Comments on: News Roundup

By: Andrew

Andrew — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 11:17:23 +0000

You’re a good man. I would do the same, though I am absolutely sure my lady would not be happy with me.

By: Chris Stefan

Chris Stefan — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 04:39:56 +0000

West Seattle needs at the very least a real BRT service with HOV lanes all the way from the junction to at least Jackson and signal priority at any intersections.

Though I must say the biggest FUBAR in getting to/from West Seattle is on the Spokane Street Viaduct. The configuration of exits and entrances there ensures a major choke point as people jockey for their lane or attempt to merge. I think this is in the project pipeline to be fixed.

Still I don’t think transit will be too impacted by the surface option as the buses already use the surface streets downtown.

I also agree there probably need to be more transit lanes through Downtown Seattle.

By: Al

Al — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 21:44:48 +0000

I live in West Seattle and think that a tear-down would work. WITH dedicated lanes, a huge uptick (huge!) in mass transit service and options. Otherwise, yes it will be gridlock. I don’t see dedicated lanes for transit being added. I don’t see a huge outpouring of transit infrastructure to help residents get in and out of West Seattle. Sure, throw a few more buses at us and add a year round foot ferry rather than just a fair-weather ferry. That is a drop in the bucket. Anyone ever tried getting around when just one lane on the bridge is shut down? Anyone? Anyone ever experienced what it was like after the earthquake? Anyone? The viaduct does need to be torn down. What we are really getting ticked off about is the fact that our concerns are perceived as whining. Yeah? Come over and live it for a while. Then give us OPTIONS.

By: Jeffrey CapHill

Jeffrey CapHill — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 18:42:44 +0000

The Port should bag the whole rental car facility – at least in that location. They should put it next to the Tukwila light rail station to leverage the use of Link. Instead, they want to put it in no-man’s land between the Tukwila Link station and the airport and then buy a bunch of buses and pay drivers to shuttle passengers back and forth. It’s a dumb plan.

By: Brian Bundridge

Brian Bundridge — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 15:26:51 +0000

It depends on what he takes. Acela = 20th century, Private Car = 19th century =P

If they magically imported a TGV set = 21st century =D

By: Morgan Wick

Morgan Wick — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 08:47:46 +0000

That bit about Obama traveling to the inauguration by train is very old-school and evocative of the 19th century. I mean that as a compliment.

By: Cascadian

Cascadian — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 07:02:02 +0000

In a snow storm a dozen years back or so, I lived on Madison at about 25th. A Metro bus couldn’t make it up the hill and my wife and I invited him in for coffee and the bathroom. He had been there for hours by then with no help, and technically he probably wasn’t supposed to leave the bus there to come to our house. But what? Someone’s going to steal it? He gladly took us up on our offer.

By: Andrew Smith

Andrew Smith — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 06:35:01 +0000

Nickels lives in West Seattle.

By: Chris Stefan

Chris Stefan — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 04:24:08 +0000

BTW the difficulty the Port is having selling bonds for the rental car facility makes me wonder if Sound Transit (or any other local agency) might have trouble selling bonds when they need to as well.

By: Chris Stefan

Chris Stefan — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 04:19:28 +0000

Well FWIW I don’t really understand why those in Ballard are whining about loosing the viaduct. When I lived there I never used it to access downtown. If I was headed South of downtown I might get on 99 down in the Stadium area. I used the viaduct more when I was in Wallingford, but even then only to head South of downtown.

In fact the only people I really feel pain for are those in West Seattle. I’d say most of the time I’ve used the viaductin the 20 years I’ve lived here I’ve been heading to/from West Seattle.

By: Craig

Craig — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 04:04:41 +0000

That Metro/Benny Hill mashup made me laugh more than it should have. I feel bad for some of those drivers though. I’ve heard tales from drivers of being stuck in the cold on a broken down bus for ten to twelve hours because there just weren’t enough shop trucks and supervisors to handle it all. I don’t know if it has happened this time, but I know every time we get a snow storm this seems to happen to at least some extent.

By: lorax

lorax — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 03:12:13 +0000

While I in principle agree that drivers who are whining about losing their highway should “tough it out” (since none of the options feature a Seneca or Columbia Street exit and none of them will impact traffic significantly more than any of the others and we should all be taking the bus anyway), it grates on me that so few of the people making this call live in the impacted neighborhoods and are willing to make sacrifices.

Having people who live in Capitol Hill or the U District or Kirkland talk about how we should “tear down the wall” is not as meaningful as it would be to hear from people who live in West Seattle or Ballard or Vashon or Magnolia. It’s much less obnoxious to hear a neighbor who is also going to have to adapt say they support the surface-transit option than to have fucking Dan Savage say so.

By: Andrew Smith

Andrew Smith — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 01:43:28 +0000

hahaha that is hilarious

By: Brian Ferris

Brian Ferris — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 01:29:25 +0000

What could be better than watching Metro buses struggling in the snow? Add the Benny Hill theme:

http://james.nerdiphythesoul.com/bennyhillifier/?id=8kMkYhc4F2g