B-001-001 The use of Columbia Street for two-way transit was a decision made by King County Metro as part of its Southwest Transit Pathway evaluation. This project is separate from AWPOW. B-001-002 Modeling completed for AWPOW, which included operation of the Columbia Street transit lanes, indicated that operation of AWPOW would reduce delay compared to No Action at the intersection of Alaskan Way and Columbia Street (the closest intersection modeled). Potential impacts associated with Metro's decision to use Columbia Street for transit, such as more difficult access to parking garages, are not AWPOW impacts. Metro made the decision to route buses onto Columbia Street as part of the Southwest Transit Pathway evaluation to address a need caused by the removal of the Alaskan Way Viaduct. For this reason, the AWPOW EISs do not evaluate those impacts nor suggest mitigation for potential impacts related to the use of Columbia Street for transit. Page 61
B-002-001 The use of Columbia Street for two-way transit was a decision made by King County Metro as part of its Southwest Transit Pathway evaluation. This project is separate from AWPOW. B-002-002 Modeling completed for AWPOW, which included operation of the Columbia Street transit lanes, indicated that operation of AWPOW would reduce delay compared to No Action at the intersection of Alaskan Way and Columbia Street (the closest intersection modeled). Potential impacts associated with Metro's decision to use Columbia Street for transit, such as more difficult access to parking garages, are not AWPOW impacts. Metro made the decision to route buses onto Columbia Street as part of the Southwest Transit Pathway evaluation to address a need caused by the removal of the Alaskan Way Viaduct. For this reason, the AWPOW EISs do not evaluate those impacts nor suggest mitigation for potential impacts related to the use of Columbia Street for transit. Page 62
B-003-001 The use of Columbia Street for two-way transit was a decision made by King County Metro as part of its Southwest Transit Pathway evaluation. This project is separate from AWPOW. B-003-002 Modeling completed for AWPOW, which included operation of the Columbia Street transit lanes, indicated that operation of AWPOW would reduce delay compared to No Action at the intersection of Alaskan Way and Columbia Street (the closest intersection modeled). Potential impacts associated with Metro's decision to use Columbia Street for transit, such as more difficult access to parking garages, are not AWPOW impacts. Metro made the decision to route buses onto Columbia Street as part of the Southwest Transit Pathway evaluation to address a need caused by the removal of the Alaskan Way Viaduct. For this reason, the AWPOW EISs do not evaluate those impacts nor suggest mitigation for potential impacts related to the use of Columbia Street for transit. Page 63
B-004-001 The City understands and shares your concern for pedestrian safety. There are several constraints the City has to take into consideration when determining the alignment of the pedestrian corridor on Union Street between Post Alley and Alaskan Way. These constraints include a large numbers of subsurface utilities restricting placement of columns and foundations and the presence of a historic building with residences on the north side of the Union Street between Post Alley and Western Avenue. As design progresses, the City will continue to assess the alignment of the structure and stairs for the Union Street pedestrian connection. Page 64
B-005-001 The City understands and shares your concern for pedestrian safety. There are several constraints the City has to take into consideration when determining the alignment of the pedestrian corridor on Union Street between Post Alley and Alaskan Way. These constraints include a large numbers of subsurface utilities restricting placement of columns and foundations and the presence of a historic building with residences on the north side of the Union Street between Post Alley and Western Avenue. As design progresses, the City will continue to assess the alignment of the structure and stairs for the Union Street pedestrian connection. Page 65
B-006-001 As described in the Draft EIS, current City plans and policies encourage the use of transit and nonmotorized modes of travel, and discourage the use of single-occupant vehicles. In keeping with these plans and policies, the City does not provide SEPA authority to mitigate the impact of development on parking availability in the Downtown urban center (SMC 25.05.665.M.2.b.1). The removal of parking that would occur under AWPOW, in conjunction with enhanced nonmotorized and transit facilities that are included in the project, is consistent with this policy direction and supports overall City planning goals for reducing dependency on single-occupancy vehicles in the downtown area. The Union Street Gondola is discussed in Chapter 15, Cumulative Impacts and Mitigation Measures. The City is evaluating the gondola proposal separate from the AWPOW projects. Page 66
B-007-001 The City appreciates your efforts and investment in revitalizing the Pioneer Square neighborhood. Please see the responses to your specific comments below. Page 67
B-007-002 Identifying alternative transit pathways is not an objective of the AWPOW Main Corridor project. Transit routes and service decisions are within the jurisdiction of King County Metro. The Center City Mobility Plan is still under development and has not been adopted. The AWPOW transportation analysis was approved by a multi-agency review committee that consisted of the City of Seattle, WSDOT, Washington State Ferries, King County Metro, and the Port of Seattle. The proposed transit lanes on Alaskan Way would alleviate congestion, as demonstrated by the reduced traffic performance of Main Corridor Alternative 2 compared to Main Corridor Alternative 1. King County Metro selected the Alaskan Way/Columbia Street transit pathway after comparing a variety of alternatives in its Downtown Southend Transit Study (King County Metro, 2012). The study eliminated all north-south routes other than Alaskan Way because of poor transit reliability, conflicts with ferry operations, and/or operational and right of way constraints. Pages 2-5 and 2-6 of the Supplemental Draft EIS summarize Metro s alternatives analysis for the Southend transit pathway. The proposed S. Lander Street overpass is a separate project from AWPOW and is currently in the preliminary design and environmental review stage. As noted in the comment, it is not fully funded. The purpose of the S. Lander Street project is to provide a grade-separated crossing to improve mobility for general-purpose and freight traffic and enhance safety in the South Downtown (SODO) area; the project does not include a dedicated transit lane. The Downtown Southend Transit Study evaluated a potential transit pathway between southwest Seattle and downtown Seattle via a grade-separated Lander Street and an improved Fourth Avenue South. The study concluded that even with grade separation of S. Lander Street, this route would be slower and less Page 68
reliable than the route along Alaskan Way and Columbia Street, and would have additional costs to provide transit priority treatments on the remainder of the route. B-007-003 The City has selected Main Corridor Alternative 1 to be part of the Preferred Alternative. Main Corridor Alternative 1 better meets the purpose of the proposed Alaskan Way improvements, which is to provide safe, efficient, and reliable travel for all modes, consistent with Seattle s complete street policy. Because of the elimination of the Alaskan Way Viaduct, Alaskan Way will be required to serve additional traffic demand and replace the viaduct s surface connection to Belltown. This increase in north-south demand requires maintaining two general purpose lanes for vehicles and freight throughout the corridor. However, the street width has been kept as narrow as possible given the traffic functions that the roadway must accommodate. Pedestrian facilities within the Pioneer Square historic district would include the Promenade and sidewalks on both the west and east sides of Alaskan Way. Please see Chapter 3 of the Final EIS for additional discussion of transportation and transit-related impacts and benefits. As described in Supplemental Draft EIS Section 4.2.1, the only signalized intersection where LOS under Main Corridor Alternative 2 would fall to unacceptable levels compared to the No Action Alternative is at Alaskan Way and S. King Street, where the LOS is predicted to drop from B to F. The LOS for this intersection would also drop to F under Main Corridor Alternative 1, but the delay for Main Corridor Alternative 1 would be 152 seconds compared to 220 seconds under Main Corridor Alternative 2. The different LOS results between the No Action Alternative and Main Corridor alternatives at this intersection are due to variances between the traffic operations model inputs used for the alternatives. The pedestrian half signal at Alaskan Way and Spring Street, which resulted in congestion and queuing for southbound Page 69
vehicles under the No Action Alternative, would be replaced in the Main Corridor alternatives by a full signal. As described in Draft EIS Section 3.4.1, the congestion caused by the pedestrian half signal would divert approximately 30 percent of southbound traffic from Alaskan Way, causing other intersections in the corridor to appear to operate better than would be the case if all vehicles were able to enter the corridor. As a result, it is more likely that, under actual conditions, the Alaskan Way and S. King Street intersection would have a similar level of congestion under both the No Action and Main Corridor alternatives. B-007-004 The Preferred Alternative modifies Main Corridor Alternative 1 to include the 31 on-street parking/loading zone spaces that were part of the Main Corridor Alternative 2. B-007-005 Thank you for your comments on the Supplemental Draft EIS. Page 70
B-008-001 The City of Seattle acknowledges your concerns regarding the conversion of Columbia Street into a two-way transit street and how that might impact the operations of the Norton Building. The use of Columbia Street for two-way transit was a decision made by King County Metro as part of its Southwest Transit Pathways evaluation. This project is separate from AWPOW, and impacts related to it have been evaluated as part of a separate review process. B-008-002 A mentioned in the response to B-008-001, the use of Columbia Street for two-way transit was a decision made by King County Metro as part of its Southwest Transit Pathways evaluation; in the AWPOW EISs, the City is assuming transit conditions determined by a previous decision. Columbia Street between First and Third Avenues is outside of the AWPOW project footprint; therefore, no improvements are proposed for these segments as part of the project. Potential traffic impacts associated with the Seattle Center City Connector streetcar were evaluated as part of that project's environmental review process; see the Environmental Assessment prepared for that project on the project website (http://www.seattlestreetcar.org/centercity.htm). Intersection operations were not analyzed at First Avenue and Columbia Street as part of the AWPOW project. The nearest analyzed intersection was at Western Avenue and Columbia Street. As shown in Table 3-5 of the Draft EIS, this intersection would operate at level of service C, which is acceptable. The City will coordinate with King County Metro on implementation of their respective projects regarding intersection operations at First Avenue and Columbia Street. B-008-003 As mentioned in the response to comment B-008-001, the use of Columbia Street for two-way transit was a decision made by King County Page 71
Metro as part of its Southwest Transit Pathways evaluation. This project is separate from AWPOW. Similarly, the Lander Street Grade Separation project is separate from AWPOW. These two projects will not be evaluated in the AWPOW Final EIS. Page 72
B-009-001 Comment acknowledged. Main Corridor Alternative 1 has been incorporated into the Preferred Alternative because it better meets the project purpose of accommodating safe, efficient, and reliable travel for all users between south downtown and Belltown. Page 73
B-009-002 Alaskan Way will continue to be a designated as a Major Truck Street. The design of the lane widths, intersection treatments, signals, roadway grades, and transit stops have all been developed with freight in mind, in particular the new intersection of Alaskan Way/Elliott Way and Pine Street. Please see the Final EIS and Transportation Discipline Report for more details on design features of the Preferred Alternative that support freight mobility. Page 74
Page 75