In the BHB‘s experience, this means that you should not even consider driving from Beacon Hill to Highway 99 via Sodo tomorrow after about the 5th inning. Take alternate transportation if you can, or alternate routes that keep you away from the stadium area.
There will continue to be intermittent traffic restrictions through mid-November on South Angeline Street (east of 15th Avenue South), South Ferdinand Street (between 17th Avenue South and 19th Avenue South), Columbia Drive South (between South Ferdinand Street and South Pearl Street) and Beacon Avenue South (curb lane only between South Bennett and South Ferdinand streets). See the map at the end of this post for these locations.
The trail is being extended northwesterly, following the City Light corridor from the intersection of Beacon Avenue South and South Dawson Street to a point near the intersection of South Angeline Street and 15th Avenue South.
Seattle Bike Blog has noted how useful the trail is for providing connections for cyclists to ride from Rainier Beach to Sodo and Capitol Hill.
View Traffic restriction locations, 11/10 in a larger map
(We apologize for some delay in getting this posted. Our internet was down for a bit. Oddly, it went down just as I was preparing the story below.)
Neighbor Sebastian in North Beacon writes that he’s been having some Broadstripe trouble lately:
I’ve been having intermittent to complete Internet outages for 24 days, starting on 7/30. Cable TV has been out since 8/19. I’ve called Broadstripe 20+ times to ask for updates and for someone to investigate their Network issues with less than satisfactory responses. During a third service call on 8/19/2010, a Broadstripe technician finally discovered that the source of the problem is with Broadstripe’s network and not with the equipment inside my house. Unfortunately the issue still hasn’t been resolved and my Internet and Cable TV still aren’t working.
…I’m curious if anyone else has been having issues with their Broadstripe Internet and Cable TV service? I’m getting tired of dealing with an incompotent service provider and I’m wondering if anyone has had any luck dealing with them?
Anyone else having these problems with their cable lately? And does anyone have any suggestions for Sebastian?
(Editor’s note, 5:28 pm: Sebastian tells us his service is up and working again. How about the rest of you?)
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Like Beacon Hill internet service, traffic on Rainier Avenue South will also be moving slowly for a while. Southbound traffic on Rainier will be reduced to one lane between South Forest Street and Martin Luther King, Jr. Way South around the clock until early September. Construction crews are upgrading drainage and electrical utilities in the roadway as part of the Rainier Transit Priority Corridor Improvements Project to create a better waiting environment for bus passengers, improve travel time for buses, and improve parking conditions for automobiles. You can read more about it here.
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“Home to some of the very best views of downtown Seatown, it’s shocking that sleepy Beacon Hill is often overlooked, said Yelp’s “Neighborhood Spotlight” feature last week. The article touts our library as “stunning,” our cuisine as “out of this world,” and concludes that there are “so many reasons to buzz about this ’hood!” Read it here.
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Speaking of our cuisine, certain local establishments received their periodic visits from the Health Department. El Centro de la Raza, Dim Sum House, Elegant Gourmet Catering, Em Engo Beacon Grocery/BBQ Deli, Golden Daisy Restaurant, Holly Park Head Start Center, Jefferson Community Center, Sharon’s Lutong Bahay, and La Bendicion all saw the inspector in the last few weeks.
Congratulations to Holly Park Head Start Center, Jefferson Community Center, and Sharon’s Lutong Bahay who all had perfect scores of zero!
Click on the establishments’ names above to see the reports of each place’s inspection. Please note that having some violation points does not necessarily mean an establishment has a serious problem. It is common for even good establishments to get some violation points now and then. The type and number of the points are what matters. Here is some more information about the Food Protection Program.
You might particularly want to note a few special events. The Seafair Torchlight Run will cause the northbound lanes of the Alaskan Way Viaduct to be closed tonight from 5:45pm to 7:45pm, and the Torchlight Parade will close Fourth Avenue all the way from Broad Street near Seattle Center, south to Qwest Field. Next week, the Blue Angels will return to buzz Beacon Hill on August 5-8, in the process closing I-90 to traffic from 9:45am to noon and 1:15 to 2:30pm on August 5, and from 12:45 to 2:40pm on August 6-8.
The ramp from South Columbian Way to the West Seattle Bridge, and the westbound, right hand lane on the South Spokane Street Viaduct from I-5 to Harbor Avenue Southwest will be closed on Sunday, March 7, from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm to allow crews to clean drains for the Spokane Street Viaduct widening project. Plan accordingly.
The Seattle Department of Transportation will be installing new dynamic (electronic) messaging signs at several locations in the city next week, including South Columbian Way/14th Avenue South near the freeway ramps. The new electronic signs will provide improved traffic information to travelers.
The signs will be installed during the daytime next week, March 8 to 12. The work will start in Crown Hill and progress down the list to Columbian Way, which is last, so we can probably expect lane closures and construction slowdowns at Columbian and 14th from the middle to end of next week. Expect some delay and congestion during this time.
The other locations that will receive the new signs are in Crown Hill at 14th Avenue NW and Holman Road NW, 15th Avenue NW just south of Ballard High School, and on 15th Avenue West near the Magnolia Bridge.
We are not sure exactly what the signs will look like, but they may be similar to other dynamic messaging signs SDOT has previously installed in SODO. Here’s an interesting PDF from 2005 about the use of dynamic messaging signs by WSDOT on Washington highways.
Seattle’s Chinatown-International District Night Market will run from 6:00 pm until 11:00 pm at Hing Hay Park. The market features local vendors with food, gifts, art, and more. There will also be entertainment, games, and the Bruce Lee movie Enter The Dragon at dusk. It’s free and open to the public. Streets in the area will be closed from 3:00 pm until Midnight. Easiest way to get there? Take Link light rail from the Beacon Hill Station to the International District/Chinatown station, then walk two blocks East on South King Street.
The Central Area Community Festival will run from 11:00 am until 9:00 pm at the Garfield Community Playfield, 2223 E Cherry Street. There won’t be any street closures, but you should expect heavy traffic in the surrounding area.
And, lastly, there’s a pre-season football game. The Seahawks will take on the hated Denver Broncos in Qwest Field at 7:30 pm. 45,000 are expected to attend, so avoid the stadium area if you need to drive at that time. Going to the game? Take Link light rail from the Beacon Hill Station to the Stadium station, then walk west, then north, to Qwest Field. It’s hard to miss.
If you are going to be driving off the Hill on Saturday, be prepared for some congestion both east and west. On the east side, SDOT crews will be repairing roadway pavement at two locations on Rainer Avenue South, from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. One location is between South Juneau and South Mead Street, and the other is between South Cloverdale and South Henderson Street. Traffic lanes will remain open but drivers should plan for congestion.
West of the hill, Sounders FC are playing a match against the Columbus Crew at Qwest Field, 7:30 pm on Saturday night. There will be traffic, so be prepared.
