HWY 99 potential collapse

Seattle has an elevated roadway that runs along the downtown water front.  It was contructed with state of the art budgets decades ago.  That means it's loud, ugly, and dangerous.  It sustained serious damage in the 2001 Nisqually Earthquake and, while it's still open to traffic, it needs to be replaced.

Seattle's pathetic track record on civil engineering continues to rear it's head.  After the quake, everyone agreed something needed to me done. It's not just the Viaduct at stake, but also the seawall that prevents downtown from flooding.

So the people of Seattle and the state of Washington talked about it.

And talked about it.

And talked about it.

And reached a decision.

And talked about it some more.

Finally, it looks like the decisions are in place, but what to do about those decisions is once again popping up in the Mayor's race.

What it comes down to is you can't get real, quality infrastructure in place with the excessive democracy we have in this city.  Somebody needs to stop listening to the people and just build something.

I favor the expensive tunnel option of a few years ago, and even the new, smaller tunnel option that is the likely replacement.  It's not worth it to cheap out.  And by building now, in a recession, labor and material are cheaper.  Financing for the city  cheaper.  Now is exactly the time to spend on infrastructure.

But if that doens't happen, I'll be satisfied if we just take some action already.

Our Light Rail system is years behind schedule, not because of the bureaucrats can't run it effectively, but because we have to keep stopping and revisiting already made decisions.  Our Monorail project won in three elections in the space of 7 years, and was cancelled in a fourth election because I guess we weren't Really Really Really sure.

What the coolest thing to come out of this civic paralysis?  The DOT makes awesome disaster simulations. They did this for the SR520 floating bridge (pretty much the same rant).Here is their demonstration of what will happen to the Viaduct in the next earthquake.

Louisa Boren Park view

Louisa Boren Park is a small, scenic over look on Seattle's Capitol Hill. It's across the street from Lake View Cemetery. You can find the map here.

I took these pictures last month, on Presidents Day.




The view from the park looks to the North East, out over the Arboretum, SR520 Floating Bridge, and Lake Washington.

Turning slightly clockwise, you get a view of the Bellevue skyline.



You can see nearly the whole length of the SR520 bridge.



The humps on the right and left are the Eastern HiRise and the Western HiRise, respectively.





The roadway that dips between them isn't above the water. It floats on the surface of the lake. The section in the middle is actually a draw span. The DOT opens it up when winds exceed 45 MPH. The highway can be shut down for hours at a time.



This bridge is considered obsolete, and replacing it will be one of the Seattle area's next major infrastructure projects. Given the way Seattle government and projects work, I expect we'll be driving on the new bridge sometime around 2063.

There are plenty of great views from the park so if you have the opportunity, stop by and spend a few minutes taking in the beauty of the Seattle area from this neat little vista.



You can see more of my Boren Park pictures here.

Seattle Trys Infrastructure -- Again

Now that we've been through the political debacles of the third Seatac runway, the monorail, and the viaduct, it's time to dive into the quagmire of the HWY 520 floating bridge.

It has exceeded its expected lifespan and needs to be replaced. It crosses a sensitive environmental area and university on one side, and one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the state on the other. And it carries huge volume of traffic.

This should go well.

The Washington State Department of Transportation is trying to get out in front of the dispute and remind people that doing nothing (which is all Seattle ever wants to do) is not an option. So they put out two videos projecting the destruction of the bridge.

They're actually pretty cool.

The Epitome of Seattle Infrastructure Politics

From the PI:

The Seattle City Council took a significant step toward deciding on a "preferred alternative" to replace the Evergreen Point Bridge.

They didn't make a decisions. The took a step to deciding. Deciding what they want? No, deciding what they think they probably want.