, and light rail may possibly be attractive. But don’t ask me for higher property taxes without delivering the goods first. My two cents.