Tag Archives: amtrak

News, Weather

March Storms Bring Record Snowfall for Seattle Area Skiers

March 15, 2012 Michael van Baker 1 Comment

Bangalore floodplain? (Photo: MvB)

This week in Seattle sidewalks (Photo: MvB)

Thursday morning radar (Image: UW Atmospheric Sciences)

Play Prev|Next

“Around here there is typically a 10 to 1 ratio of snow versus precipitation in the form of liquid water,” says University of Washington meteorologist Cliff Mass, which explains why, when Seattle sidewalks are becoming impassable floodplains, Snoqualmie and Stevens passes are reporting over three feet of snowfall over the past three days. Crystal Mountain saw 46 inches. But wait, there’s more. Much more.

We’ll let the folks at Mount Baker tell you in their own words:

With this continuous parade of storms, we have received an amazing 110 INCHES OF SNOWFALL in the JUST THE PAST 6 DAYS. March snowfall this month has already surpassed the amount of snowfall we received in the entire MONTH of March back in our World Record year of 98-99 so this has been quite a month so far!

Still, there’s such a thing as too much snow, even for a ski resort. Yesterday, WSDOT had to close Mt. Baker Highway; under the weight of the snow, sixteen trees were felled since Wednesday, at least four across the highway, says the Bellingham Herald.

And, wait for it, another storm is pushing in, carrying another foot or so of snow with it. Down here in the lowlands, UW’s Probcast gives a ten percent chance of six-tenths of an inch of rain. Seattlepi.com, looking ahead, says don’t bother putting away your galoshes this weekend, next week a hard rain is gonna fall, too. We turn now to the National Weather Service and their all-caps-hamster forecast:

A COOL UPPER TROUGH SWINGING ACROSS THE AREA ON SUNDAY WILL GIVE SHOWERS WITH SNOW LEVELS AROUND 1000 FEET. SNOW LEVELS WILL RISE SOMEWHAT LATER MON INTO TUE AS YET ANOTHER WET FRONTAL SYSTEM APPROACHES THE AREA FROM THE WEST. ANOTHER DEEP TROUGH IS IN STORE FOR LATER NEXT WEEK KEEPING WEATHER ACTIVE.

Stay dry with the help of this radar collage from UW Atmospheric Sciences, which gives a statewide view of what the different radar installations are picking up. You can find statewide travel alerts here, from avalanche control closures to the mudslides that are assuredly going to increase in number as the rain continues. Follow Amtrak Cascades on Twitter for the latest on mudslide closures affecting Amtrak and Sounder trains.

News, Transportation, Travel

Will King Street Station Adopt a Greyhound? (Plus, Seattle’s Jumbo Ferry Passenger Problem)

December 21, 2011 Michael van Baker

Crosscut alerts you the impending eviction of Greyhound from its Stewart Street location downtown. After 83 years in that spot, redevelopment has caught up with them, and they need to find a new station by April of 2013. Previously, planners had wanted to add Greyhound into the King Street Station‘s multimodal mix, so you could catch an Amtrak, Sounder, or light rail train; a Metro bus or city streetcar; or a Greyhound.

But Amtrak, rail freight giant BNSF, and Greyhound were never able to agree on where Greyhound might fit in at the station–perfectly happy in its old location, Greyhound was under no pressure to agree a reduced presence, or even curbside service. Now Greyhound is howling for attention, says C.B. Hall:

Greyhound’s first choice, says district manager Mike Timlin, “would be to go in with King Street Station, with other providers, to turn King Street into a sort of intermodal hub.” […] “We’re keeping all options open,” Timlin said. “We may have to leave the City of Seattle if we can’t find anything reasonably priced within the city limits.”

Greyhound CEO David Leach has asked for a sit-down with Mayor Mike McGinn, whose office has not been quick to arrange the meeting. [UPDATE: McGinn spokesman Aaron Pickus says the meeting is scheduled for the second week of January, and disputes my suggestion of any foot-dragging on their part, saying: “We received the CEO’s letter in early December and were calling Greyhound soon after to set up a meeting. We’ve already met with OED and SDOT and WSDOT will be meeting soon.”]

Meanwhile, Seattlepi.com/KOMO reports that the Coast Guard has issued new maximum passenger limits for ferries, because, due to the American obesity epidemic, the average American now weighs 185 pounds. (The old regulations had been based on an average between 140 and 160 pounds.) So, a ferry that could carry 2,000 passengers will be rated to carry over 200 fewer people. Ferries don’t often meet passenger-carrying capacity, so riders won’t likely find themselves stranded. It’s just one of those stories that everyone can cluck disapprovingly about, for their own reasons.

News, Transportation, Travel

Dry December May Boost Amtrak Cascades Ridership

December 19, 2011 Michael van Baker 3 Comments

The Pacific Northwest continues to live up to its reputation for tricksy weather, as even with La Niña conditions, our December has been as dry as the proverbial bone. KIRO meteorologist Morgan Palmer has the record-setting numbers for you: Seattle has had just one-quarter of an inch of rain in December, compared to almost seven inches last year, and an average of over three inches. Our snowpack is below normal, too.

One beneficiary of this unexpected aridity is the Amtrak Cascades line, which is routinely plagued by mudslides when we get steady rain. This spring and November’s on-time percentages suffered because of rainfall-driven slides, but December’s fair weather has Amtrak Cascades on track to surpass its target of 828,000 (2010 ridership totaled 840,000 passengers, up seven percent from 2009–or 850,000, up ten percent, depending upon whose figures you believe).

The Seattle Times‘ Mike Lindblom reports that, mudslides aside, the trip between Vancouver, BC, and Seattle is going to get a little speedier:

Right now, the U.S. conducts agriculture and immigration inspections in the Vancouver station, and then stops trains on the trackway near Blaine — causing a delay of 12 minutes to 20 minutes to check baggage and Customs declarations. Evening inspections often make passengers interrupt dinner to file forms while dogs sniff items in the train.

Lindblom also notes that August ridership between the two cities was up significantly, “a 26.5 percent increase from a year earlier.” Having access to free WiFi makes delays a little easier to bear.

Meanwhile, here in Seattle, $16.7 million in federal high-speed-rail money is driving the next phase of the King Street Station restoration project, due to be finished in two years. King Street Station is the busiest train station in the Northwest. Renovations to come will:

…strengthen King Street Station and its clock tower to better withstand earthquakes, as well as restore the historical features of the station’s main hall and upgrade electrical, mechanical and plumbing systems to modern standards. To restore the main hall to its original grandeur, the building’s white marble walls, decorative lighting and other features removed during “modernization” of the station more than 50 years ago will be rehabilitated or replaced, where possible. Also, improvements to both the Jackson Street and King Street entrances will significantly improve the public’s access to the station.

News, Transportation

King Street’s Jackson Plaza Gets a Grand Opening

June 24, 2011 Michael van Baker

Jackson Plaza at King Street Station

Construction at west entrance of King Street Station

Play Prev|Next

This morning, June 24, is the grand opening of the new Jackson Plaza at King Street Station, to be attended by Mayor Michael “Mike” McGinn; Linda Gehrke, Deputy Regional Administrator, Region X, Federal Transit Administration; Lorne McConachie, Chair, Pioneer Square Preservation Board; and Leslie Smith, Alliance for Pioneer Square.

The speechifying should begin at about 10:30 a.m., with the festivities lasting until 11:15 a.m. We’re told you can expect to hear the strains of Ballard’s Sedentary Sousa Band.

As for the plaza itself, Seattle Transit Blog says: “The plaza has yet to house any vendors/businesses, so I wouldn’t expect there to be a sudden renewal of vibrancy and activity. There are some fairly unique design elements, however, like an all-gravel floor, which almost gives the appearance of a giant Zen garden.”

One feature of the still-young trees, as you can see, is to almost obscure the King Street Station’s sign from the street. It’s indicative of a slapdash, low-cost approach to the renovation of the frontage of what should be a major transportation hub. I remain concerned about how well the plaza will function:

But when I look at the bird’s-eye-view, the impression I get is that planners are trying to remove Jackson Street (and its unsavory denizens) from view, and create a little urban oasis. It’s the kind of wishful urban planning, disconnected from usage patterns, that people tend to ignore. If you can’t see the café from the street, or there appears to be a sense of remove, passersby will do just that. At night, they will likely speed up to get past by that shady grove of trees.

I asked SDOT in September of 2010 if anyone from the design team cared to explain and illuminate the rationale for the usage of space, but no one, apparently, did (or could). It’s too bad, but looking on the bright side, a gravel lot with a few trees is still reasonably easy to improve upon if it turns out not to be the public attraction that’s hoped.

UPDATE: Here’s the recap of the actual event from the Mayor’s office:

“The investment in historic King Street Station is part of Seattle’s transit future,” said McGinn. “The new plaza connects transit lines and neighborhoods like Pioneer Square and International District/Chinatown. I’d like to thank all of our agency partners and our own Department of Transportation for creating such a great place for the public to enjoy. And the new view of Downtown is amazing.”

King Street Station will feature Amtrak long distance rail, Sound Transit commuter rail and Amtrak intercity coaches, along with access to Sound Transit light rail, Metro buses and the future First Hill Streetcar, all within walking distance of several Seattle neighborhoods.

The new plaza is environmentally sustainable and is a model of partnership with other agencies. The plaza was rebuilt to current seismic codes and has been converted into a pedestrian plaza, increasing public and green space in Pioneer Square. Buried under the plaza, there are 36 geothermal wells supplying heating and cooling to the first floor of King Street Station. Granite was salvaged from an old building foundation to repair the granite balustrade that flanks the plaza and form new seating benches. Finally, the plaza was deconstructed instead of demolished, allowing for 98 percent of material to be recycled. Deconstruction is the systematic removal of materials to maximize recycling as opposed to a non-discriminate, speed oriented demolition.

The construction cost for the phase of the King Street Station Restoration Project that includes the plaza was about $15 million and was financed in partnership with the above agencies and funding sources.

The next major milestone of the King Street Station Restoration Project is in early September with the reopening of the fully rehabilitated grand staircase linking Jackson Plaza to the station’s entrance on S King Street.

News, Transportation

Amtrak Plans for More Seattle-to-Portland Trips

May 10, 2011 Michael van Baker

By 2017, Amtrak Cascades should be making six round trips between Seattle and Portland per day, up from four trips daily now. That’s possible in part because of an extra $15 million the federal government is disbursing for a Port of Vancouver project–from a pot of high-speed rail money that Florida refused.

“The $15 million, along with $18.3 million in matching funds from the Port of Vancouver,” reports The Columbian, “will pay for a separate track for freight rail cars carrying shipments into and out of the port.”

Anyone who’s taken the train to and from Portland has waited for a slow-moving freight train to clear the track–this spur line is supposed to reduce delays by 40 percent while tripling the Vancouver port’s rail volume. Without work to reduce that congestion, you can imagine new Cascades trains simply piling up behind delayed trains in front, like buses caught in gridlock.

Amtrak had also asked for $10 million for preparatory studies to deal with its mudslide problem–this winter, more than 100 mudslides affected passenger and freight rail service. (To extrapolate, in December 2010 sixteen mudslides affected 90 train trips.) Even with Amtrak’s generous on-time window (trains can be from ten to thirty minutes late and qualify as “on-time”), only about 62 percent of its trains arrive on time.

The mudslides aren’t helping at all, but Amtrak has no money to fund the environmental assessment needed before any work could actually being. Funds disbursed from the Florida allocation, however, went primarily to “shovel-ready” projects. So, Catch-22.

“While disappointing, our total share of ‘HSR’ funding ($781 million) remains impressive relative to our population size,” says Seattle Transit Blog, “and it speaks well of WSDOT’s preparedness in seeking these grants over the past three years.”

A commenter adds that, “The mudslide issue is as much an infrastructure issue as it is a liability issue,” referring to the legal requirement that passenger trains wait 48 hours after a slide. If WSDOT and Amtrak can get that rule amended, then a huge part of the problem is already dealt with.

The SunBreak