New Viaduct Options

This post originally appeared on Orphan Road.

Larry Lange reports in the P-I. Here’s my favorite:

A third “surface” option similar to the second but with waterfront traffic handled using six lanes on Alaskan Way and Western Avenue. Estimated speed: 30 mph. With all three “surface” Third Avenue would be restricted to transit traffic downtown and 10-minute Metro “Rapid Ride” service is assumed on Aurora Avenue, West Mercer and from West Seattle.

Several of the other alternatives assume a First Avenue streetcar in the scenario. I don’t get that. I mean, a First Ave streetcar is cool and all, but how does it help displaced Viaduct traffic? All the people who jump on the Viaduct to get from Pioneer Square to Belltown? Then again, one of the other alternatives assumes a Lake Forest Park Park-and-Ride. How that affects the Viaduct mystifies me. But traffic flows are crazy things, and I defer to the experts.

Politically, though, it seems like the ones that make major changes to I-5 — like a single managed toll lane — are going to be the most difficult and time-consuming to implement.