New study advocates not replacing viaduct

As reported here, a Vermont based group, Smart Mobility, has issued their own study regarding the SR-99 Alaskan Way Viaduct, saying that the state overstated "the amount of traffic downtown during the next 25 years and downplayed the role public transportation could play. It also says most viaduct traffic could be served better by local streets."

Well, isn't that nice. An out of state group, from Vermont no less, says that surface streets through downtown Seattle, and transit are more than capable of handling traffic flow if the Viaduct is not replaced. The last time I checked, Vermont is on the East Coast, nowhere near Seattle, so how would they know how well the already congested surface streets of downtown Seattle would be able to handle the up to 110,000 vehicles per day traffic load that currently uses the Viaduct? Obviously, these people live in rural areas of Vermont, and have absolutely NO CLUE what the traffic conditions currently are in Seattle, let alone what they would be if the Viaduct is not replaced!

Traffic conditions through downtown Seattle on surface streets during both the morning and evening commutes is currently very bad, and it will only get worse during the demolition and construction phase - IF they ever get around to actually starting the project! - which has been estimated to take between eight and ten years. Throw in a Mariners or Seahawks game, and you have gridlock that lasts for hours, even with Seattle Police directing traffic, as those of us who actually live here, and drive through Seattle well know.

To give you a little perspective on what it might be like to funnel the approximately 110,000 vehicles per day onto the surface streets through downtown Seattle, try imagining this. Safeco Field, home of the Seattle Mariners, and Qwest Field, Home of the Seattle Seahawks, both hold approximately the same number of people, and when added together, the numbers approximate the number of vehicles that use the Viaduct every day. Say both teams had games starting and ending at the same time every day, and everyone who attended the games used the streets through downtown Seattle to get to and from the games. Instant immobility would result, and people want the approximately 110,000 vehicles that currently use the Viaduct to instead use surface streets? That's insane!

Granted, not everyone who attends either game would be driving their own car, and neither team has games scheduled for the same day, nor plays all of their games at home (and the Seahawks only play once a week). But, I wanted to give those of you who have driven through Seattle an idea of what the traffic would be like if the Viaduct is not replaced, to give some perspective here.

Those people who advocate for not replacing the Viaduct - especially those people who don't even live here! - need to do a reality, and sanity, check.