West Seattle Bridge Update
SDOT is expecting the final two structural pours for specialized concrete next week!
The additional recent update we’ve received is that SDOT expects to make a time-frame announcement on June 9th.
Work is continuing on post-tensioning anchorage forms in the south girder.
During the structural concrete pours, there is a review of post-tensioning work completed to date, to make any real-time adjustments needed.
SDOT notes the following construction closures in West Seattle this weekend:
Construction in West Seattle this weekend; closure on eastbound Spokane Street Viaduct
Starting at 9 PM tonight, we’ll close the on-ramp from eastbound SW Spokane St to the Spokane St Viaduct, along with eastbound lanes of the Spokane St Viaduct. A signed detour will be in place along S Spokane St. All lanes will reopen by 5 AM, Monday, May 23.
The closure is needed to install new bridge expansion joints, which allow the bridge to expand and contract during winter and summer months. While we do this work, we will also fill the potholes on the Viaduct.
On Saturday, starting as early as 7 AM to 4 PM, we will upgrade the signal at 16th Ave S and East Marginal Way S. During this work, we’ll need to reduce the two travel lanes on each direction on East Marginal Way S to a single lane. We’ll have someone directing traffic at the work location to keep traffic moving efficiently. Please drive safely in work zones and follow directions from signs and flaggers.
On Sunday, we’ll install reflectors on West Marginal Way SW and Highland Park Way SW. We’ll begin as early as 5 AM and conclude by 3 PM. We’ll start near the Chelan 5-way intersection and work our way south, before going west on Highland Park Way SW, then go in reverse to cover eastbound Highland Park Way SW and northbound West Marginal Way SW. Please anticipate delays as we continuously move down the street to complete this work. This work may continue into next weekend. If there’s a change in schedule, we’ll include an update in next week’s email.
Fauntleroy Ferry Terminal Public Meetings / Online Open House
Washington State Ferries (WSF) will be holding an online open house and two virtual meetings about the Fauntleroy Ferry Terminal replacement project.
Here’s a link to the online open house that includes information about alternatives WSF is considering. The online open house goes through June 13, and you can submit comments and questions.
The two online community meetings will be on Tuesday, May 24, from noon to 1:30 p.m. and Wednesday, May 25, from 6-8 p.m. Both meetings will cover the same material. You can click the links to register for these Zoom meetings.
The week after each meeting, a video recording will be available online on the project webpage.
Several options were considered in what is called “Level 1” screening, the first level of consideration. Some alternatives were eliminated from consideration, including potential terminal locations at Lowman Beach, Colman Dock, Burien or Des Moines.
The alternatives moving into “Level 2” screening are all located at the current terminal location. At the recommendation of the Community Advisory Group, Level 2 alternatives were expanded to not only include maintaining the same dock size, but also options to maintain the dock size and include advance ticketing and using the Good to Go! Program – like it’s currently used for toll collection on the SR99 tunnel – but for ferry tickets.
Some options expand the size of the terminal or would affect traffic circulation on Fauntleroy Way SW.
Here’s a chart that shows the results of the Level 1 screening analysis. Here is the full Level 1 analysis, which has the easiest to read layout for the alternatives.
The section of the open house on the alternatives shows what will be analyzed moving forward in “Level 2” screening.
Update on SW Andover Street
Last Friday I wrote about the shooting on Andover near 26th, the second several weeks, near the RV encampment at that location.
SDOT announced they are resuming full 72-hour parking enforcement. When the Mayor’s Office briefed me about this the week before, and potential areas of focus, I emphasized the long-standing issues at Andover. I followed up with the Mayor’s Office about prioritizing this location. The Mayor’s Office responded:
“The Nucor site is currently scheduled for remediation for June 16th. This date is tentative and can be changed if circumstances shift but you should start to see a surge of outreach efforts to prepare vehicle owners prior to remediation day. Outreach will advise owners to get back in the habit of regularly moving vehicles to avoid a possible warning and citation. Our goal is to get as much compliance as possible or to offer services to those whose vehicles are not operable prior to the 16th.”
Monitor’s Comprehensive Assessment of the Seattle Police Department
The Seattle Police Monitor overseeing the Consent Decree has released a Comprehensive Assessment of Seattle Police Department.
Prior to this, the Monitor released separate preliminary assessments on the topics of 1. use of force; 2. crisis intervention; and 3. stops and detentions. The Monitor presented these preliminary assessments separately at Community Police Commission community outreach meetings over the last few months to gather community input. The final assessment released this week combines all three area and finds that SPD “SPD has sustained its compliance with the Consent Decree generally, outside of notable issues with SPD’s response to the 2020 protests and other specific issues that require additional work to help prevent such problems in the future.”
The report shows a trend in reduced use of force, with an exception in 2020 due to use of force at protests. From 2015 to 2021, officer use of force declined 48%. That kind of change is a clear and positive result of officers implementing their updated policies.
It’s worth noting, however, that the Monitor did not recommend ending the Consent Decree. The Monitor’s letter at the start of the report notes three areas of work needed; first to restore trust lost during the protests and demonstration in 2020 in the wake of the murder of George Floyd; second, an assessment of the police accountability system; and third, “the City of Seattle must address disparate impact in policing,” noting the assessment shows “Black and Native American persons in Seattle are disproportionately stopped, detained and subjected to force.”
The report also hints at the forthcoming 2022 monitoring plan, which includes an Accountability System Performance Assessment. I appreciate this; in 2017 the City Auditor issued a report that recommended periodic evaluation of how the police oversight system functions to ensure that it is effective. I sought funding to begin similar work in the 2022 budget and have been in touch with the Auditor and the accountability bodies about beginning some of this work. I’m glad to see this is a point of emphasis for the Monitor and hope there can be productive collaboration that avoids duplication of efforts.
The report was sent to District Court Judge Robart, who oversees implementation of the Consent Decree.
Stand in Solidarity Seattle
Mothers for Police Accountability is asking for our support in the aftermath of last week’s heinous attack, being investigated as a hate crime, at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York. Eleven of the people shot were Black, two were white. If you haven’t read about their lives, please take a moment to do so, here. The store manager said that the suspected gunman raised red flags to employees in his prior visits to the store. She was quoted as saying, “How did we miss this…What did we do wrong that we missed this?”
As we mourn this horrible racially motivated attack and murder in New York, I urge us to think about the accounts of extremism and racial hate in our own community and in our workforce. What are we also missing?
Just the week prior to this, several elected and appointed city leaders received a letter from the city’s RSJI Network stating their concern and asking about actions being taken to address the noose found in mid-February in Fire Station 24. Here is an excerpt:
“This is the second known such incident in recent years, with another noose found in the Fall of 2020 in Fire Station 17. Both Fire Stations 17 and 24 have Black officers and leadership within the organization; the threat for Black employees to “know your place” has deep historical roots in America, tracing back to slavery, the Klan, Jim Crow, and persists today. This targeted attack was committed in an attempt at making our Black colleagues fear for their safety, security, and life. As we are sure you agree, this behavior is beyond unacceptable and is a violation of the City workplace values of equity, inclusion, and accountability and falls under the definition of City workplace malicious harassment.”
When I met with Chief Scoggins this week, he was at a Fire Chief’s conference in Nashville. He had been visiting the Lorraine Motel, the site of Rev. Martin Luther King’s assignation. With that, as well as the previous week’s hate attack in New York as the subtext of our conversation, he read to me his response to the RSJI Network’s letter. Here is an excerpt:
“The leadership of Seattle Fire Department stands in complete agreement that the use of any symbols, (verbal, written or body) language and/or behavior to communicate hatred, fear, intimidation, racism or any form of “other-ism” is untenable and cannot be tolerated.
We acknowledge the department has a history of racism, sexism and other disenfranchising practices. As much as we wish it were not so, the instances of nooses being left in fire stations on two separate occasions are stark reminders of the work we have yet to do.
Our messaging to the department and with media about those incidents has been clear: these actions are racist, have no place at Seattle Fire, and we are committed to pursuing the appropriate level of discipline depending on the outcome of an investigation. While the investigation at Fire Station 17 could not identify the responsible party, the investigation is ongoing into the noose at Fire Station 24. Providing regular updates to the Seattle Black Fire Fighters Association and SFD’s Change Team on the investigation status is something we are committed to doing.
Each member of the Seattle Fire leadership team has fully committed themselves to ch
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