The SunBreak » 520

New WSDOT Chief Boards Runaway Trains of Viaduct & 520 Projects

Michael van Baker — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 19:36:06 +0000

Peterson climbs aboard WSDOT with two megaprojects already in progress that threaten not simply Hammond's reputation as on on-time, on-budget steward, but the state's fiscal health. The Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement project and SR 520 Bridge Replacement project amount to more than $7.2 billion in the latest iteration of their ever-changing budgets.

How to Survive the Blue Angels

Michael van Baker — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 18:20:58 +0000

Every year, a certain number of Seattle residents wince at the first flight, many apparently residents of Capitol Hill. For various reasons--War machines! Scared pets! Migraines! Jet fuel smog! Wait, I-90 is closed?!--the shriek of F/A-18 Hornets sets their nerves on edge, to such an extent that even reminding them how much money Boeing makes from constructing these things doesn't help. (A: $30 to $60 million per.)

Foes of SR 520 Bridge-Embiggening File Opening Brief in Federal Lawsuit

Michael van Baker — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 23:09:37 +0000

The Coalition admits that "the existing 4-lane bridge is in danger of collapse" in their brief, but argues that it's stretching truth and necessity to call the new 520 project "6-lane" when it tops out at 12 lanes (in Montlake, as it connects with various on- and off-ramps). "For instance, just east of Montlake Boulevard," they point out, "the project's width is approximately 250 feet."

New Stadium Notion Leaves Port, the Ms Feeling Congested Even Before Tunnel Toll

Michael van Baker — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 17:42:59 +0000

But, faced with years of tunnel-construction and Viaduct-destruction, the Port and Mariners have decided a new stadium is a bridge too far. Why? Fears of traffic congestion. Here is a delightful section of the Port's letter to all and sundry in which they discover that they never got their promised east-west connectors, that tolls divert traffic, and that they forgot to demand meaningful construction mitigation.

Seattle’s Shunpikers Slice $200 Million From Tunnel Toll Estimates

Michael van Baker — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 19:09:08 +0000

WSDOT is not normally in the habit of announcing that they have $200 million in fun money they have no use for. There exist WSDOT projects with perhaps more impact than ferrying 57,000 vehicles (per day by 2030) past Seattle's core. For comparison, Mercer Street, which carries 80,000 vehicles per day, is getting a makeover costing $164 million, $36 million less than WSDOT's estimating error on their $3.1-billion tunnel project.

New SR 520 Toll Boosts Microsoft Connector Ridership

Michael van Baker — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 00:03:49 +0000

You know who doesn't care about the new SR 520 tolls? Microsoft Connector passengers. Or, rather, they no longer have to care. When I asked Microsoft's Lou Gellos if the Redmond-based company anticipated a boost in ridership of their private transit system, now that the 520 bridge is being tolled, he chuckled and said they'd already seen an increase: back in April, when the tolls were originally planned to go into effect.