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Week of Jul. 30, 2007
Make a plan, then be flexible, for I-5 closures
Metro offers many ways to deal with the I-5 lane closures this August. | The upcoming closure of multiple lanes of northbound Interstate 5 near downtown Seattle is going to require a big dose of patience and a lot of flexibility from travelers across the region. King County Metro Transit is joining its transportation partners in urging local residents to make plans ahead of time for dealing with the expected traffic congestion.The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) will close several lanes of northbound I-5 at 10 p.m. Friday, Aug. 10 for up to 19 days to make critical repairs to the roadway and its supporting structure. Traffic congestion resulting from the closure is expected to be considerable. As drivers try to find alternate ways north, other highways and surface streets will likely also become crowded. “While we believe transit will be a preferred option for many commuters, we anticipate bus service and schedules will be disrupted during the I-5 project,” said Harold Taniguchi, director of the King County Department of Transportation. “We also expect standing-room-only on many buses headed north during the morning commute. We are encouraging our passengers to be patient, flexible and have a back-up plan for their daily trips.” WSDOT, Metro, Sound Transit, Pierce Transit and the city of Seattle are urging people to avoid driving alone through the construction zone and detour routes. Anything that can be done to take cars off the road during this time will be a big help. Here are some options: Bus Approximately 30 Metro and Sound Transit bus routes that normally travel northbound into downtown Seattle or University District from south King County and Pierce County will be rerouted off I-5 near Boeing Field. Many will be using a temporary northbound HOV lane on Airport Way South that is open to transit (including vanpools) and trucks. Buses may be delayed by overall traffic congestion, but Metro hopes the HOV lane on Airport Way will add some predictability for about a third of northbound bus trips through the construction zone. There is currently quite a bit of space available during at several of the major park-and-ride lots in South King County, including: the Federal Way Transit Center, Federal Way at South 320th Street, Twin Lakes, Redondo Heights, Auburn on 15th Street, the parking garage at Kent Station/Transit Center, and in Kent at James Street. WSDOT is also opening a temporary park-and-ride at the General Services Administration complex on East Marginal Way. Train Sound Transit is taking steps to accommodate more people on its Sounder commuter train service from southend destinations. In anticipation of more people riding the trains, WSDOT has acquired additional parking near the Tacoma Dome and Sumner train stations. Ridesharing The more cars that can be taken off I-5 will benefit everyone. If taking the bus or train is not a workable option, commuters can consider joining a vanpool or carpool – or use VanShare, which connects a group of people with a similar destination from a bus stop, park-and-ride, train station or ferry dock to complete their trip to work. During the month of August, commuters who travel the I-5 corridor into or through the Seattle area can form a new Metro vanpool for only $45 per participant, about half the regular cost to vanpool. This is a limited promotional offer and the deadline has been extended to Friday, Aug. 3. Elliott Bay Water Taxi Backups eastbound on the West Seattle Bridge are likely to be significant for West Seattle residents and those commuting via the Fauntleroy ferry. The Elliott Bay Water Taxi could be a good option for many people traveling from West Seattle. There will be an additional boat trip leaving Seacrest Dock in West Seattle at 6:10 a.m., for a total of five trips from Seacrest between 6-9 a.m. Monday through Friday. This extra trip will run through Aug. 29. Two shuttle vans instead of one will run on each of the Route 773 land shuttle trips between 6-9 a.m. and 3:30-6:30 p.m. on weekdays. The extra vans will operate through Aug. 29 or until the I-5 work is complete.
Shuttle to hydro races, watch for bridge closures
Seafair Hydro Races. (Courtesy: Seafair) | Metro is teaming up with Seafair to provide special shuttle service to the Seafair hydro races this weekend on Lake Washington. Shuttle service will be provided from the Eastgate Park-and-Ride and the Oxbow Lot west of the Duwamish River across the South 102nd Street bridge near Boeing Field in Tukwila. The shuttles are non-stop to the hydro pits at Stan Sayres Pit Area near Genesee Park in Seattle. Metro also has many regular bus routes that travel within walking distance of the race viewing area. The shuttles will operate from both locations on Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday, the shuttles will leave for the pits around 7 a.m. On Sunday, they start around 6 a.m. The roundtrip fare is $3, and will be collected by Seafair staff in the parking lots when you board. Also, on Friday there will be shuttle service from the Oxbow Lot to the hydro pits for all the preliminary action. See Metro Online for all the details on hydro shuttle service. The Seafair Airshow will be held in conjunction with the hydro races, which will cause some traffic disruptions this week on Interstate 90 for motorists and bus passengers. The U.S. Navy Blue Angels will begin arriving on Wednesday, and practice Thursday and Friday over the course on Lake Washington south of Interstate 90. The big Seafair Airshow is set for 1:30 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday. During the practices and performances, the floating bridge will be closed to traffic. All I-90 buses will be rerouted to State Route 520 during the closures. The bridge will be closed – eastbound and westbound, mainline and express lanes – between Interstate 5 in Seattle to Island Crest Way on Mercer Island at the following times: • Thursday, Aug. 2: 9:45 a.m. – noon, and 1:15 p.m.-2:30 p.m.
• Friday, Aug. 3: 12:45 p.m. - 2:40 p.m.
• Saturday, Aug. 4: 12:45 p.m. - 2:40 p.m.
• Sunday, Aug. 5: 12:45 p.m. - 2:40 p.m. |
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Mariners homestand adds to Seafair Week fun Just when you thought the culminating week of Seafair couldn’t be more jam-packed, you realize there are several Mariners baseball games this week at Safeco Field. The Ms host the Angels through Wednesday, and then face off against the Boston Red Sox Friday through Sunday. Most are night games, but there is a 1:05 p.m. start for Sunday’s game. Avoid the traffic hassles, and head for the ballgame on a Metro bus. For regular service to the game, Metro’s convenient online Trip Planner allows you to easily research which routes provide the best connection from your home or office to the ballpark. A premium service between the ballpark and several outlying park-and-ride lots operates after weeknight games and both before and after weekend games. It is not available for weekday games that begin before 5 p.m. The fare for special buses is $3 each way. Detailed information for all Mariners service is available on Metro Online. Or, call (206) 553-3000 (voice) or (206) 684-1739 (TTY).
National leaders in public transportation and environmental sustainability are gathered in Seattle this week, as King County Metro Transit and Sound Transit co-host the American Public Transportation Association’s (APTA) third annual Sustainability and Public Transportation Workshop. The conference is the premier event on best practices in sustainable public transportation. King County is well suited to host the workshop. Metro, which provides over 100 million passenger trips a year, is recognized as being one of the greenest transit agencies in North America. It operates the largest vanpool program and articulated hybrid bus fleet in the nation and powers that fleet with a 20 percent blend of biodiesel. It’s also the first transit agency in the nation to join the Chicago Climate Exchange, North America’s only voluntary carbon reduction and trading system.
Last week, McChord Air Force Base was closed for its annual Air Mobility Command's Rodeo, so it asked the staff at King County International Airport at Boeing Field to lend a hand to the military. KCIA operations staff assisted McChord by hosting several troop departures and arrivals. Approximately 400 troops left Boeing Field for Kuwait, and another 150 troops touched down there to arrive home from Iraq. | Subscribe to DOT DashSign-up to receive an e-mail text version of "Transportation Today," along with other significant DOT news by sending an e-mail to us with subscribe King County DOT Dash in the subject line.
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