"Link and the Duwamish Valley", by Atomic Taco

This is an open thread. See you tonight.

37 Replies to “News Roundup: More Trackwork”

  1. And this is what happens when the Canada Line undergoes maintenance:

    translink:
    @sherwinhlee Delays are very minor you may not even notice. Short holdup at Bridgeport Stn and Marine Dr Stn. ^RP

      1. Yeah, I’m really irked that the FRA has such an idiotic 48 hour rule. Meanwhile 15,000 ton coal trains roll by on the same track, so it certainly cannot be a safety issue.

        Insurance liability is more like it. Ugh.

      3. Nope, is the Feds. The idea stems from a time when far less was known about slides and the geology/terrain around the tracks. It was an effort to increase public safety. Today it would probably be better to use a go/no go call for all traffic. But remember, the tracks were closed twice because of a second slide inside that 48 hour window. On the other hand, the weather could have been such that the second slide happened right after the tracks were openned for passenger service. Ideally you close the tracks before the slide.

      4. It is so depressing that with all the investment in Link it goes into this maintenance mode so often with infrequent service and that ST plays “hide the ball” with the schedule. Who would think that in the middle of December ST would say: “From 8pm to 1am Link will run every 30-45 minutes and we won’t tell you when”? Yeah, I’d like to wait for 45 damp, cold minutes for Link. If ST can’t or won’t tell us when it runs, then shut it down and run schedule buses.

      5. PS: I didn’t mean shut Link down permanently, I meant shut it down for the maintenance. I’d rather have a bus that comes every 15 mins on schedule than be told “every 30-45 minutes” and given no schedule.

        PPS: I wish there were a way to edit one’s own comments. Don’t know if that is possible without the overhead of login/passwords

  2. There is a new book available on Amazon.com et al about the Seattle-Everett Interurban Railway.

    I received this as a birthday present last week and it is a fantastic book with tons of old photos of this former rail line in our area.

    Here is a link to the book on Amazon.com: http://goo.gl/HZ2eN

    1. I’ve got it on a table in the living room – it’s pretty interesting and it gives you a whole new understanding of how this region developed. For instance, Lynnwood (then Alderwood Manor) probably doesn’t exist as it does today without starting as one of our original TODs.

      30-minute service to Everett all day long in the early 1900s…and getting that back is barely in the planning stages…

      1. Harder to find, but better illustrated is a book from the late 1980s:
        To Seattle by trolley: The story of the Seattle-Everett Interurban and the trolley that went to sea by Warren W Wing

  3. Huh, they said Bordeaux’s line was the first tram with ‘underground’ (ground-level) power in the “photo essay,” but that is definitely incorrect. Among others, the conduit current collection method, used in a few major cities during the heyday of trams, is much older. A lot of old cable car lines’ cable vaults were converted into conduits for providing power that way.

  4. Every time there is reduced Link service, people come on this blog and ask if anyone knows exactly what type of maintenance they are doing. And each time, the response is that no one knows. Even the bloggers don’t know. And what I’ve wondered for the longest time is why doesn’t one of the most popular transit blogs in the area have contacts within ST they can ask? With 5 or 6 bloggers at STB, I would think at least one of them had a pretty big rolodex they could turn to find out, off-the-record if necessary, the inside scoop as to what exact type of maintenance they’re doing. That’s the most surprising thing, to me. That STB, after all these years in the business, doesn’t have any contacts within Sound Transit. That they have to call up the general information line like everyone else. Odd.

      1. Ya, why does Sam always want someone else to do his work for him?

        I could care less why ST is doing maintenance so I won’t call, but if Sam is interested for some reason then there certainly isn’t any reason he can’t contact his sources.

        Besides, I usually only bother my ST sources for things that actually MATTER.

    3. Actually someone (not me) did post a reason why. I have a confirmed answer from Sound Transit but you will have to wait to read my post. Otherwise, it’ll get lost in the comments, again.

  5. I’m glad to read that SWIFT is already making some significant improvements after only about one year of operation. I expect these will only serve to increase ridership on SWIFT. Sounds like the people running SWIFT actually identify improvements which can be made, and then make those improvements. What a concept.

    It will be interesting to see if ridership on SWIFT improves much by this time next year.

  6. Idea/suggestion for blog. Multiple countdowns. Keep the one for University Link, but add some others with sooner completion dates that over 2147 days away. Maybe one for the First Hill Street Car. Rapid Ride B might not be countdown-worthy, though.

  7. Forgot to post this email from Ethan Malone when I received it last month regarding the First Hill Streetcar:

    Hello Michael—

    We are in the midst of the selection process for the GC/CM. We should have a contractor selected by the end of the year, and first quarter of next year, we will start to add detail to our construction schedule. We anticipate some early utility relocation next summer and trackwork beginning in the fall. Thanks-

    Ethan

  9. Something came up and I missed the meetup :-(. I am, however, agog to hear why Metro are planning to route busses off 1st Ave. Please tell me it’s a streetcar? Even if not, they must be putting some kind of replacement service in there so people don’t have to walk two blocks to 3rd just to catch any northbound bus.

    1. It’s due to traffic impacts from Viaduct construction and future Ballard-West Seattle RapidRide service using 3rd. Wishful thinking about the streetcar :) but they are thinking of rerouting Route 99 up 1st in 2012, again due to Viaduct construction and to act as a circulator. Like you, first thing I thought was Central Streetcar!

      1. There is no plan for a Central SC on 1st. Even the Mayor has stopped talking about it while he fights the tunnel.

        But I’m not sure the Central SC makes any sense anyhow. I’d rather see;

        1) The Aloha Ext get built, and

        2) A connection of the SLU SC and the FH SC via something on 4th/5th.

      2. The 4th/5th pair would be neat, but the West Edge/Belltown really needs high-capacity transit. Losing the Central Streetcar might be the best gateway to opening up the possibility of a 1st Ave tube with stops in LQA, Belltown, and the Pike Place area.

      3. I think there is growing recognition that having two disconnected SC systems using the exact same tech just a mile or so apart is a bit silly even for this region. A 4th/5th couplet would be the obvious way to connect them.

        Per the water side of DT, I’d build a Central Link caliber system underground on 2nd so that underground transfers can be made between Central Link and the new line. Running on 2nd also allows for a station adjacent to the Pacific Science Center at the turn onto Denny. Running on 1st doesn’t facilitate transfers and doesn’t directly support Seattle Center.

      4. Hm… I’ve always been thinking of a West Seattle-Ballard line going under 2nd, but if you put it under First you could better serve a different market than the DSTT, and still have fast moving walkways from Pike Place station to Westlake to facilitate easy transfers. It wouldn’t serve Seattle Center quite as directly but would have stations right in the center of Belltown and LQA. And to the people who say that there’s already going to be the Hwy 99 tunnel under 1st, that tunnel is wayyy deep under 1st, while this would be right under the surface. However, you might need to jog over to 2nd before Pioneer Square, when the 99 tunnel gets closer to the surface.

  10. My favorite funky transit has got to be the Metrocable in Medellín, Colombia. It’s a “gondola lift” system (basically a cable car) that actually works as a transit system. Medellín is basically shaped like a big bowl, so having a cable car makes reaching the neighborhoods on the steep sides much easier–just think about driving a bus up a bowl! It’s made whole areas of the city accessible and has spurred the city government to provide services where none existed beforehand. And it works like a charm.

    1. You forgot about our soils and thirst for social justice. Afterall, every train is a 100 families of illegal aliens were not feeding, clothing, or educating!

  13. Personal Transit Project comes in at budget and under time:

    Nine months ahead of schedule, starting Tuesday afternoon drivers will have a new way to get on and off Interstate 405 in downtown Renton.

    They’ll drive the new onramp to northbound I-405 from Talbot Road and get off southbound I-405 on an offramp to Talbot. The Stage 2 I-405 widening project also includes a new lane in each direction on the freeway near City Hall.

    [And this is really exciting:]

    The next likely project is a massive one to improve the I-405/SR 167 interchange, which could include flyovers. That project is part of an extensive plan developed for projects along the 405 corridor from Southcenter to I-5 beyond Bothell and Woodinville.

    http://www.seattlepi.com/sound/432041_sound112107359.html

    2. Didn’t the I-405/SR167 interchange just get rebuilt a couple of years ago for the I-405 widening project (pahse 1)?

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