Viadoom

Starting this morning, the Alaska Way Viaduct is closed for at least two weeks as Bertha attempts to pass 15 feet beneath the foundation of the sinking elevated structure.

West Seattle will feel the most pain during the closure, with all of us trying to get to I-5 (a bottleneck on any normal day) or, take the clogged surface streets with 90,000 other drivers who use the Viaduct daily to get downtown.  Those are the only options for leaving our little Peninsula, unless you want to drive far south of here and double back. 

With Bertha's track record, I think a two-week closure is probably optimistic. The engineers are going to monitor for new cracks and there's a good possibility it may never open again, if it isn't safe to drive on. Of course "safe" is kind of a relative term for the already teetering structure.  Pioneer Square is also full of historic brick buildings, ready to fall down in the next earthquake, or Bertha-generated sinkhole.  Another big bill coming due for the city of Seattle.

Oh well, that's the price we pay to live in our Northwest urban paradise. But I'll definitely be thinking hard before getting in the car. May might be a good month for garden work and ukulele practice.