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King County Councilmember Joe McDermott issued a commuting challenge and County Executive Dow Constantine and Seattle City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen accepted. All three West Seattle residents will raced from the southwest corner of the Alaska Junction to City Hall downtown this morning to highlight the alternate forms of transportation available during the 9-day closure of the Alaskan Way Viaduct, which begins Friday at 7:30 p.m.

McDermott took the water taxi shuttle shuttle down to the Seacrest Dock and boarded the Water Taxi for the 8:15 a.m. sailing to Pier 50. He then walked uphill swiftly to City Hall.

Constantine boarded Metro Transit’s Route 54 to downtown and walked a few blocks to City Hall.

Rasmussen rode his bicycle to City Hall, and he won!

Approximate times: Rasmussen 28 minutes, Constantine, 35 minutes, McDermott 36.5 minutes

There were a few wrinkles. Constantine hopped on a #54 bus about 10 minutes before McDermott's shuttle arrived. From the water taxi pier it only took McDermott about 28 minutes to reach City Hall. Also, McDermott pointed out that Rasmussen would have to change out of his bicycle clothes, vest, helmet, gloves, to look presentable at the office, and that would eat up time.Meanwhile, Constantine said his time included stopping for coffee.

Still, considering the chilly, rainy send-off, Rasmussen gets a lot of credit for winning on his own power.

BEFORE THE RACE BEGAN:

"I just want to survive, to get there," said Rasmussen with a smile, with helmet secure. "it's dark and rainy."

"When I am driving myself, which happens more often than I'd like, I take the bridge to 4th Avenue to the off ramp,:" said McDermott.

"We're doing this today to get people prepared for next week, but I might be back on Monday," said Rasmussen.

"Joe takes the winner out to dinner, but it has to be in West Seattle," quipped Constantine, suggesting that McDermott was certain to lose.

"It is important for people in West Seattle to explore these transit options as the viaduct project goes on as they'll be facing a lot of challenges," Constantine added. "Just relying on the old 'hop in the car and wait in the traffic' is not a prescription for success.

Constantine did a bit of smack-talking regarding his chances compared to Rasmussen. Said Dow, "The thing is, I can't make the driver drive faster but Tom can pedal faster. He is in control of his own destiny."

Joe McDermott on and off the water taxi

(Full disclosure: Steve Shay followed him to City Hall, so he got more coverage.)

"We can accommodate 150 people per sailing," said McDermott on the water taxi. "We have added five round trips a day next week per week day. The shuttle will continue running later to meet the shuttle at 7:30 p.m. and will be a larger shuttle. We also have freed up more parking on Harbor Avenue, and will have half the Don Armeni parking lot available for parking, We will have 3,000 more bus seats as well."

Kristine Waites was seated near McDermott on the water taxi. "I work downtown in the Century Square Tower," she said. "I live here in West Seattle near the Junction. The days I ride the bus verses the water taxi I find I am more stressed. I started commuting downtown in June, and started taking the water taxi regularly since all this construction started."

On McDermott's swift up-hill walk from Pier 50 to City Hall he mentioned to a few others following him, "The water went all the way up to here on 1st Avenue. We raised the streets. The Smith Tower was named after Lyman C. Smith of Smith-Corona Typewriters. I've got a 90-minute tour if you are interested."

Fact-man McDermott has given underground tours of Seattle.

The city will lift the two-hour parking restriction along Harbor Avenue so water taxi commuters may leave their cars all day long.

Starting at 6:15 a.m., boats will depart every 30 minutes until 9:45 a.m. During the evening commute, the water taxis will run every 30 minutes from 3:15 p.m. to 7:15 p.m.

Boats will run on a normal schedule during both of the closure weekends. Fares are $3 with an ORCA card, or $3.50 with cash. The boats have capacity for 150 passengers. There will enough room for about 2,500 passengers per day.