ST transit service through downtown Seattle will likely be delayed Thursday during the afternoon and evening commute as a result of the May Day march and other activities.
Bus riders should be prepared for transit service delays and plan their commutes accordingly. If possible, transit users may want to leave work early, plan to take earlier buses, and allow extra time to travel through the downtown area.
One march is planned to leave the Central District at 3 p.m. and travel west on South Jackson St, north on Boren Avenue, west on Madison St, north on 4th Avenue to Westlake Park. All 4th Avenue buses will use 3rd Avenue during the march, from approximately 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. There could be additional May Day activities in other locations that could further delay or disrupt traffic and transit.
Great weather is expected to bring out even larger crowds than last year so be prepared for major delays and disruptions. Try and build the downtown portion of your commute around Link and tunnel buses if possible. It’s also a good idea to sign up for rider alerts for your routes.
I’m worried there may be riots in Seattle………………..
If so, I hope the police some of you like to bash gets the proper respect & appreciation for restoring law & order.
Read your almanack, Joe. Riot season in Seattle isn’t ’til last day in November! Besides, what worries me is finding out online that this year the annual Park Ranger March down Highway 20 from Ross Dam to La Conner will turn violent at Newhalem.
Mt. Vernon might as well be a sugar bowl ahead of African army ants. Respected or not, authority’s last stand will be the Anacortes ferry dock, leading to a Northwest re-enactment of Dunkirk.
In Seattle, even sports events that should cause riots due to massive region wide traffic tie-ups don’t. I’ve forgotten what the last one was about, somebody won a football game or something- but freeways and transit alike could have been mammoths in the La Brea tar pits.
The Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel tied itself in knots so bad somebody SHOULD have rioted- but I couldn’t get out of there to find my pack of rocks and bottles.
Police getting bashed? Ask the average eighteen year old in Sedro Woolley on Saturday night about his sentiments on authority in general. Seattle? Talk to both the police union president and the Justice Department- same room, same time. Anyhow, wherever you go to celebrate it, have a great May Day.
Mark
Ross Dam to La Connor? Now that sounds like a nice ride for the touring cycle…
I can’t imagine riots here. Smashing Nike and Starbucks windows, yes, but not a big melee. A major “riot” would be ten people fighting for half an hour.
Gents, I remember WTO. I remember the recent May Day violence – including rocks being thrown at cops. This is no laughing matter.
KING 5: “Small businesses, police preparing for May Day marchers”
http://www.king5.com/news/local/Seattle-police-preparing-for-May-Day-marchers-257432121.html
“May Day has turned violent the past two years in Seattle. Last year police used flash bangs and pepper spray and arrested 18 people from a crowd that pelted them with rocks and bottles. Eight officers were injured.”
I guess it depends on what you call a riot. To me a riot is like Watts with hundreds of violent people breaking into everything and destroying entire neighborhoods. In WTO and other events it was a few violent protestors who were specifically targeting police and a few large corporations. and not harming other people or lotting other things.
Watts was thousands of people. Seattle doesn’t even have neighborhoods as large as the damage that was inflicted back then in Oakland. What nobody has pointed out is that SPD is one of the worst metropolitan policy departments in the nation. They’d be right at home in the Ukraine. And it’s been this way for as long as I can remember which goes back to the early 70’s. SPD policy, shoot first… it avoids having to ask questions later. Your new mayor is in lock step with the old guard. Not saying I’d love to see McGinn come over and be our new city manager in Bellevue but I’m flabbergasted that voters tossed out a true progressive. And yes, Bellevue PD is pretty bush league with a chief that would be gone in 60 seconds if she wasn’t a woman.
Time for the fire department to work out the hoses tomorrow. This town seriously needs some water cannons…
Glad you mentioned this, Big Don. When I was in Sweden last fall, I saw this fantastic video as part of an exhibit at an art museum. The art team got hold of two riot trucks from some European police force.
These are huge black vans as big as buildings, each with three water cannons, two above the windshield and one under the rear bumper, and with blue police flashers on the front.
The team worked with the drivers to have them roll the trucks around a very large concrete lot near a harbor, I think in Holland, with giant white wind turbines turning in the background, to the music and rhythm of a Strauss waltz.
Unbelievably awesome. Especially the way the trucks motioned to each other, using the streams from their cannons to gesture like dancers’ arms and hands.
So I think that would be a terrific idea for a mobile water-cannon battery in Seattle. The trucks could definitely be mounted with loudspeakers to play the waltz music. That way, the Arts Commission will help pay, the first time they’ve ever funded police weapons.
Too bad tomorrow is short notice. It’ll be a hot day, so really would be good to have them. Well, there’s always next May. Good thing: could be major labor dispute between police and fire unions, and also concert musicians’, to see who gets to drive them.
http://blekemolen.wordpress.com/2010/11/11/pegasus-dance/
Check it out!
Mark
May Day… Because nothing helps the little guy like snarling downtown bus traffic… Thanks in advance for the OT and putting unnecessary pressure on Metro’s operating budget, guys..
Velo, didn’t you listen to anything the Prop 1 opponents said? Only the rich ride buses. The little guys drive brand-new cars.
Yeah… The thought crossed my mind. I’ve noticed a change in the garbage left behind ever since the rich gentrified the routes I drive – The empties are now French Chardonnay bottles accompanied by Brie wrappers and empty water cracker boxes. At least they aren’t out driving their Lexi and Mercedes, I suppose…
Nobody drives Lexi and Mercedes anymore, they’re too common… Tesla baby! You can drive your car and save the whales at the same time.
The excellent weather makes for great biking weather, as well – and hey, it’s Bike to Work month.
Methinks tomorrow will make for a great time to try out the Elliot Bay Tail.
Add in a Critical Mass ride just for a little variety…
Depends on what this “tail” is, I suppose…. ;-)
Watch out for the trail obstruction due to a month-long sculpture installation.
Don’t you just love it when sculptures block public places?
Hmm, someone should edit that article.
currentformer mayor Mike McGinn …May is also Motorcycle Awareness month.
I already had my crowded, impossible to navigate route.
Driving east on Kent Des-Moines road. Backed up for nearly a mile. Why? Maybe an accident but the root cause is that (once again) Washington State has a road with highway level traffic that empties it out into an intersection followed by a series of railroad crossings, walkways and other assorted reasons to bring everything to a screeching halt. It nearly ruined my nice day…but I did a U-ey and got the heck outta there!
John, a septic truck biffed on SR 167 making a rather unpleasant mess on all routes in the area. The collision blocked the roadway for quite a while, and it also blocked the ramp from Willis to southbound.
Willis (SR 516) thru Kent, while a state highway, is under jurisdiction of the City of Kent. I’d rather not explain the 1997 City Streets as Part of State Highways. The weird stretch of SR 516 which jogs down the hill and zigzags to Willis is an old relic alignment from when Kent was a more agrarian community. It’s the city’s responsibilty to maintain that portion of the roadway….from just east 167 to the city limit with Covington.
Oh I miss the good old days… Seattle in the ’90’s.
No “May Day” nonsense. No “Critical Mass” b/s.
And you could walk up and down Broadway without being bashed by a Trustfunder Hipster from Ohio!
Try dialing the Wayback Machine to the mid-80s, when I could rent a one-bedroom on John Street near Capitol Hill for $220 a month.
And yes, at 10:30 am, sitting at Broadway Espresso, the only street traffic was the intermittent trolley bus.
Of course there were no jobs, Ph.d.’s fought to be stackers at Elliot Bay Books, and Microsoft had six buildings. At night…silence.