consider how little the expanded park would help pedestrians go between the southern terminal of the SLU streetcar and Westlake station. the linear distance would not decline. pedestrians will still have to cross 5th Avenue and Olive Way.

the transit blueprint is being updated. SDOT, Metro, and ST together must enhance and preserve the transit capacity of downtown Seattle. it is constrained. the constraint will be not be relieved until Link serves NE 45th Street and Northgate and north Seattle bus routes can be restructured. the bus trips of north Seattle routes could then be used by other routes. only then should they consider taking all bus service off 5th Avenue. in the meantime, the Westlake hub project may be dependent upon a traffic study to see if buses may turn to 5th Avenue directly from Stewart Street if the subject block of Westlake Avenue is converted to a park. 5th Avenue is used by ST routes 510, 511, 512, 545, and the one-way peak-only Metro routes from SR-520 and Route 64 to First Hill. if the buses cannot make the turn directly to 5th Avenue, they would have to go to 2nd Avenue and that may affect the transit capacity of that avenue. the agencies tested the turns. now SDOT has to address the traffic queues. it may not work.

how may transit riders would be helped by the expanded park v. how many would be harmed?

the changes to Broadway in NYC did not affect transit, as they have subways and other avenues for bus routes. Broadway is similar to Westlake in that both are diagonal against the main street grid. the SLU streetcar was placed on an under utilized arterial that was slow due to more signalized intersections as it cut across the grid.

transit flows much better after Pine Street was reopened. Pine and Pike streets carry more that 8K daily riders to and from Capitol Hill on routes 7, 10, 11, 43, and 49. their path when Pine Street was closed was via Union: slower and less direct.

when Seattle was considering reopening Pine Street in 1990, Mayor Rice vetoed the so-called Benson compromise that had passed the Council 5-4; it would have opened Pine Street to transit only.

in the late 1980s, when the transit tunnel was being planned, the initial plan had two-way transit service on Pine Street, directly atop the Westlake station. it was changed to allow auto access to the hotel.

Replacing the Waterfront Streetcar Line and extending it to Interbay is another good idea that director Crunican has intentionally prevented from happening. For years, she knew that a streetcar line through the middle of the Wide Plaza was nonsense, and knew that many environmentalist-types could be fooled into believing it possible. Once she was called out on the idea, she dropped replacing the Waterfront Streetcar Line entirely, anti-rail transit interest’s intention all along. She’s got to be replaced.

It takes 3-5 minutes alone just to get from the Westlake underground platform to 6th & Pike and the same amount of time to get from my office to Pioneer Square station. That doesn’t include waiting for the train or bus.

The real world reared its ugly head soon enough.

We build facilities on the cheap, and underestimate the use. Pier 66 was built for a 1,000 passenger cruise ship. Finished just as most ships exceeded that. Our convention center has the abiltiy to host up to 6,000… but room for 6 coaches curbside. Three lanes through that narrow to two, and a major exit and artieral to merge with. I have watched as upwards of 500 or more wait in long lines that thread up through the plaza while coaches take 20 minutes to pull out on a shuttle during evening “rush” hour, with six more coaches waiting to come into the tunnel.

Hotels whose only coach load ability is to load wrong side in heavy traffic. Or have a space too short to have a coach. Or have great space but take it away for Metro use. This is yet another one.

Is the new design and lack of seating intended to discourage transients occupying this space? If not, what will?

It also inconveniences cars going from Capitol Hill to points beyond downtown, particularly SODO and the waterfront, because most southwest alternatives are blocked by First Hill and I-5. You can say “No cars”, but Capitol Hill residents do occasionally have visitors, and many of these do not have the intimate local knowledge to choose alternatives without getting lost. The main thoroughfares downtown are 2nd/4th, Pike/Pine, and Olive/Stewart. Putting a cork at 5th & Pine prevents these from functioning properly.

Finally, it still looks like a street even when closed, so people don’t use the space much. Remove the curbs, raise the roadway to sidewalk level, and eliminate any road lines if you want people to treat it as one continuous park. (This would also prevent any vehicles from ever using it again. Ramps could be provided at the ends for specialized vehicle use, but ordinary drivers do not expect ramps in their streets.)

ONE CHARTER COACH. When a convention runs a shuttle (to the convention center, or sports stadiums, or the Seattle Center) they use two spaces just to stage and operate a shuttle. Now add 3-5 tours busses whoses tours are staying at the hotel. Now add the 450 to 700 who need to all get from the Westin to the ships by 1 pm. Now add the 400 to 600 INbound FROM the ships.

ONE DAMN SPACE. Remember ADA rules, luggage, and you have ONLY Westlake to load from.

The tourism industry here (statewide) employs 149,900 people, generates total direct visitor spending of $15.8 billion and generates $1 billion in state and local tax revenue. 2008 VISITOR EXPENDITURES IN KING COUNTY
Meals and Beverages $1,492 Mil. Lodging $1,287 Mil. Shopping $1,128 Mil.
Ground Transportation (local) $500 Mil.Recreation/Entertainment $416 Mil.ion
Total # of Visitors 9.34 Million. Average Travel Party Size 2.1 people
Per Day Travel Party Expenditures $204 Average # of Nights Stayed 5.7

From 2008 King County Visitor Impact Study by CIC Research, Inc.

The Westin is now currently the second largest hotel in Seattle. On any given Summer Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and next year add Wednesdays and Thursdays, more than 30 charter busses fight to get the THREE Charter bus spaces that Westlake affords them.

The Westin used to have charter bus loading and parking along most of the length of Virginia to the north, but this was very poor for loading and off loading luggage. A few years ago, Metro decided they needed it more than tourism, and that now leaves THREE spaces. A bus loading for a cruise ship takes between 30 to 45 minutes to load with luggage and passengers. More than half the rooms on cruise days are for ships passengers. Do the math, Remove the charter zone, and you now have no way to safely load the golden goose that has kept Seattle green for the last few summers.

Once again the charter coaches get shafted. As a taxpayer, we have spent HUNDREDS of MILLIONs to get cruise ships to Alaska to leave from Seattle, and bring conventions to twon.. Now you are actively making in damn near impossible to get them from their overnight stays in Seattle to the ships, or convention and sport event shuttles.

This is the LEAST tour bus friendly town on the coast. This move will seal us as NUMBER ONE for attempting to kill that golden goose. IF I was the Westin, with its many bids for convention and ship business, I would be HORRIFIED by this proposal. You cannot load coaches safely on Fifth… the passenger door opens to the traffic. Metro has the north and south sides of the building. THIS plan removes the ability for tour coaches. Period. Planners NEED TO SPEND A SUMMER DAY in front on Westlake and see what I have seen for the last 8 years expiditing. THIS IS A VERY VERY POOR PLAN when you take into account the multi million dollar tourism this city seeks.

Other Examples of how penny wise and pound foolish the city is concerning tourism… remember each ship uses 25 to 30 busses and each bus means 40 to 50 passengers, or 25 fewer cabs and cars on the street. This does not include inbound tourbusses, conventions, etc. The Pike Place Market – the Cities LARGEST attraction – offers up THREE spaces for a coach to drop at the Market. When we have 3 ships in town, each uses 25 plus motorcoaches to shuttle tourists. You will often see up to 10 coaches in line blocking traffic waiting to drop safely at the market. 3 slots. THREE. We could fill the length of Western Avenue with bus parking in Summer. The Space Needle has FOUR slots on Broad.

This is the same thinking that will not look at extending the old Benson line to Pier 91… but that is another post.