Study: SoDo could handle traffic from new Seattle arena

Seattle’s SoDo district could handle the traffic impact of
a
proposed NBA/NHL arena, according to a study released
Wednesday by the Seattle Department of Transportation.

The study, conducted by Parametrix, found that increased
traffic due to a new sports arena would not disrupt
freight coming
in and out of the Port of Seattle.

The port has expressed concern that cargo deliveries will
be
disrupted.

“Terminals are closed on weekday evenings and on weekends
when a majority of the sports events are occurring,” said
John Perlic with Parametrix. “So there’s not much of an
overlap there or conflict with the Port of Seattle gate
operations.”

Chris Hansen, an investor leading the effort to bring an
NBA team back to Seattle, commissioned the study.

The Port of Seattle isn’t the only one worried about
potential traffic issues. In April, the Seattle Mariners
cited logistical concerns as a reason why SoDo wouldn’t be
the right neighborhood for a new arena.

CEO Howard Lincoln said the Mariners already work very
closely with the Seahawks and the Sounders to avoid
overlapping events, which create traffic and parking
challenges.

“What we hear more from our fans than anything else is how
hard it can be to get to the ballpark with the traffic
jams and the gridlock we have already,” said Armstrong.
“If you plop another venue down there with 200 event days
per year, we just have some serious concerns about how
that will all be scheduled.”

However, Perlic said that the new arena has sufficient
parking and transit to handle even the busiest days in SoDo, such as same-day events that bring more than 60,000 attendees.

Hansen has said that his goal isn’t to cause problems with
other Seattle sports teams.

“At the end of the day, I’m also a Seahawks, Sounders, and
Mariners fan,” he said. “I think we all want a good
solution for coming to games down in this area.”