White Center Now: The blog about White Center

That’s one angle we had on the final three minutes of the South Park Bridge‘s life – as the gates went down, the warning bells and siren sounded, and then, the drawbridge went up forever, as the crowd howled. Then – an impromptu round of “Amazing Grace,” and a toast – all in that clip. White Center was certainly represented at the wake – we saw WC Food Bank executive director Rick Jump atop the bridge in its final hour, and community activists including Liz Giba. King County Councilmember Jan Drago was there in a pink hat and pink tulle – same kind that decorated the bridge’s leaves as they rose. State House Position 2 candidate and White Center business owner Geoffrey “Mac” McElroy was there too. More coverage to come – this event was really all about the moments captured in video and photos. We had some photos in as-it-happened coverage on partner site West Seattle Blog.

(Photo courtesy King County Department of Transportation)
The bus reroutes kicked in this morning; the bridge closes tonight. Here is a preview from partner site West Seattle Blog. Note that the South Park community is hoping to have a strong show of support from all over the area as they say goodbye to the bridge tonight – and say hello to an interim time, before a new bridge is built, that they know will be challenging, but survivable with support from neighbors. P.S. A traffic alert from Jim, in WSB comments:

Watch your driving through the area. SDOT has already changed lane assignments as of Noon. You are going to be down one right turn lane off of E Marginal Way southbound.

Also the right lane on Cloverdale is no longer a left turn lane, it is right turn only.

This seems a little premature, and is bound to screw up the afternoon commute.

Thanks to Gill for the photo – apparently if you catch that sign at just the right instant, half the illuminated words and numbers disappear. The handwritten sign below, however, speaks more loudly. We’re taking the occasion to point you to a news release the county sent around today - for anyone who didn’t already have this burned into their awareness, 7 pm this Wednesday is the moment that the South Park Bridge is scheduled to close for good – more like “open” permanently, as the leaves will be raised so vessel traffic can make it through. The community is planning a 6-10 pm wake with art, music and more, and inviting you to be part of what they hope truly will be just a temporary end to their link across the Duwamish … the push for a new bridge now has $80 million of the $130 million funding commitment that’s neded. P.S. An important part of the reminder is that the bus routes that are changing because of the bridge shutdown will start their new routes at 5 am Wednesday – so tomorrow is the final full day of those routes (explained here) the way they are.

$10 million more today, according to County Councilmember Jan Drago‘s office. Meantime, counting down to closure of the old one – 7 pm Wednesday, if for some reason you hadn’t heard. The 1st Avenue South Bridge has maintenance closures 5 am -11 am both days this weekend.

… and, says the Transportation Department’s Road Services Division, the road is reopened.

Reminder of a road closure previewed here last week – 7 am today is when SW 100th is supposed to close between 13th and 12th SW (blue line, in map above) so that the county can replace a culvert under the road. The county notes, “Motorists can detour via 11th Avenue Southwest, Southwest 102nd Street, and 13th Avenue Southwest.”

Just in from the King County Department of Transportation:

SW 100th St between 13th Ave SW and 12th Ave SW

Upcoming closure
Due to: Culvert Replacement

Planned closure date: Jun 21, 2010 at 7:00 am
Anticipated opening date: Jun 25, 2010 at 4:30 pm

King County produced a video explainer of the South Park Bridge‘s impending closure. In case you’re still not entirely clear about the impending 7 pm June 30th shutdown – just two weeks from tomorrow – check it out.

Tonight is the second of two meetings for the public to hear about the closure plan for the South Park Bridge – now just a month away (7 pm, June 30th). The meeting’s 6-8 pm at the Machinists’ Union Hall in South Park; full details at the SP Bridge Closure page on the King County website.

While the upcoming closure of the 1st Avenue South ramp to the westbound (high) West Seattle Bridge won’t affect White Center drivers as much as their WS counterparts, for bus riders, it’s a different story. The ramp closes permanently one week from today, as the Spokane Street Viaduct Widening Project enters a new phase. Our latest update over at WSB includes links to the bus routes expected to be affected, plus detour maps.

From partner site West Seattle Blog: King County says the final consultant review of the South Park Bridge’s condition is in, and it reaffirms the county decision to close the deteriorating bridge on June 30th. Full story here.

Metro notes that some bus riders from/to White Center will be among those affected when the Spokane Street Viaduct Widening Project ramps up to its next phase in mid-May. Read on for the official news release they have just sent out: Read the rest of this entry »

UPDATED SUNDAY: Our video is from just after protesters stretched into a “human chain” all the way across the South Park Bridge. But thanks to Dale Rowe for sending the photo we added Sunday:

Meantime, the people opposed to the bridge’s closure did get hoped-for media attention during their demonstration today – we saw a couple TV crews. And awareness is what it was all about, according to Bill Pease:

The county’s plan for closing the bridge remains 7 pm June 30th, and there’s no hard-and-fast plan for a replacement yet, though the money search continues. County Councilmember Jan Drago talked about it while speaking before participating in the waterborne work party that was part of the Duwamish Alive! Earth Day effort this morning – this next clip is by visual journalist Cliff DesPeaux, who covered Duwamish Alive! for our partner site West Seattle Blog:

As reported here earlier this week, the first meeting to review the county’s draft closure plan – addressing everything from traffic to business impacts – is set for 6 pm April 27 at the IAM Hall in South Park.

If you’re likely to be on I-5 northbound this weekend – take note that it’ll be closed from Airport Way northbound toward the West Seattle Bridge both tonight and Saturday night, midnight-8 am both nights, for more sign installation. That’s part of an increasingly long list of construction-related closures that are all listed online (set aside some time to read the whole list!) – see the updated version here.

King County has set the dates for two community meetings on the South Park Bridge closure plan: April 27 and May 25, both meetings 6-8 pm at the Machinists Hall in South Park. These are not meetings about the bridge’s future, but rather, regarding logistics of its closure and resulting traffic/emergency-services effects. April 27, the draft plan will be presented; May 25, the final plan. The bridge is still scheduled to close permanently 7 pm June 30, and so far there is no plan for rebuilding it, which requires rounding up more than $100 million first.

We’ve gotten a bit behind in sharing links here from partner site West Seattle Blog. Here’s the latest coverage on the South Park Bridge situation, as the June 30th scheduled permanent shutdown edges ever closure:

RALLY TOMORROW: South Park community members are organizing a rally as high-ranking political leaders come to SP to celebrate health-care reform. Here’s the latest on that – you’re welcome to join and help show support for the fight against leaving SP bridgeless.

SEATTLE CITY COUNCIL PROMISES SUPPORT: Toward week’s end, city councilmembers said they pledge support in helping find money for a new South Park Bridge, and weren’t ruling out a possible city contribution.

We first reported these last night on partner site West Seattle Blog – but in case you didn’t see them there, we’re linking here too. Multiple agencies sent reps to the first “bridge closure planning meeting” yesterday in SP; after that, we were off to a media opportunity with Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn, whom we asked whether the city might chip in money for a new bridge, as a county rep had suggested to us might be necessary. Here’s the full story with details on both angles (including video of the mayor’s answer). Meantime, nothing has changed as the county moves toward its plan to close the South Park Bridge permanently at 7 pm June 30th.

Two notes about the South Park Bridge situation – First, we covered another emotional community meeting last night; here’s the link to the article on partner site West Seattle Blog. Second, during a briefing with Metro today on a wide range of topics, we asked about bus-rerouting plans if the South Park Bridge indeed does close at the end of June. They said one of the bus routes that would be affected is the 60 from White Center; currently, their reroute plan would take buses down Cloverdale to 8th, with a left turn there. More to come.

So asked one attendee in an overflow crowd at the South Park Neighborhood Center last night, as county reps – and others – talked about what is now looming as the June 30 scheduled closure of the South Park Bridge. We have a full article up at partner site West Seattle Blog – read it here. Also note that there is another meeting scheduled in South Park tonight, this one at 6 pm at South Park Community Center – more at Blogging Georgetown.

Speaking to the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council last Thursday, our area’s County Councilmember Jan Drago warned that the county is absolutely serious about shutting down the South Park Bridge this June – and said that demolition would start shortly afterward. No mention of the possible reprieve reported recently in the Seattle Times, if new test results showed it might be safe enough to stay open for a while, as the county continued searching for funding to build a replacement. Whatever the case, there’s no question that bridge is a lifeline for many people in this area, so tonight’s South Park Neighborhood Association meeting is of major interesting – it will include an official King County update on the status of the bridge. The meeting starts at 7 pm, South Park Neighborhood Center, 8201 10th Avenue S. (map).