West Seattle’s transportation problem could be a template for solving city’s traffic woes

Twenty-five years ago traffic in West Seattle was already a mess.

Emergency vehicles had trouble getting where they needed to in Alki and parking was horrendous. And that was before the considerable increase in multi-unit buildings.

Fast-forward to 2015 and transportation in West Seattle hasn’t got much better. The issues the area faces could be a glimpse into the future of other Seattle neighborhoods, West Seattle Transportation Coalition Vice-Chair Tom Linde said.

Linde discussed West Seattle’s traffic woes following the release of a parking survey conducted by the Peninsula-wide organization. The coalition works to address transportation and mobility issues for the approximate residents of the area.

Of the 920 people who took the survey, 429 said the bus station nearest them would not conveniently get them through a month if they did not have a vehicle, even though 841 said they live 15 minutes or less from the nearest station. Furthermore, 427 people said they do not feel they live within walking distance of everyday services and amenities.

The majority of survey takers (737) are homeowners, while 183 are renters. Though many homeowners said they use their off-street parking for vehicles, 247 multi-vehicle residents park an additional vehicle on the street.

The data is part of the coalition’s attempt to understand what the transportation issues with the area are and how they blend with livability and development during a time when the city is seeing growth and more people being packed onto an already overcrowded infrastructure.

The survey was released in March, before Seattle Mayor Ed Murray proposed his Move Seattle levy. The levy, approved by the City Council to be placed on the November ballot, will ask residents for $930 million in property taxes. It is focused on transportation-related issues.

Though the coalition is not in dissent of Move Seattle, it did release a statement in June that showed some frustration. The levy, according to the statement, fails to address West Seattle’s key issue &#8212 getting to and from the peninsula in a timely manner. Only a few miles from downtown, it can take 40 minutes or more to reach the destination from that area, Linde said. If there’s a crash on the West Seattle Bridge, drivers can expect an atrocious commute.

And maybe the city should pay a little more attention to the issue. Linde said neighborhoods such as Ballard, Magnolia, and Queen Anne share at least some of West Seattle’s frustrations.

“Solving this transportation situation in West Seattle is probably going to be a very good example, and possibly a template, for solving some of the issues other neighborhoods will be dealing with in a decade,” Linde said.

But the Move Seattle plan focuses mostly on pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure in West Seattle. Which leaves the approximate 100,000 residents’ dreams in the hands of Sound Transit’s light rail expansion project. Sound Transit has proposed the idea of extending light rail to Ballard and West Seattle.

For now, the coalition is still working to understand all the impacts of Move Seattle and the pulse of the current parking and transit situation. The region’s transportation problems probably won’t be solved with more pavement.

“It’s a dense urban environment…,” Linde said. “You can’t road-build your way out of congestion. As soon as you get a new piece of pavement, people will start to fill it.”

The solution to West Seattle’s transportation issues could be a result of everyone making compromise. That could mean building more convenient bus stations, but people also understanding they might need to walk a few minutes to get there.

“Everybody is going to have to give a little skin in this argument,” Linde said. Changing people’s mindsets over commuting won’t happen without people getting upset, he added.

But Linde doesn’t expect that to happen any time soon. He said things will probably get worse before they get better.