The Seattle Department of Transportation and regional partners are gathering information from the various community neighborhoods affected by the closure of the West Seattle Bridge. The effort is intended to ease travel around the area and reduce congestion.
photo by Patrick Robinson
The Seattle Department of Transportation has been busy. The closure of the West Seattle Bridge in late March put them into full mitigation and solution modes and in the process brought them to the creation of a new website Reconnect West Seattle.
In their work to be inclusive of all affected neighborhoods SDOT has assembled a series of surveys. These surveys will collect information from people in those communities to enable SDOT to better serve their needs. Once all the community input is assembled SDOT, in cooperation with the Department of Neighborhoods, Metro and other agencies will share the data with West Seattle Bridge Community Task Force. A set of recommendations and a plan will follow. Followups beyond that will come after traffic patterns are analyzed and efforts made to help people travel more easily.
What is Reconnect West Seattle?
The unexpected closure of the West Seattle High-Rise Bridge dramatically impacted West Seattle and the nearby Duwamish Valley communities. The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) has launched Reconnect West Seattle to help the communities most effected by the bridge closure.
Reconnect West Seattle has two main goals: to restore travel across the Duwamish to similar levels seen before the West Seattle High-Rise Bridge closure and reduce the impact of detour traffic in Duwamish Valley neighborhoods such as Highland Park and South Park.
Prior to the bridge closure, a vast majority of people in West Seattle drove cars on and off the peninsula as their primary means of transportation. There were 12 lanes of access and egress. For example, in 2019 over 80 percent of morning commuters heading eastbound drove, while just 17 percent took the bus. Now that the bridge is closed, there are not enough travel lanes to support the same travel habits and number of cars on the road.
We need as many people as possible who previously drove to start thinking about other ways to move around. SDOT and our partners stand ready to take action to support this change, but we want to know what you would need to make that change and together, reconnect West Seattle by achieving a goal similar to what’s outlined in the graphic below.
SDOT asks everyone to fill out their Community Surveys:
As one part of a broader effort to achieve the Reconnect West Seattle vision, SDOT is asking residents in West Seattle and surrounding communities to take one or both of two surveys launched today, before they close on July 31, 2020: Reconnect West Seattle Survey for everyone who lives or works in West Seattle, and the Neighborhood Prioritization Process Ballots for people who specifically live or work in Roxhill, Highland Park, Riverview, South Delridge, SODO, Georgetown, or South Park.
Each will be made digitally available and promoted online (including ethnic media), as well as paper ballots. Additionally, a postcard in the next week will go out to Roxhill, Highland Park, Riverview, South Delridge, Georgetown, SODO, and South Park as a reminder to take the relevant survey.
- Reconnect West Seattle Survey: This survey is for everyone who lives or works in West Seattle. The survey is the community’s chance to let SDOT and our partners know what they need to move on and off the West Seattle peninsula at similar rates to before the High-Rise Bridge closure, but with a significant reduction in travel lanes.
- Neighborhood Prioritization Process Ballots: These ballots are for people who specifically live or work in Roxhill, Highland Park, Riverview, South Delridge, SODO, Georgetown, or South Park. These communities are more acutely impacted by increased travel along West Seattle detour routes. The ballots present a list of potential transportation projects that we are asking community members to identify which projects they feel will best address the impacts of the High-Bridge closure in their neighborhood.
- Direct BallotOnline Survey Links:
- Paper Ballots:
The survey and ballots are available in multiple languages on the SDOT website, and paper versions can be requested by contacting westseattlebridge@seattle.gov or 206.400.7511.
On August 5, SDOT will meet with the West Seattle Force Community Task Force to analyze community feedback and set a plan going forward.That plan will be put forward in the fall.
Community participation in these survey and ballots will help SDOT and transportation partners prioritize the right improvements in a highly resource constrained environment due to COVID-19 impacts.
Detailed information about the Reconnect West Seattle Survey, Neighborhood Prioritization Process Ballots, and background behind our Reconnect West Seattle approach is available on our website at www.seattle.gov/reconnectwestseattle .
TIMELINE
July 10: Neighborhood Plans are released to community and ballots open
July 10 - 31: With SDOT playing a support role, community organizations and neighborhoods will prioritize a list of potential actions and projects specific to their neighborhood.
August: SDOT and WSB Community Task Force analyze community feedback
September: Reconnect West Seattle Plan
