West Seattle, Washington
12 Friday
(WSB photos unless otherwise attributed)
4:03 PM: SPD units are converging on 35th/Hudson [map], near Providence Mount St. Vincent, where two men are reported to have run from a crashed car. One, according to scanner traffic, might have a gun. The car was reported to have been speeding up to 80 mph before crashing; Seattle Fire is now being sent to the crash scene. More to come.
4:06 PM: Per scanner, the vehicle is believed to have been stolen in a robbery, “with the gun.” 35th might be closed, at least partially, because of the search.
4:15 PM: No word of arrest(s) yet – if you are in that area and see/hear anything/anyone suspicious, call 911.
4:25 PM: Our crew has arrived in the area and we’ve added photos, including the crashed car, which went into the wall on the east side of The Mount’s campus. Police and fire are talking with/checking on someone who might be a third person who was in the car and did not flee.
Part of southbound 35th is taped off at the crime scene – again, avoid 35th in that area.
4:32 PM: Police confirm the third person from the vehicle, a woman, didn’t flee. Our crew says she seemed extremely dazed. (Added) They also say she was clearly injured, and was taken to the hospital by private ambulance:
Police also tell us the vehicle first came to an officer’s attention because its driver was driving “erratically”; when an attempt was made to pull the driver over, he sped up, then crashed. (We heard this via scanner as it started to unfold, and the officer pursued on foot before backup arrived. The suspects were reported to have split up, one heading east toward Rotary Viewpoint Park at 35th/Alaska, one west toward The Mount’s campus.)
(Reader photo, texted – thank you!)
5:04 PM: Still searching, off both sides of 35th. We still don’t know where the robbery/carjacking happened.
6:05 PM: Just a note since it’s been an hour … no additional information yet. The crashed car was being taken to the SPD evidence facility in SODO. Meantime, police at the scene said they couldn’t comment but that media relations would at some point tonight have an update.
6:17 PM: Our photographer brought back a photo that clearly shows the car’s make and plate.
That enabled us to discover via SPD’s @getyourcarback stolen-car tweets that it was reported stolen two days ago. From where, we don’t know (the tweets don’t include locations or incident numbers), but that will enable a little more sleuthing.
(UPDATED 4:54 PM – second eastbound West Seattle Bridge crash of the afternoon has cleared)
FIRST REPORT, 2:07 PM: Two notes on this ninth day of the Viaduct closure – first, a traffic alert:
Collision on West Seattle Bridge EB at 1st Ave S blocking left lane. Use caution and expect delays. pic.twitter.com/c1qh4qdw2M
— seattledot (@seattledot) May 7, 2016
If you’re heading out any time soon (2:07 pm as we publish this), take some extra time. And remember the warnings about all the SCHEDULED events happening as the weekend continues, including Sounders FC vs. San Jose at CenturyLink tonight (7 pm).
2:39 PM UPDATE: SDOT says the bridge crash has cleared.
BACK TO ORIGINAL REPORT: Meantime, a tunneling update:
Highway 99 tunneling crews continue to work 24/7, and WSDOT is publishing updates 7 days a week, too. This morning’s update via 99closure.org: 246 feet tunneled, of the ~385 feet that will get the machine clear of the Alaskan Way Viaduct’s underside; if you look at the map/graphic here, it’s already starting to get past the area in which the entire machine was beneath the Viaduct. Though it’s been monitoring and inspecting the structure throughout the process, WSDOT says it will do one more major inspection – similar to the ones for which it closes the Viaduct for a day or so each spring and fall – once it gets word the machine is completely clear of the ~385-foot stretch.
3:04 PM: WSDOT has just posted today’s second tunneling update – 266.5 feet now dug, of the beneath-Viaduct ~385 feet. That’s more than two-thirds of the way.
3:15 PM: Another crash on the eastbound West Seattle Bridge, this time in the left lanes just before the 4th Avenue exit. Thanks to the texter who sent us first word. We confirmed it via the live camera from the SDOT Travelers Map.
3:19 PM: SDOT has it now:
Collision on West Seattle Bridge at 4th Ave blocking the EB left two lanes. Use caution and expect delays. pic.twitter.com/i2N5uOyXCB
— seattledot (@seattledot) May 7, 2016
3:30 PM: Here’s some video recorded off the SDOT Travelers Map’s live camera (not embeddable so far as we know, so we had to resort to recording off our laptop screen):
From @seattledot cam on the EB bridge crash. Note the response trucks. #99closure pic.twitter.com/1pWp2PmGu4
— West Seattle Blog (@westseattleblog) May 7, 2016
4:54 PM: SDOT confirms that crash has cleared.
(Photo by Robin Lindsey)
Tayler and Ana, graduates of the UW’s Environmental Science Program, are Seal Sitters Marine Mammal Stranding Network volunteers, and that means they’re helping wildlife all over our area. Want to join them? Here’s your next chance:
Seal Sitters Marine Mammal Stranding Network will be holding our “Spring New Volunteer Training Session” on Monday evening, May 23rd, from 6:30 – 8:30 pm.
For more information and to RSVP (required to attend), please visit the volunteer page of our website. We encourage children to join and become stewards of Puget Sound’s fragile marine ecosystem.
As an authorized agent of NOAA’s West Coast Marine Mammal Stranding Network, Seal Sitters MMSN responds to reports of all marine mammals along the shoreline of West Seattle, from Brace Point through the Duwamish River.
Join Seal Sitters, a very active network, and make a difference for wildlife!
Two street robberies were reported to police early today, in The Junction and in South Delridge. We don’t have details of the latter but we do have information on the former because one victim’s mother e-mailed us, including what her daughter, 22, had posted to tell friends and relatives online:
“My cousins and I were walking home from West Seattle (Alaska) Junction to my parents’ house three doors down when we were robbed (at) gunpoint by four African American men in all black at 1:15 am on Glenn Way halfway between Oregon St. and Alaska St. They took everything we had on us.”
If you have any information, the SPD incident number is 16-158458.
The second robbery is on the SPD Twitter log as having happened at 16th/Barton, incident number 16-158586.
(Breakfast at the beach! Gull with clam at Constellation Park, photographed by Gary Jones)
Happy Saturday! Yes, The Viaduct is still closed. Here are some of the reasons not to leave the peninsula today, from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:
BIKE TRAIL CLEANUP: Join Swedish Automotive (WSB sponsor) cleaning up the trail along westbound lower Spokane, 9 am-noon, details here. (26th/Spokane)
POLLINATOR GARDEN WORK PARTY: Help out at Louisa Boren K-8 STEM, 9 am-1 pm: “Tools, donuts and coffee will be provided! Bring water and a snack. Everyone is welcome! We are hoping to bring in folks from the community in addition to school families!” (5950 Delridge Way SW)
KENTUCKY DERBY/CHEER SEATTLE FUNDRAISER: Party at Outwest Bar noon-5 pm to enjoy Kentucky Derby day and help CHEER Seattle‘s community work; hat contest, beverage specials, silent auction, more. Details in our calendar listing. (California SW/SW Brandon)
JANE’S WALK IN THE JUNCTION: 9 am, meet at Hotwire Online Coffeehouse (WSB sponsor), and join Timothy Lowry for a walk to explore The Junction’s changes and opportunities, as part of Jane’s Walk. Free! (4410 California SW)
JANE’S WALK IN RIVERSIDE: 10 am, meet at Riverside Memorial Park and join Judy Bentley to explore historic Riverside by the Duwamish River, as part of Jane’s Walk. Free! (17th SW and W. Marginal Way SW)
SSC PLANT SALE: Landscape Horticulture program’s plant sale, 11 am-3 pm on the north end of the South Seattle College (WSB sponsor) campus. (6000 16th SW)
BASEBALL PLAYOFFS: West Seattle High School vs. Eastside Catholic, noon, at Steve Cox Memorial Park in White Center. (15th/102nd)
TEA AT TIBBETTS: Classic way to celebrate Mother’s Day weekend with friends and relatives – 2-4 pm, it’s a tea and treats at Tibbetts United Methodist Church (WSB sponsor), details in our calendar listing. If you didn’t make a reservation in advance, it’s $9/person at the door. (3940 41st SW)
SOFTBALL PLAYOFFS: Chief Sealth International High School vs. Garfield, 3 pm at SWAC. (2801 SW Thistle)
COMMUNITY CONVERSATION WITH YOUR SCHOOL BOARD DIRECTOR: 3-4:30 pm at Southwest Library, drop in to talk with and hear from your West Seattle/South Park rep on the Seattle Public Schools Board, Leslie Harris. (35th SW/SW Henderson)
UKULELE MUSIC @ C & P: 7-9 pm, Arden Fujiwara performs live at C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor), “jazz, rock, and lounge with a hint of Hawaiian and reggae.” (5612 California SW)
EVENING TRAFFIC ALERT: In case you’re not already all over this because you’re going to the game – big event in SODO tonight, Sounders FC vs. San Jose @ CenturyLink Field, 7 pm.
MORE! on our complete calendar.
The 12th annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day is now exactly one week away! 9 am-3 pm Saturday, May 14th, with more than 300 sales of all sizes, all over West Seattle. As promised, we’ll be publishing the map today – no exact time yet as we have a few last changes to make – but as soon as it’s up, we’ll announce it here, as well as at westseattlegaragesale.com, and in the WSB social-media channels. The map page will have permanent links in the navigation bars atop both sites as usual.
A Metro League baseball-playoffs extra-innings thriller has just ended at Steve Cox Memorial Field tonight, between cross-peninsula rivals Chief Sealth International High School and West Seattle High School.
Sealth had led the whole game until the 7th, starting with 3 runs in the 1st.
But WSHS tied it up in the bottom of the 7th, and one inning later, the game ended with the Wildcats loading the bases with no outs and having the winning run walked in. Final score, 8-7 WSHS; they advance in the tournament, playing Eastside Catholic at noon, also at Steve Cox, tomorrow.
More to come.
(WSB photo of original Fauntleroy Expressway cushion replacement work, by Christopher Boffoli)
In case you missed our mention of this during today’s afternoon/evening commute coverage: SDOT has announced the new schedule for the re-replacement of earthquake-safety cushions under the west end of the West Seattle Bridge, the section officially known as the Fauntleroy Expressway.
You might recall the original schedule, first reported here hours before the Viaduct closure schedule was announced, would have overlapped both projects, with the Fauntleroy Expressway work set to start two days before the Viaduct closure. It wasn’t just the overnight bridge closures that led to concerns and questions, but also the plans for lane closures day and night on surface Spokane Street under the bridge, and SDOT finally agreed to push the work back to mid-May.
Now, they’ve announced the start date – and note some specific plans if the Viaduct closure goes longer than expected:
The previously delayed start of the Fauntleroy Expressway (West Seattle Freeway) Bearing Pad Replacement Project has been rescheduled, with the first overnight closure of the structure now slated for Sunday, May 15. This will be the first of an expected 40-50 weeknight closures of the structure, with closures each week beginning on Sunday evening and finishing on Friday morning. The bridge will be closed from 9 p.m. each night until 5 a.m. the following morning. The Expressway will NOT be closed on Friday or Saturday nights. SDOT appreciates the public’s patience while this work is being done.
On those weeknights with Mariners or Sounders games with attendance of 20,000 or more, the Expressway closures will not begin until 11 p.m.
Daytime preparatory work underneath the bridge will begin next Monday, May 9. This will include pressure washing the underside of the structure, which will require closure of the parking underneath the structure. (Once the overnight closures begin, the parking restrictions below the bridge will be limited to the work zone under active construction.)
The contractor may reduce traffic on surface Spokane Street below the bridge to a single lane in either direction. However, until the Alaskan Way Viaduct reopens, the two eastbound surface lanes of Spokane Street will remain open each morning until traffic dissipates, which may be as late as 10 a.m. In the afternoon, the contractor will maintain two westbound lanes no later than 3:30 p.m.
Construction crews will be replacing the 674 bearing pads on the Fauntleroy Expressway from just west of the Delridge Way on/off ramp westward to where the road turns south (where the road is no longer a bridge.) Bearing pads provide a cushion between the bridge girders and the horizontal support for the girders, and are important to preserving and protecting the long term integrity of the bridge.
The work is complex, requiring each bridge segment to be jacked up in order to remove the old bearing pads and install the new ones. Crews will set up the jacks on the underside of the bridge during the day, with the actual jacking and bearing pad replacement work done at night while the bridge is closed (impacting the fewest number of motorists). The work will move from east to west, one horizontal support at a time.
The Fauntleroy Expressway was built in 1963, spans 2,527 feet and carries more than 60,000 vehicles per day. An initial seismic retrofit of the structure was completed in 1994, when column jackets were erected around select columns, and post tensioning was added to the supports. Longitudinal restrainers were also included to interconnect the roadway over each support.
A second phase of seismic retrofit began in 2011, when SDOT updated the structure by strengthening 33 columns with steel jackets, strengthening pile caps, and adding longitudinal restrainers. At the time, it was decided to take advantage of the seismic work by also replacing the original bearing pads which were reaching the end of their service life.
SDOT engineers discovered a problem after the bearing pad replacement had been completed. The outside design consultant had order the wrong pad. Instead of replacing the existing pads with rigid ones, they mistakenly ordered less rigid pads. The design consultant has acknowledged their error, and will be paying the $1.9 million cost of replacing the pads.
New standards for bearing pads have since been established, so the bearing pads being installed now will have steel shims embedded within them, which is expected to give them a longer service life than the originals.
This information will also be posted to the project website.
If you saw police activity in the Luna Park area late this morning, here’s what it was about: A resident of 30th SW came face-to-face with a burglar, and says police subsequently made an arrest. Here’s the report she sent us tonight:
This morning a man broke into my home – with my dog out and about. He used a beer bottle to smash open a window, reach in and unlock it. I’m by Luna Park Cafe.
He completely ransacked my home and must have been here for a while. He was quite brazen.
He set off my fire panic button, which is how I was alerted at work because the fire dept was on their way to my home. He then turned off and stole the system.
He stayed somewhere in the house while my landlord and firemen came in, but they didn’t check out the entire house. Shortly thereafter, I showed up and entered my home to find it destroyed and my dog frantic. I figured no one would be left in the house since the firemen had been there (not knowing they didn’t check the whole house) and ended up confronting a man in my bedroom. Luckily he left without a fight.. and apologized instead while picking up his (MY) things, when I told him to leave.
The SPD arrived quickly with K9 and caught him. Thank goodness for that panic button!
Please keep an eye out for your neighbors!
(SDOT MAP with camera/incident links; OFFICIAL #99CLOSURE INFOSITE; ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE)
(Click any view for a close-up; more cameras on the WSB Traffic page)
4:18 PM: A bit late to the party, sorry.
4:25 PM: Take a look at the camera – the eastbound bridge looks as bad as the morning commute. Westbound, not so bad so far.
4:40 PM-5:05 PM: The “low bridge” has just reopened after a 25-minute closure.
5:11 PM: And SDOT has tweeted that the “low bridge” is closing to surface traffic again right now, for a maritime-traffic opening, just a few minutes after the previous one.
5:16 PM: Speaking of SDOT, looks like they’re optimistic the Viaduct closure will end after about two weeks, as expected. They’ve announced the new date for the start of the Fauntleroy Expressway seismic-cushion-re-replacement closures: May 15th. If you recall our original reports earlier this year, this project will involve dozens of overnight closures of the west end of the bridge. It originally was set to start April 27th, as announced hours before the state set April 29th for the start of the Viaduct closure; questions about the potential misery index caused by that confluence led SDOT to push it back to mid-May, and now we have a date.
5:24 PM: SDOT just tweeted that the low bridge is back open to non-maritime traffic.
5:32 PM: Just heard a mutual-aid call for SFD’s Highland Park-based Engine 11 to head to 8th SW and SW 100th in Greenbridge (White Center), just a few blocks south of the city limits. Don’t know what the incident is but we’ll head over for a look. 8th is an arterial in the area so this serves as a potential traffic alert.
5:50 PM: Our crew arriving there says it was a crash, not affecting traffic and a tow truck has already arrived, but deputies say paramedics were needed and not available from North Highline FD so they called for SFD.
Meantime, back on this side of the city/county line, we have multiple reports that surface traffic, especially downtown, is bollixed.
6:21 PM: We’ll continue tracking bridge closures until about 7 pm – South Park Bridge just went up for a maritime opening. And remember that the Water Taxi runs into the evening since it’s Friday. Paul Nicholson sent this photo of the 4:15 pm line:
Find the schedule and other info here.
6:27 PM: The South Park Bridge is back open to surface traffic again.
6:36 PM: And now the low bridge (Spokane Street Swing Bridge) has closed to surface traffic for the third time this pm commute.
6:50 PM: The low bridge has reopened to surface traffic.
7:04 PM … and it’s closed again.
7:12 PM: Open again. We’re moving on now – if there are any major incidents for the rest of the night, and over the weekend, we’ll report them individually.
8:52 PM: One more update – 234 of the 385 under-the-Viaduct feet now for the tunneling machine, as of the final progress report of the night:
See the full update (including a stern warning!) here.
The West Seattle Turkey – or is it a turkey? – is still on the loose. That’s one of the most recent photos we’ve received – thanks to Solie in North Admiral. It also seems to have been everywhere from Pigeon Point (Turkey Point?) to Duwamish Head. Anyway, whatever it is, it is our featured photo. Now – before we get any closer to the still-Viaductless return trip home … five reasons to get back here as soon as you can:
JUDY BENTLEY @ WORDS, WRITERS, WEST SEATTLE: Judy is a West Seattle historian and author of books including “Walking Washington’s History: Ten Cities.” Come meet her 5-7 pm during the Southwest Seattle Historical Society‘s monthly “Words, Writers, & West Seattle” event at Barnes & Noble/Westwood Village – details in our calendar listing. (2800 SW Barton)
FAMILY NIGHT @ WEST SEATTLE YMCA: 6 pm, a night of fun with family and friends, free! (If you’re not a member, please bring a donation for the West Seattle Food Bank.) Including swimming! Details here. Also, MyIDClub will be at the Y, 6-7:30 pm, to offer FREE photograph/fingerprint ID cards for children under 16. (4515 36th SW)
‘WEIRDO SIMPATICO’ @ TREEHOUSE LOUNGE: Seattle author and jazz vocalist Katy Bourne reads from “Weirdo Simpatico: Stories for Short Attention Spans” as bassist Paul Gabrielson improvises a live musical backdrop. At Treehouse Lounge, 7-7:30 pm. (2206 California SW)
FIVE BUCK BAND: 7-9 pm at award-winning C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor), music of the ’60s and ’70s and more. (5612 California SW)
RONNY COX @ KENYON HALL: 7:30 pm, singer, songwriter, actor Ronny Cox returns to Kenyon Hall. See our calendar listing for reservation info – check fast to see if there’s room left. (7904 35th SW)
PREVIEW YOUR WEEKEND on our calendar!
From today’s media conference call about tunneling and traffic as the Alaskan Way Viaduct closure continues:
TUNNELING PROGRESS: 214 of 385 under-the-Viaduct feet as of late morning. Any prediction of how much longer it will take? “Still too early to start projecting when we’re going to open up The Viaduct,” WSDOT’s Dave Sowers said. They have to get past the closest call under The Viaduct – 15′ beneath “96 East” under Yesler – “before we can even start thinking about that,” Sowers reiterated. Later, asked about the tolerance levels of Viaduct settlement or movement as the tunneling machine continues moving beneath it, he said that’s been “negligible.”
The biggest point of the call was regarding traffic “surprises” this weekend and next week related to special events and seasonal activities:
BUSY WEEKEND AHEAD: Jon Layzer of SDOT wanted to make sure the events coming up this weekend are on everyone’s radar (we mentioned them in this morning’s traffic/transit coverage). “Plan ahead, take alternatives where you can, use (the online info) to plan your trips.” Travis Phelps of WSDOT mentioned lane reductions north of Marysville, and the Mariners‘ homestand that starts next Monday. WSDOT’s Laura Newborn noted a “free parking” promotion on the downtown waterfront this weekend – find out more on the Downtown Seattle Association website.
ALSO NEW THIS WEEKEND – ‘HOMEPORT’ CRUISE SHIPS: We asked if there’s anything going under-reported. One response was from Peter McGraw of the Port of Seattle, pointing out that the first “homeported” cruise ships are here this weekend, which means a lot of additional traffic as thousands of passengers end and start their journeys here, and as trucks arrive and depart to provision the ships. Both Pier 66 downtown and Smith Cove in Magnolia will have ships – here’s the schedule; Pier 66 has a ship on Saturday, Smith Cove has one ship a day on Saturday and Sunday. (The schedule gets even busier in a few weeks.) McGraw says they’re coordinating with the trucking community “to get in early” and also urging departing passengers to add lots of extra time to arrive at the terminal.
We’ll be covering the Friday pm commute starting around 4 pm, with incident-specific coverage if anything of note happens before then.
Sound Transit has gone public with some of what it heard in its just-concluded comment period on the draft ST3 plan (here’s the official news release).
Going through toplines, one thing surprised us: ST says that in a telephone survey it conducted – separate from the online survey linked to the ST3 website – respondents in areas far from West Seattle considered the WS-to-downtown light-rail route a priority. The “Project Priorities” start on page 25 of this presentation and include the Top 5 projects as ranked by 1,000 respondents in five areas. West Seattle-to-downtown light rail was in the top 5 for four of the five areas – in order of how they appear in the presentation, Snohomish respondents ranked it fifth, North King respondents ranked it first, East King respondents ranked it first, South King respondents ranked it third. Pierce is the only area where it didn’t appear in the Top 5. As for the online survey (whose respondents, ST notes, were “self-selected”), its toplines are here. According to breakouts in that document, West Seattle zip codes accounted for about 2,400 of the 34,706 online survey responses around the region.
WHAT’S NEXT: As reported in our coverage of the ST3 discussion at last week’s West Seattle Transportation Coalition meeting, the final ST3 proposal for the November ballot is due next month. Then, the plan and its funding, including a mix of sales, motor-vehicle, and property taxes, is in the voters’ hands.
9:43 AM: Before we get to today’s preview – in case you hadn’t already caught this in our calendar, tomorrow brings a once-a-year series of walking tours, and it includes one in West Seattle. From Feet First:
Jane’s Walk is an annual weekend-long festival of 20+ free volunteer-led neighborhood walking tours across the Puget Sound area. In the spirit of the great urban activist Jane Jacobs, walking tours are led and attended by anyone who has an interest in the neighborhoods where they live, work or hang out. Since its inception in 2007, Jane’s Walk has happened in cities across North America and around the world. Feet First the nonprofit promoting walkable communities is the proud local organizer of Jane’s Walk in the Puget Sound region. This year, as we gear up for what would have been Jane Jacobs’ 100th birthday, we’re aiming for the biggest and best Jane’s Walk yet.
In our area, Timothy Lowry will lead a walk titled “West Seattle Junction: Changing Landscape and New Opportunities.” Meet at 9 am Saturday at Hotwire Online Coffeehouse (4410 California SW; WSB sponsor).
ADDED 10:46 AM: Local historian/author Judy Bentley just e-mailed to say she’s leading a Jane’s Walk in West Seattle tomorrow too – this one’s in the historic Riverside community by the Duwamish River. Meet at 10 am at West Marginal Place and 17th Avenue SW.
(SDOT MAP with camera/incident links; OFFICIAL #99CLOSURE INFOSITE; ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE)
(Click any view for a close-up; more cameras on the WSB Traffic page)
5:10 AM: Good morning – we’re starting the second week of the Alaskan Way Viaduct’s closure. The early-morning progress report for under-Viaduct tunneling: 208 of 385 feet.
5:29 AM: Bridges and streets on the outbound routes are looking OK – no early incidents. The truck backup from yesterday should not be replicated today – the Port told us Terminal 46’s operator would be opening at 3 am, something it did not do yesterday.
5:47 AM: We’re about to head to the Water Taxi dock to check in on today’s runs – looks like a great day to sail. A commenter asked about the shuttles from Pier 2 – which hasn’t maxed out its parking spots yet – and whether their “continuous” operation had changed. No, said the WT’s Greg Lerner, but: “The one thing we’ve learned is that the shuttle needs to leave from Pier 2 about 11 minutes before departure to ensure riders have the time when they get to Seacrest Park to buy tickets (if needed) and walk down to the boat. Knowing this, we will not send a shuttle prior to this time (between sailings) if we don’t feel it can make it back to depart again by 11 minutes before the next sailing. We’re hoping riders are attentive to our closure brochures that suggest riders arrive at Pier 2 about 20 minutes prior to their departure.”
6:07 AM: Beautiful sunrise. Meantime, the high bridge, is of course, starting to get busy. We’re approaching Seacrest – still lots of street parking on Harbor.
6:21 AM: Check out that view of the eastbound bridge – filling up. Meantime at Seacrest, just for posterity’s sake, we recorded the boarding for the first run of the day:
That’s county Marine Division director Paul Brodeur checking in with the crew toward the start. The count: 78.
6:37 AM: While the high bridge is busy, it’s not yet backed up to the 35th/Fauntleroy entrance, so that’s a good sign. Since it’s Friday, we should look ahead to weekend events likely to affect getting around:
*Sounders FC play San Jose at CenturyLink Field, 7 pm Saturday
*Opening Day of boating season on Saturday – if you’re U-District-bound, note that Montlake Bridge will be open for marine traffic much of the day
*Lung Force Walk on Saturday and The Color Run on Sunday, both downtown
SDOT’s roundup has details on those and more.
6:54 AM: 110 for the second Water Taxi run of the day, down from 137 yesterday. The dock has a soundtrack all its own … sea lions barking from the barge buoys, Canada geese honking as they fly by, jets overhead (saw a KAL 747 earlier this hour), and of course the maritime traffic – Doc Maynard’s Vashon counterpart Sally Fox was visible in the semi-distance earlier as it headed toward downtown.
7:19 AM: Crash reported on the eastbound bridge near the 1st Avenue exit.
7:23 AM: Thanks to the texter who tells us, from a bus, what’s happening at the crash scene: “2-car collision, east end of WS Bridge, where the lanes coming up from the low bridge merge. Fire truck blocking bus lane and part of the right all-vehicle lane… Drivers still in their cars talking with police [when texter’s bus passed], didn’t *appear* to be serious injury.” Meantime, 7:15 am Water Taxi tally was 198. (Added: Our video from that boarding:)
We’re leaving the dock now, headed to see what the Avalon/Manning situation by Luna Park is looking like after yesterday’s troubles.
7:34 AM: That helicopter over the bridge is TV checking out traffic because of the crash.
Meantime, another bus passenger sent a photo (added above) saying it looks like the crash is clearing. (Added) And seconds after we typed that, SDOT verified via Twitter that ****the crash has cleared.****
7:41 AM: Checking out Avalon at Harbor/bridge onramp/Manning/etc. intersection, all is well – 21X and 116 just went by on the way to the bridge.
8:03 AM: Spent a few minutes observing at Avalon/Manning.
No left turning, no backups. (Did everybody divert today, or lots of people with three-day weekends, maybe?) Next, we’re heading to check out the bicycle commute under the bridge.
8:38 AM: From our stop on the path/trail by West Marginal Place:
Riders by west end of the low bridge. Just talked w/man who says he's been bicycling to downtown 40 yrs. #99closure pic.twitter.com/HeOlOnxjHM
— West Seattle Blog (@westseattleblog) May 6, 2016
Steady stream of riders going by. Low bridge has not opened for maritime traffic so far this morning, by the way.
9:02 AM: Just dispatched, Seattle Fire crash response to 9th/Barton.
9:25 AM: Haven’t heard any further details on that – the SFD response has closed, so here’s hoping that’s a good sign. By all accounts, today’s morning commute hasn’t been too bad. If you have any new questions about traffic or tunneling, please comment (or e-mail us at editor@westseattleblog.com) since as usual we will be on the media conference call, happening around 11:30 am. And we’ll have afternoon/evening coverage again, starting around 4 pm. (Inbetween, if there are any significant incidents affecting major corridors such as one of the bridges, we would publish a standalone report, as always.)
Two reader reports, the first one with video, the second one with gratitude:
(UPDATED VIDEO – same footage but better quality, provided by the burglary victims on Saturday)
The Admiral resident who shared the clip reports:
I wanted to let you know that we had a “hot prowl” early (Wednesday) morning in our house in the Admiral District. At about 3:30, my wife awoke seeing someone in our hallway. She was half-awake, but when she quickly realized it wasn’t me she shook me awake and started screaming. He took off down the hallway and jumped out of the same window that he apparently entered the house. The screen had been removed and it is the one window that doesn’t completely lock, (we will be fixing that today!). We saw that there was someone headed up the Hinds Street hill, west of our house. We called the police, who came pretty quickly and did a check of the area.
Our security cameras caught footage of the man, an African-American man in his 20’s, about 6’ tall, with tight corn rows, and was wearing grey sweats, sweatshirt, and high tops.
Recognize him? Burglary detectives would be interested.
Our second report is “the theft that wasn’t” – from a reader who did want to express appreciation for the person who did a kind deed:
I had a recent incident that I wanted to share. I had been expecting a package being delivered to my house. When it didn’t show up, even though the tracking info said it was delivered, I immediately assumed that it was stolen by those pesky package thieves. So I frantically called FedEx to see what they could do about it, if anything.
After verifying all of my info they told me that the package was accidentally delivered to someone else’s house and the person who received it contacted FedEx to get the package back to its rightful owner. As soon as I heard those words I felt guilty for assuming the worst and instead was overwhelmed with feelings of gratitude for that Good Samaritan. I wish I knew who they were so I could repay them. I am grateful that they did the right thing by returning it to FedEx.This incident is definitely a reminder that good things do happen and good people do exist.
Thank you, Good Samaritan!!
10:13 PM: Police are checking reports of possible gunshots heard just before 10 pm. We heard the dispatch sending officers to an area north of Madison Middle School, and we also received a message from someone several blocks north of that report. No victims have been reported, and we haven’t heard anything further on the dispatch, but wanted to make note. Police say they want to hear from anyone who thinks they hear gunfire – the more reports they get, even if your location/direction information is vague, the better the chance they can find evidence, if any.
12:14 AM: We haven’t reached police to determine whether they found evidence of gunshots, fireworks, or none of the above – but commenter Mike reports seeing fireworks in the area.
(From the archives: Map of proposed annexation area)
ORIGINAL REPORT, 8:44 PM: Before Seattle city leaders can put potential annexation of White Center and vicinity on the ballot for voters in that area to consider, they need approval from a King County entity called the Boundary Review Board. Before the BRB makes its decision, it holds a public hearing. We’ve just learned the dates are set for its hearing on the Seattle annexation proposal: June 13th and 14th, starting at 7 pm both nights, at the Technology Access Foundation‘s Bethaday Community Space at Dick Thurnau Memorial Park (605 SW 108th). Documentation for the hearing is online – here’s the official notice; the online file for the proposed annexation is here. The city’s rep on the longrunning annexation issue moderated a public discussion at White Center’s Dubsea Coffee back in March; see our report here. If the Seattle City Council decides to seek annexation, a vote in the affected area could be sought in 2017 or 2018. But the BRB hearing is the first step.
ADDED FRIDAY MORNING: We followed up this morning with Seattle city government’s point person on the proposed annexation, Kenny Pittman. He said the city is still waiting for its formal notification of what’s on the BRB website, so it hasn’t made an official announcement of the hearings yet. He also said the city has yet to set up the webpage it promised at the March Dubsea meeting, with information about the proposal and process. We asked if any further community conversations are scheduled; not yet, he said, but he did mention that he’s been invited to the North Highline Fire District board’s meeting on May 16th (7 pm, NHFD HQ, 1243 SW 112th), and will be bringing along a Seattle Fire assistant chief.
(From left: Yuxuan Zhu, Carynia Smith, Casey Hart from WSHS; Casey Iwamoto, Sara Johnson, Lilly Truong from CSIHS. Photo by Tonna Kutner)
The photo is courtesy of the American Association of University Women‘s Seattle branch, showing six of its recent honorees, students from West Seattle and Chief Sealth International High Schools. The announcement:
Six local high-school senior girls were recently honored by the Seattle Branch of AAUW (American Association of University Women) for their scholarship in the areas of Mathematics, Science, and Technology. This was the 16th Annual Scholar Recognition reception, which recognizes young women scholars from high schools around the Seattle area, nominated by their teachers and counselors.
Dr. Anne Goodchild, UW Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering was the keynote speaker for the event, held at the Best Western Plus Executive Inn in Seattle on the evening of Wednesday, April 27.
From West Seattle High School: Yuxuan Zhu (Mathematics), Carynia Smith (Science), and Casey Hart (Technology).
From Chief Sealth High School: Sara Johnson (Mathematics), Casey Iwamoto (Science), and Lilly Truong (Technology).
AAUW is a national organization which advances equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, philanthropy and research.
(SDOT MAP with camera/incident links; OFFICIAL #99CLOSURE INFOSITE; ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE)
(Click any view for a close-up; more cameras on the WSB Traffic page)
4:09 PM: Our afternoon/evening commute watch is under way. First – if you haven’t seen it yet, we followed up on this morning’s big issues during today’s media conference call. We’ve also just updated the resulting story with new information from the Port.
30th/Avalon/Yancy project update – we just went by and while the flashing-beacon signs are in, the crosswalk was chalked, not striped. So we’re checking with SDOT on that.
We also just talked by phone with a local resident who asked us to share a plea for people cutting through residential side streets to get around clogged arterials: PLEASE, PLEASE DRIVE SLOWLY AND CAREFULLY. She’s in Highland Park but the plea could be from anywhere. The frustrated drivers using cut-throughs have almost hit at least two people on her street. Let’s at least get through all this without sending people (or pets) to the hospital … or the grave.
4:48 PM: Police are diverting from their previously planned traffic-management posts downtown to an unannounced protest march southbound on 5th, approaching Cherry at last report. SDOT is updating on Twitter.
5:12 PM: The downtown protest – which is about the shooting death of Che Taylor and other deaths – has closed Cherry east of 4th, according to SDOT (that’s between City Hall and SPD HQ).
5:23 PM: Just got word from KCDOT’s Jeff Switzer – who also sent the photo – that the need for more bike parking for Water Taxi users led SDOT to install a temp corral at Seacrest:
5:56 PM: “It’s gridlock right now downtown,” and not just because of the aforementioned protest, we just heard SPD say via scanner.
6:31 PM: Buses are still running late – someone just texted us a screenshot of a list of how far behind many are. Also, see comments. (And thank you yet again for the commute reports.)
8:21 PM: It’s official – the tunneling machine is now more than halfway along its path of digging beneath the Viaduct – 195 of the 385 feet, as of less than an hour ago.
(WSB photo of Terminal 5 from March)
Our first report from last night’s Southwest District Council meeting:
DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT FOR TERMINAL 5: Paul Meyer of the Port of Seattle provided a quick update (as he had at the Delridge Neighborhoods District Council last month). First, a recap of how they got to the point where they decided – as community members had urged – to prepare a draft Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed “modernization” project at Terminal 5 in east West Seattle. Then, a quick status report: “We’re almost there,” said Meyer. “We’re about to publish it.”
This time, he had dates: He said they think the publication date will be May 23rd, but it’s not completely locked in yet. Two meetings are scheduled for comments – June 7th at the Georgetown campus of South Seattle College (WSB sponsor) and June 9th at the Alki Masonic Center in West Seattle. Meyer said they’re expecting a 30-day comment period which would close June 21st if they publish on May 23rd. But – “they’re still writing” the document, he warned, so the dates MIGHT change.
NEXT REPORT: The bulk of last night’s SWDC meeting focused on community proposals for a share of the city’s Neighborhood Street Fund; the council has to decide which proposals to approve for sending forward in the process.
(WSB photo from 2014 West Seattle 5K)
If you’re not walking, running, or rolling in the West Seattle 5K along Alki on May 22nd – can you help make it a success? From race director Jeff Mensing:
We are very much in need of volunteers to help with the West Seattle 5K Run/Walk on May 22nd during the race, especially because one adult is needed at every intersection of the route. If you can volunteer on Sunday, May 22th, shifts starting from 7:45 and 8:30 until 11:30 AM, we would be very grateful! If you are interested or available, please email wshs5kvolunteers@gmail.com with your name and availability.
The WS5K (co-sponsored by WSB again this year, and every year from its inception in 2009!) benefits West Seattle High School via its PTA.
ORIGINAL REPORT, 11:58 AM: As of less than an hour ago, the Highway 99 tunneling machine is close to the halfway point of the 385-foot stretch from one side of the Alaskan Way Viaduct’s underside to the other. The latest tunneling tally is 182 feet, as shown on the updated WSDOT graphic above. Meantime, we’re just off today’s conference call for media. Participants today: Dave Sowers, WSDOT’s tunnel-project administrator; Jon Layzer from SDOT; and Travis Phelps from WSDOT (regarding regional traffic).
We asked Layzer about the two traffic situations that dominated discussion in our channels this morning.
Regarding the truck backup on East Marginal, Layzer said, “The port had been opening the gate at Terminal 46 at 3 am, an early opening instead of 7 am – but (for) today, they had evaluated projected volumes of containers … and decided not to open early – that obviously had a significant impact. We are in communication with the port, asking them to strongly consider opening at 3 am for the duration of the Viaduct closure.” (We are now checking with the Port to see how they’re handling this request.)
ADDED 4 PM, PORT’S RESPONSE: The reply to our inquiry, from port spokesperson Peter McGraw:
A number of factors with traffic this morning. I understand there was a train loading that blocked traffic longer than usual, along with heavier traffic.
We will continue to work with the terminal operator on traffic issues.
There will also be truck holding areas adjacent to T-46, along with additional gates for trucks to access the terminal.
The terminal opens at 3 am on its busiest days of the week: Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. The operator already added one day this week and will do so again next week—at their own expense.
It also operates a regular day shift on Saturdays. So there are four additional shifts to take trucks off the road during commute hours.
Unfortunately, truckers are not using the early shifts to the full extent possible, and it’s not always possible to open the terminal at 3 am five days per week.
We will send out a request to the trucking community to use the 3 am gates for the duration of the closure.
(BACK TO ORIGINAL 11:58 AM REPORT) Regarding the clog at Avalon, Layzer said, “We did send Metro and SDOT folks out to observe performance yesterday and this morning … we do have parking-enforcement officers lined up to do a sweep of that corridor. We evaluated a request to extend the bus lane further south, but didn’t feel that was needed. We’ll continue to monitor that. (Also), we spoke to someone yesterday about the left turns (onto Avalon from the exit off the bottom of the Admiral Way hill) and don’t have a status on that.” But he did say they’re also evaluating the pavement markings. (He also expressed appreciation for the community collaboration here on WSB sussing out some of the West Seattle-side trouble spots – so thanks again to everyone who’s been reporting in.)
Layzer also was asked about train traffic in SODO leading to delays of motor-vehicle traffic, and replied that SDOT has “reached out to Burlington Northern and asked for their assistance to avoid peak periods for their train-building activities in particular” but they “don’t have any confirmation that (the train line) will adjust.” He said SPD officers also have been dispatched to 1st Avenue S. in SODO to monitor the situation.
Back to tunneling progress, it was repeated twice that it’s still “too early for us to start speculating when they’re going to open,” said Sowers. Also, they are close to going under the spot where the machine will be within 15′ of the underside of a Viaduct column.
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