The Ballard Locks will be closed to all pedestrian traffic next Tuesday and Wednesday. Vessel traffic will be stopped from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. those two days.

The 95-year-old Locks are showing their age. Water has caused erosion along part of the small lock wall creating a scour. “There have been scour problems documented in a nearby area for 30 years. The first major repair was done in 1985 to the apron,” said Marian Valentine, a hydraulic engineer in charge of operations and maintenance of the facility. “Water is very destructive so we actively monitor the locks and make interim repairs where necessary.”

 The Corps has contracted with a Port Gamble construction company to drive sheet piles adjacent to the wall to act as armor. The hope is this armor will prevent future erosion. The sheet piles will also be used as forms so concrete can be pumped in to fill the void.

The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) says a new federal study shows that road diets calm traffic and reduce collisions.  SDOT recently put Nickerson Street on a road diet, taking it to one lane each way.  

The USDOT’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) released a report that reviewed the safety record of lane reduction projects in California, Washington and Iowa.  The report says that rechannelizations don’t adversely impact roadway capacity.  It states, “Under most annual average daily traffic  conditions tested, road diets appeared to have minimal effects on vehicle capacity because left-turning vehicles were moved into a common two-way left-turn lane.”

You can read the full document, entitled “Evaluation of Lane Reduction ‘Road Diet’ Measures on Crashes,” here.

Tell us what you think.  There has been much debate about the Nickerson road diet.  Now that its complete, we would like to hear about your experiences.  Let us know in comments below.

4:10 p.m. Firefighters have just responded to a fire in a building along 15th Ave. and Armory Way, and the response has shut down 15th Ave.

Back in February 2006, eight sculptures were removed from the Ballard Bridge after a fierce windstorm damaged the anchors that secured the public art in place.  After a long repair and reinforcement process, the artwork will be reinstalled today and tomorrow.  From 9 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. today, SDOT crews will close the northbound right lane to install the four sculptures on that side of the bridge.  Then in the same time span tomorrow, they’ll finish up the other side of the bridge.

The 10-foot-tall aluminum sculptures were designed by Tom Askman and Lea Anne Lake to reflect Ballard’s Scandinavian and Native American roots. It was funded by city art funds, neighborhood matching funds and contributions raised by the Ballard Gateway Committee.

The continuing road work on 15th Ave. will result in some more detours this week.

This Wednesday and Thursday nights, the ramps from the Magnolia Bridge to southbound Elliott Avenue West will be closed from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Click through below for more detours and route details…

PRESS RELEASE – SDOT’s contractor will pave at night in the southbound lanes of 15th
Avenue West, between West Nickerson Street and West Galer Street. From August 5 to August
8, three ramps to the southbound 15th Ave/Elliott Ave W corridor will be closed at times
with detours in place. The detours will be necessary to accommodate the paving work.

On the nights of Tuesday, August 5 and Friday, August 8, traffic that would use the West
Emerson Street on-ramp to travel southbound 15th Avenue West will be detoured northbound
across the Ballard Bridge, and then will circle back to travel southbound on 15th Avenue
West. On Tuesday this detour will be in place from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. On Friday this
detour will be from 10 p.m. to 9 a.m.

Also on the nights of Tuesday, August 5 and Friday, August 8, traffic from West Dravus
Street that is headed southbound on 15th Avenue West will be detoured from Dravus Street
to the Magnolia Bridge by way of 20th Avenue West, then to Thorndyke Avenue West, West
Galer Street and across the Magnolia Bridge, and then southbound on 15th Avenue West.
These Tuesday and Friday night detours at Dravus Street will be in place from 10 p.m. to
2 a.m.

On the nights of Wednesday, August 6, and Thursday, August 7, the ramps from the Magnolia
Bridge to southbound Elliott Avenue West will be closed from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Traffic
will be detoured to the Dravus Street overpass by way of Thorndike Avenue West and and
20th Avenue
West.

Traffic heading from these ramps to northbound 15th Avenue West will not be affected.

The busy intersection at Thornydyke Ave. West and West Galer is one of 17 crosswalks in Seattle where the Seattle Department of Transportation is testing these neon colored flags to see if they’ll improve pedestrian safety.

If they work, they’ll be added to the city’s Pedestrian Master Plan.

After watching the crossing for awhile, we saw some pedestrians grab the flag for crossing and others ignore them altogether.

If you have questions about the program, or just want to report that the flags have disappeared, you can contact SDOT at (206) 684-7583, or send an email to walkandbike@seattle.gov.