When Metro established the transit hub across from Westwood Village on Barton Street SW the intention was to take pressure off the middle of West Seattle at the Junction and make room for other connections to points south in both the Metro and Sound Transit system. That new hub created in 2013 resulted in significant shift in bus traffic in the area and that in turn had an impact on the roads in the area. 

Today the road bed on 26th SW is badly broken in-between where the C Line heads south to then turn west on Roxbury, But Barton Street is also damaged with a whole series of cement panels that comprise the road bed, tilted up several inches. The most likely cause is the buses that don't just travel down the road, but along the south side of the road, stop and wait in line there. But at this point, there's no announced plan to address this damage and there is nothing in the budget to fix it. This despite the fact that the forthcoming H Line will use this road too.

Westside Seattle inquired with Metro and SDOT for some answers.

Travis Shofner with Metro said, "In November, we notified local residents of our intention to perform environmental testing on 26th Ave SW. That testing is a requirement as part of the City of Seattle permitting process in the lead up to paving the center travel lanes for part of the RapidRide H line project.

That goal of paving those travel lanes is pending funding availability.

Partial funding for the H Line project comes from the Regional Mobility Grant that was impacted by I-976. It's unclear whether those funds will be available or when paving will occur. However, our contractors did perform the roadway environmental testing for the project earlier this month.

Ethan Bergerson with SDOT responded, "We recognize that there is a lot of damage on 26th Ave SW between SW Barton St and SW Roxbury St. SDOT is planning a small-scale, focused repair project on a small number of concrete panels on this stretch of 26th Ave SW. This interim asphalt repair will provide a cost-effective response to the conditions here.

We’ve also completed other focused paving projects on SW Barton St, including a recent project near the intersection of 32nd Ave SW.

SDOT has a long backlog of paving needs on streets throughout the city and we work diligently to prioritize repairing and rebuilding the streets with the greatest needs.

The criteria we use to establish paving priorities are street condition, traffic volume and transit use, project cost and cost effectiveness of treatment, the types of needs the street serves, grant funding opportunities, geographic balance across the city, and coordination with utilities and other agencies.

All paving projects are subject to change based on evolving conditions and emerging priorities."

The road damage on 26th SW has gotten bad, but SDOT says it will be fixed. Photo by Patrick Robinson