Washington

[Bruce]

Welcome back, Jake!

First, the old Meridian Street Bridge (opened 1925) is finally being demolished after the state failed to find anyone to accept the bridge, even with a $1,000,000 check included. I've heard rumblings it may not be entirely deconstructed, with bits of it being used on some kind of walking path. But I can't confirm that:

I did talk to some WSDOT folks at the Puyallup Meeker Days festival and they confirmed that parts of the old bridge will be reused for some new artwork. And it seems to also be in the local paper: https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/community/puyallup-herald/ph-news/article310336930.html

[jakeroot]

Welcome back, Jake!

Thanks! Nice to be back, especially this time of year.

I did talk to some WSDOT folks at the Puyallup Meeker Days festival and they confirmed that parts of the old bridge will be reused for some new artwork. And it seems to also be in the local paper: https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/community/puyallup-herald/ph-news/article310336930.html

This is great to see. Saving the entirety of the structure isn't necessary, but seeing parts of it reused for a little parklet at the new 167/161 interchange is really cool.

As a side-note, the first photo, which they say was taken shortly after construction in 1925, clearly shows the 1970s-era twinned structure in the background. Good reporting, TNT... [EDIT] I guess it's not their fault entirely, WSDOT falsely reports the photo as being from around 1925 in their blog post: https://wsdotblog.blogspot.com/2025/07/preserving-history-saving-piece-of.html

I think the original image is from historylink: https://historylink.org/File/20414

I like the old Pac. Tel. & Tel. sign

I wonder if the dashed lines marking off the exit from the main road are aimed mainly at AIs that are sometimes easily fooled.

I think that's very possible. I also seem to recall a change to the MUTCD recently that started to require them at exits.

[Max Rockatansky]

Does anyone have daily traffic count figures on the Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Tunnel?  I used it three times this week and the amount of vehicles I saw seemed far less than what was on the Viaduct.  I would imagine the congestion based tolling is a pretty significant deterrent for use by local traffic.  Certainly came in handy dropping off and picking up my wife from a concert at Lumen Field last night.

[Bruce]

Does anyone have daily traffic count figures on the Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Tunnel?  I used it three times this week and the amount of vehicles I saw seemed far less than what was on the Viaduct.  I would imagine the congestion based tolling is a pretty significant deterrent for use by local traffic.  Certainly came in handy dropping off and picking up my wife from a concert at Lumen Field last night.

Welcome to town, I hope you enjoyed the triple whammy of Seafair + that concert + Bite of Seattle. Definitely a better day to take light rail.

WSDOT AADT data shows 23,000 vehicles, which is a bit more than I expected. The lack of downtown exits and a good SLU connection really hinder its usefulness, and honestly it probably shouldn't have been built in its current location without better connections. The tolls are not congestion-based but on a set schedule...but ultimately it is not that much slower to take local streets in normal traffic for intra-downtown trips.

[Max Rockatansky]

Does anyone have daily traffic count figures on the Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Tunnel?  I used it three times this week and the amount of vehicles I saw seemed far less than what was on the Viaduct.  I would imagine the congestion based tolling is a pretty significant deterrent for use by local traffic.  Certainly came in handy dropping off and picking up my wife from a concert at Lumen Field last night.

Welcome to town, I hope you enjoyed the triple whammy of Seafair + that concert + Bite of Seattle. Definitely a better day to take light rail.

WSDOT AADT data shows 23,000 vehicles, which is a bit more than I expected. The lack of downtown exits and a good SLU connection really hinder its usefulness, and honestly it probably shouldn't have been built in its current location without better connections. The tolls are not congestion-based but on a set schedule...but ultimately it is not that much slower to take local streets in normal traffic for intra-downtown trips.

Amusingly I stayed near Northgate Mall knowing that there was a station there.  My wife and her friend weren't comfortable with the train though when I suggested taking it back the night of the concert. 

I ended up dropping them off/picking up at the corner of Royal Brougham and Colorado which worked better than anticipated.  I was able to get out of the tunnel and turned around onto northbound 99 fairly efficiently.  I used Columbia and Alaskan Way (departed from SB I-5) to get heading north on Colorado for the pick up trip. 

Regarding 99 I'm not sure if this is the first time I've driven Aurora since the outside lane was converted to buses only?  Didn't really seem to have much a tangible difference in my travel time to/from the tunnel.

[Bruce]

Regarding 99 I'm not sure if this is the first time I've driven Aurora since the outside lane was converted to buses only?  Didn't really seem to have much a tangible difference in my travel time to/from the tunnel.

The section from SLU to the Aurora Bridge has had a bus lane for several years, while the all-day bus lanes to the north are a new addition (due to the I-5 / Ship Canal Bridge lane closures).

[stevashe]

I like the old Pac. Tel. & Tel. sign

I wonder if the dashed lines marking off the exit from the main road are aimed mainly at AIs that are sometimes easily fooled.

I think that's very possible. I also seem to recall a change to the MUTCD recently that started to require them at exits.

Yeah, the MUTCD 11th edition does recommend adding those dotted lines at exits. I believe the rationale for that was to help out self driving car systems.

[kkt]

I realize it's hard to talk people out of fears, but I've felt the light rail is very safe.  There's been once in 5 years of taking probably about 30 times a year between downtown and Roosevelt that I've decided to take a different route because of possible safety - one was a rowdy and largely drunk crowd following a game, very crowded on the platform, and we decided to bail out of Westlake Station platform and take the light rail from University Street (as it was called then) instead.  That got us an uncrowded platform plus a seat on the train.

There's been a couple of times the Link has had issues and we've taken a bus instead, but that's a convenience issue, not a safety issue really.

[Max Rockatansky]

I realize it's hard to talk people out of fears, but I've felt the light rail is very safe.  There's been once in 5 years of taking probably about 30 times a year between downtown and Roosevelt that I've decided to take a different route because of possible safety - one was a rowdy and largely drunk crowd following a game, very crowded on the platform, and we decided to bail out of Westlake Station platform and take the light rail from University Street (as it was called then) instead.  That got us an uncrowded platform plus a seat on the train.

There's been a couple of times the Link has had issues and we've taken a bus instead, but that's a convenience issue, not a safety issue really.

My wife watched this story from the hotel tonight (we just returned to catch a flight tomorrow morning).  I think her concerns were only hardened even though this appears to have been a targeted shooting:

https://komonews.com/news/local/seattle-police-investigating-shooting-near-northgate-station-injury-northgate-mall-transit-gun-violence-crime-injuries

And yes, this is the same station that I suggested on the night of the concert.

[Plutonic Panda]

I can't speak to how it is in Seattle, but I can tell you it's bad in Los Angeles. At least on Metro.

[kkt]

I realize it's hard to talk people out of fears, but I've felt the light rail is very safe.  There's been once in 5 years of taking probably about 30 times a year between downtown and Roosevelt that I've decided to take a different route because of possible safety - one was a rowdy and largely drunk crowd following a game, very crowded on the platform, and we decided to bail out of Westlake Station platform and take the light rail from University Street (as it was called then) instead.  That got us an uncrowded platform plus a seat on the train.

There's been a couple of times the Link has had issues and we've taken a bus instead, but that's a convenience issue, not a safety issue really.

My wife watched this story from the hotel tonight (we just returned to catch a flight tomorrow morning).  I think her concerns were only hardened even though this appears to have been a targeted shooting:

https://komonews.com/news/local/seattle-police-investigating-shooting-near-northgate-station-injury-northgate-mall-transit-gun-violence-crime-injuries

And yes, this is the same station that I suggested on the night of the concert.

I'm sorry there was violence there.  I see that was in a bus bay in the bus transit center adjacent to the light rail station.  I'm not sure where you'd be completely safe from a shooting, even in car, or in the country or the suburbs.

[Max Rockatansky]

I realize it's hard to talk people out of fears, but I've felt the light rail is very safe.  There's been once in 5 years of taking probably about 30 times a year between downtown and Roosevelt that I've decided to take a different route because of possible safety - one was a rowdy and largely drunk crowd following a game, very crowded on the platform, and we decided to bail out of Westlake Station platform and take the light rail from University Street (as it was called then) instead.  That got us an uncrowded platform plus a seat on the train.

There's been a couple of times the Link has had issues and we've taken a bus instead, but that's a convenience issue, not a safety issue really.

My wife watched this story from the hotel tonight (we just returned to catch a flight tomorrow morning).  I think her concerns were only hardened even though this appears to have been a targeted shooting:

https://komonews.com/news/local/seattle-police-investigating-shooting-near-northgate-station-injury-northgate-mall-transit-gun-violence-crime-injuries

And yes, this is the same station that I suggested on the night of the concert.

I'm sorry there was violence there.  I see that was in a bus bay in the bus transit center adjacent to the light rail station.  I'm not sure where you'd be completely safe from a shooting, even in car, or in the country or the suburbs.

FWIW if was me by myself I would have taken the train.  I'm fairly familiar with the layout of the transit systems here from work trips.  I used to ride the Chicago L as a kid.

[Max Rockatansky]

Question, does WSDOT maintain the right of way of I-5 right up to the Peace Arch?  The only route mileage log I found seems to suggest that is actually what is happening in-field:

https://web.archive.org/web/20130724190950/http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/NR/rdonlyres/50EC9EB9-DB3D-4823-B5D2-5348409FB8CE/0/HSSlist2009mod2.pdf

Regarding getting to SeaTac this morning it still was faster to use 99 than I-5 even at 6:30 AM in the morning (departing from Haller Lake).  I know I-5 has never been great but those lane closures over Lake Union must be painful to deal with daily during commute hours.