The most notorious accident — that of an overturned semi-truck at the south end of the Alaskan Way Viaduct (state Route 99) in late March — had many questioning what would happen if the viaduct were to close long-term from catastrophic failure. Police Chief Kathleen O’Toole told KIRO Radio, “It was an opportunity to take a look at our systematic weaknesses and to develop strategies to address them head on.” But how many opportunities does the city need?
Seattle ranked fifth-worst in traffic congestion, among U.S. cities, slightly behind New York City, according to GPS maker Tom Tom, with drivers here each spending an average of 89 hours stuck in traffic last year.
The quest of the ironically named Move Seattle transportation plan is in direct conflict with the reality of our streets. Closing off major roadways or segments thereof for bike lanes, streetcars and parklets — which are used by a very small percentage of the population — only shoves motorists and bus commuters onto the highways and freeways. The city could pride itself on its unobstructed streets, but no one would be able to get to them.
Maybe reality will hit city officials when Expedia’s 4,500 employees — three-quarters of whom currently live on the Eastside, according to Geekwire — join other commuters starting next year and travel on Seattle’s ever-closing streets of the “Mercer Mess” construction to the Interbay neighborhood. Expect that 1.5-mile, 50-minute commute between Seattle Center to the Mercer Street on-ramps to Interstate 5 (on a good day), according to traffic-data firm INRIX, to take a little longer…especially if the South Lake Union streetcar traffic backs up.