A slate of transportation projects - from construction on Spokane Street this week, to replacing the Alaskan Way Viaduct starting in 2012 - will disrupt traffic and business in West Seattle and several transit programs hope to alleviate the mess.

Transportation staff spoke at an open house on Tuesday, Sept. 9 in the cafeteria at West Seattle High School.

"As much as we don't want to imagine the worst case scenario, West Seattle is going to be impacted," said Dawn Leverett, board president of the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce. "We are doing all we can do to ensure the prosperity of the businesses in West Seattle."

About 30 people attended the open house. Chairs were set up for 200.

"We expected the closure of Spokane Street would really send them in," said Patti Mullen, executive director for the chamber.

The closure of the surface roadway, originally scheduled the day before, was postponed.

"But the Spokane Street people told me this was the biggest turnout they've ever had," she said.

Construction will begin this week on Spokane Street, said Stuart Goldsmith, supervising project manager for the Spokane Street Viaduct improvements.

Eastbound Spokane Street, the surface road from First Avenue South to Fifth, will be closed starting Sept. 16. Seattle Public Utilities will move an aging water main before the Seattle Department of Transportation begins construction on a Fourth Avenue exit.

The ramp will be complete in time to reroute traffic away from construction on the south end of the Alaskan Way Viaduct.

This section of Spokane Street won't reopen until mid-2010.

The city will also widen the viaduct, building a second structure parallel to the north of the existing one. It will tear down the hard-right turn from westbound lanes to Fourth Avenue and build new ramps to First Avenue.

"We will do all the work on the roadway without a reduction of capacity," Goldsmith said.

Meanwhile, under the West Seattle Bridge drivers may wait 20 minutes for 9,000-foot "stack" trains to cross East Marginal Way. The Port of Seattle's Terminal 5 operates at 30 percent capacity, said Gary Wallinder, senior project manager with the Port of Seattle, which will only increase.

The East Marginal Way grade separation, a new three-legged overpass beside the West Seattle Bridge at Spokane Street and East Marginal Way, will carry cars and trucks over the rail crossings. Construction begins in May after City Light moves the two electrical lines supplying Nucor Steel, and two more feeding West Seattle.

Since the overpass will be built on new right-of-ways, Wallinder expects few disruptions to traffic. Construction will be complete "by Christmas" 2010.

The last two years have seen a 30 percent increase in people taking the Elliott Bay Water Taxi, said Chris Arkills, senior aide to King County Council member Dow Constantine. It carried more than 61,000 passengers in its five-month service last year. July alone was up 17 percent.

Improvements to service in the next two years anticipate more passengers avoiding construction on the Spokane Street and Alaskan Way Viaducts.

Year-round service begins in January 2010 with a pair of new, smaller boats, hardier than the single Argosy tour boat currently leased.

The wooden float and unstable pilings at Seacrest Park will be replaced. The ramp leading down from the sidewalk will be extended, making it wheelchair accessible, especially at low tide when it is steepest.

The water taxi is funded by the King County Ferry District through county property taxes. The district was established in April 2007 after Washington State decided to quit the passenger ferry business, and the run from Vashon Island to downtown Seattle was endangered.

"The Vashon ferry alone takes hundreds of cars off the street," Arkills said.

During construction on the south end of the Alaskan Way Viaduct, bus routes 54, 56 express, and 21 express will see more buses and longer peak hours, paid for by $32 million given to King County Metro from the state department of transportation.

Increased service will begin in September 2009 when construction first disrupts traffic, said Karl Otterstrom, a transit planner with Metro.

"We will focus on the worst time of construction," Otterstrom said, ramping up service improvements in late 2010, and tapering them off with the end of that construction in 2012.

With the money Metro can move more quickly to buy 30 new hybrid buses, 15 of which will be put into service in 2009 on routes from West Seattle, Ballard, and along Aurora.

Bus rapid transit, called RapidRide, will operate its Route C in West Seattle on the Route 54 corridor - with more frequent service all day, later at night, seven days a week - but not until 2011.

During 2010, Metro planners will evaluate the local bus service in West Seattle, and make improvements before the express service begins.

"It doesn't address the problem," one man interrupted from the audience. "It sounds like the solution comes after the problem that is the construction."

People in the audience shushed him, and moderator Douglas told panelists to ignore him. The man eventually stormed out.

Work began Friday to move electrical utilities off the Alaskan Way Viaduct and into underground vaults. Construction on the southern half of the viaduct begins in 2009, replacing the structure with an overpass at Atlantic Street.

"The big questions still is what we're connecting to," said John White, a program director with the Alaskan Way Viaduct and Seawall Replacement Program.

The state will decide this December what will replace the central waterfront section of the viaduct - a tunnel, another viaduct, or a surface-transit alternative. Its construction begins in 2012.

"The strategy is to get the south end in place, so people have accessibility to downtown ahead of taking down the central waterfront," White said.

Matthew G. Miller is a freelance writer living in the Admiral District. He may be contacted through wseditor@robinsonnews.com.