4:31 p.m.
The Port of Seattle does not operate like a local Midnight Mart where you might duck in at 11:55 p.m., buy a quart of milk, and get out before closing time.
The metaphor is brought to mind by the claim by some that a new SODO arena won’t interfere with port traffic because the Port of Seattle “closes” at 4:30.
The germ of truth at the heart of this hallucination is the fact that under current business demands, the inbound gates at port marine terminals usually close at 4:30. But that’s for inbound trucks. Trucks already in the terminals remain on site at 4:31 as they go about their rounds, picking up or dropping off containers, later emerging into the late afternoon traffic.
Some arena proponents claim there will be no conflict with these trucks because of the evening tipoff times for basketball games. But the arena proposal includes plans for a new entertainment district based on a business model that will require fans to show up hours before games to eat, drink and shop. Before they eat, drink or shop, the fans have to park and many will arrive hours early to find a good spot.
The potential for serious traffic problems grows when the terminals operate at night during busy shipping times.
The port’s capacity for growth also depends in large measure on its capacity to operate shipping terminals at night.
The flash point for traffic is just south of Safeco Field at the intersection of 1st Avenue South and the foot of the overpass known both as Atlantic Street and Edgar Martinez Way. The intersection is already heavily impacted by traffic and it’s just north of the proposed third arena. It is also within a home run of the gate to Terminal 46, the huge cargo terminal located west and north of the existing stadiums. The overpass is the most direct route for trucks leaving the regional highway network bound for either Terminal 46 or Terminal 30, another major terminal to the south.
One major shipper already won’t dispatch trucks to T46 after 2:30 p.m. on days that conclude with evening events at the existing stadiums because traffic conditions are too unreliable due to afternoon traffic congestion. That constraint limits the productivity of the company, its truck drivers and their customers.
The proposed arena would nearly double the number of evening events in SODO and even the traffic study paid for by the arena developer acknowledges that overlapping evening events could take place 10 week nights each year. Overlapping events would cause major traffic disruptions. Ten week days translates into two work weeks for companies, workers and customers who must balance their books 52 weeks out of the year.
A detailed news article about freight impacts by Steve Wilhelm was published in the Puget Sound Business Journal on July 27, 2012. Read it here.