http://seattlest.com/2007/02/19/carpool_tunnel_syndrome.php All comments for Carpool Tunnel Syndrome en-us 2009 seattle_katelyn Tue, 06 Jan 2009 16:00:00 -0800 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss kbhackett@gmail.com kbhackett@gmail.com 60 http://seattlest.com/2007/02/19/carpool_tunnel_syndrome.php#comment-1015579 http://seattlest.com/2007/02/19/carpool_tunnel_syndrome.php#comment-1015579 Comments Tue, 20 Feb 2007 00:06:40 -0800 <p>Quick fact check here - the WSDOT figure for 110,000 trips or so per day on the AWV is well-vetted and solid, and the Stranger didn't discredit squat. That figure is for all of the trips that use some portion of the AWV, not that all of them use the entire route all the way through. For example - thousands of AWV trips originate downtown (including most of the southbound express buses) and proceed south using the Columbia Street on-ramp. Trust me, people who want to ride a fast bus to West Seattle/points south would REALLY rather not have to use 1st or 2nd as would occur under the PWC's scheme. Or, for another example, can you imagine what downtown streets would look like if a daytime M's game ended and all of the northbound traffic that enters on the current onramp on 1st Ave S had to drive downtown? To address your point, the reduced capacity of the Battery Street Tunnel doesn't create the same gridlock that the so-called "hybrid" would at 4-lanes because not all of the 110,00 trips now taken on the Viaduct (which actually totals 7 lanes along the Central Waterfront) would use the BST. BTW - WSDOT and the City gave up on the idea of widening the BST after the initial $11B cost of the tunnel alternative was released a few years ago. </p>