Seahawks Super Bowl Victory Parade – Wednesday February 5th

Parade route for the Seahawks Welcome Home celebration, February 5thCongratulations to SUPER BOWL XLVIII CHAMPION SEATTLE SEAHAWKS!

A Welcome Home Victory Celebration Parade is scheduled for 11:00am – 1:30pm Wednesday, February 5th, which is anticipated to have significant impact on traffic throughout the Seattle downtown area. Please be prepared for longer-than-average commute times and increased traffic and inform all downtown businesses with employees and guests who are at or coming downtown on Wednesday.

The parade starts on 4th Ave south of Denny Way and ends at Century Link Field.  Route map is attached.

How this will affect downtown residents, businesses, employees, guests, and visitors:

  • Estimated drive time could double, so plan ahead.
  • I-5 and SR-99 will be open all day.
  • Access points coming to and from the downtown core will be impacted during the parade.  Mercer St and Edgar Martinez Dr are suggested to be the best routes for I-5 waterfront access.
  • Expect bus delays and re-routes during the parade.  See Metro’s website http://metro.kingcounty.gov/alerts/ for more information.

Support and messaging:

City and regional safety and security agencies are prepared for and will be supporting the parade and celebration.  The 12th Man is the best fan in the country and cares about the great Northwest.  The City of Seattle and the Seattle Seahawks encourage every fan to act responsibly before, during, and after the game.  The country’s eyes are upon us, let’s honor our team and take care to not do anything that would detract from their outstanding achievement.

 

Karl Stickel

Office of Economic Development

City of Seattle

Happy New Year from the Pioneer Square Business Improvement Area (PSBIA)!!

Existing BIA compared to Pioneer Square Historic District
This map shows the previous BIA boundaries compared to the larger proposed boundaries that encompass all of the Pioneer Square Historic District. City Council passed the expansion of the boundaries in 2013.

As many of you know, a huge effort was made in 2013 to expand the Pioneer Square Business Improvement Area (PSBIA) boundaries to match the Pioneer Square Historic District boundaries, and I’m pleased to say that effort was successful.  The result is that we have a bigger, better opportunity to make a positive impact on behalf of the people who work, live and play in the Pioneer Square neighborhood and to support the businesses in the neighborhood …  all very exciting stuff!

One of the best things about being in a Business Improvement Area (BIA) is that the money raised and all the efforts made are directed by the Ratepayers.  This creates an opportunity for Ratepayers to weigh in on what you think will make Pioneer Square a better place to work and do business.  We have a fantastic staff working on our behalf, a strong partner in the Alliance for Pioneer Square, and a great opportunity to make significant improvements to our neighborhood.

We are looking for PSBIA Ratepayers to step up and serve on the PSBIA Board of Directors.  We need a Board that adequately represents the various types businesses in the neighborhood, and we are looking for individuals with the energy, enthusiasm and vision to help make the neighborhood a better place to work and do business.  We have several very qualified people already volunteering, and if you are a Ratepayer and are interested in joining us we’d love to hear from you! Email bia[at]pioneersquare.org for information.

Thanks for your support, and here’s to a great 2014!

[button text=”BIA Ratepayer Board Application” title=”BIA Ratepayer Board Application” url=”https://allianceforpioneersquare.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Application.pdf” align=”left” target=”_self”]

Apply to be on the Pioneer Square Business Improvement Area Ratepayer Board. Download the BIA Ratepayer Board Application and email it to bia@pioneersquare.org or send to 310 First Ave S, Ste 201, Seattle, WA 98104.

 

Barry Blanton, Blanton Turner

Pioneer Square Business Improvement Area Ratepayer Board Member

Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Project Construction Update – January 2014

steelpipeProgress made in search for tunnel blockage

It was a busy holiday season for crews working to get Bertha, the SR 99 tunneling machine, digging again. While we still can’t say for sure what halted the machine on Dec. 6, we’re much closer to finding an answer than we were when all of this started.

Here’s a recap of what crews have been up to since the blockage occurred:

  • On Dec. 7, our contractor, Seattle Tunnel Partners (STP), began prepping the machine and surrounding environment so crews could inspect the cutterhead and excavation chamber safely.
  • On Dec. 17, a brief visual inspection of a small section of the excavation chamber and cutterhead found dirt, sand and cobbles – nothing unusual.
  • Over the holidays, STP crews were on-site to drill dewatering wells, maintain the machine and switch out cutting tools on the machine’s face.
  • Earlier this week, STP drilled 17 small-diameter, exploratory holes near the front of the machine to see if they could identify an obstruction. They encountered obstructions in four of the holes.
  • On Jan. 2, the water pressure was low enough and enough soil was removed from the excavation chamber to inspect the top 15 feet of the chamber.
  • This inspection showed an 8-inch-diameter steel pipe protruding through one of the many openings in the cutterhead. We believe the steel pipe is a well casing installed by WSDOT in 2002 after the 2001 Nisqually earthquake to better understand how groundwater flows through this area. The location of this pipe was included in reference materials in the contract.
  • We also believe at least some of the obstructions found by the exploratory holes are pieces of the 2002 steel pipe, which could be a contributing factor in the delay of boring.
  • Other potential factors include changing soil conditions that may have caused excessive wear of cutting tools, potential objects in front of the cutterhead or objects in the lower portion of the excavation chamber that still aren’t visible.

Next steps

STP is considering several options to remove the steel pipe and identify other potential obstructions.

While Bertha is stopped, other work is taking place. This includes:

  • Extensive construction on the north and south ends of the tunnel.
  • Preparatory work to dismantle the push frame and temporary tunnel rings in the launch pit.
  • Preparatory work to reconfigure the launch pitand build the roadway within the tunnel.

​It’s too early to speculate about the cost or long-term schedule implications of this issue. We’ll continue to work with STP to determine ways to make up time lost during the blockage. Our focus is now on addressing this issue safely and in a timely manner so we can resume tunneling as soon as possible.