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News & ArtsThursday, December 17, 2009
News If You're in Tukwila, You Probably Can't Read This
Posted by Christopher Frizzelle on Thu, Dec 17, 2009 at 10:39 PM
From Seattle City Light:
Power Outage in Tukwila
Seattle City Light is responding to an outage in Tukwila. The outage was first reported at 9:23 p.m. on December 17, 2009. There are an estimated 3,600 customers without electricity. The cause of the outage is currently not known. Crews are enroute to investigate.
The general boundaries of the outage area are: north, S. 96th St; south, S. 160th St.; east, 56th Ave. S; and west, 24th Ave. S.
5
I was "lucky" enough to arrive at the Link tukwila station around 10:40pm. It was my first time walking around in the station. It seemed dark as we walked from the platform to the street level, but I thought for some reason that was normal.
There were three parked Connector busses, and only the last one had lights on and the door open. We were about to hop on when the driver screamed "we're not in service, take the 174!" and then she shut the doors and turned off her lights.
This was really confusing because I thought the Connector runs until sometime after midnight.
So we waited for the 174. It seemed dark and sketchy at the platform, but I just marked it up to poor design.
We waited and waited for a 174 but none came.
At some point a light or two came on in the area.
Finally the first Connector bus turned on so we went over to check out the action. It pulled away before anyone could get on it.
Then the second one turned on and let us aboard. She indicated there was a power outage and they weren't to move until they got the okay (she also indicated the first coach was headed for the garage).
I'm still miffed at the incomplete/unhelpful words the one driver spoke.
Oh, and Link stopped at Rainier station for 10 minutes and close to Tukwila for nearly 5 minutes.
It was my worst Link experience thus far.
Had I waited an extra 20 minutes at Westlake and hopped on the next 194 I would have arrived at seatac 35 minutes before I acually did.
There were three parked Connector busses, and only the last one had lights on and the door open. We were about to hop on when the driver screamed "we're not in service, take the 174!" and then she shut the doors and turned off her lights.
This was really confusing because I thought the Connector runs until sometime after midnight.
So we waited for the 174. It seemed dark and sketchy at the platform, but I just marked it up to poor design.
We waited and waited for a 174 but none came.
At some point a light or two came on in the area.
Finally the first Connector bus turned on so we went over to check out the action. It pulled away before anyone could get on it.
Then the second one turned on and let us aboard. She indicated there was a power outage and they weren't to move until they got the okay (she also indicated the first coach was headed for the garage).
I'm still miffed at the incomplete/unhelpful words the one driver spoke.
Oh, and Link stopped at Rainier station for 10 minutes and close to Tukwila for nearly 5 minutes.
It was my worst Link experience thus far.
Had I waited an extra 20 minutes at Westlake and hopped on the next 194 I would have arrived at seatac 35 minutes before I acually did.
7
Of course Tukwila's power goes out. Do you actually expect Seattle City Light to give a darn about some of its poorest customers, many of whom are minorities? Unless we're talking about Southcenter, it's okay to be lax on making sure Tukwila has power - just be sure to never relax the maintenance on Laurelhurst and other rich areas full of white people...
9
Southcenter is served by PSE, dear. And Laurelhurst has some of the worst electrical infrastructure in the city - although it is slowly being replaced.
In fact, the most outage prone area in recent months has been that nihilistic slum known as Queen Anne.
But if it makes your happiness less bitter by making sweeping assumptions, by all means be my guest.
In fact, the most outage prone area in recent months has been that nihilistic slum known as Queen Anne.
But if it makes your happiness less bitter by making sweeping assumptions, by all means be my guest.
10
Stickbug @5, I forwarded your comment to operations folks at ST, and they apologize for the treatment you received from the shuttle bus driver. ST contracts with Pierce Transit for that service, and PT has been notified of the problem.
11
My comment got cut off, so let me continue --
Regarding the service interruptions that you experienced last night, they were due to track maintenance. Sound Transit is grinding the tracks to make them smoother and reduce train noise. ST has received numerous complaints about noise since trains began running last summer.
Grinding machine operations require that one track be taken out of service during evening and nighttime hours. This requires trains to operate both directions on the remaining open track, what we call single-tracking. The only way this can be done safely is by increasing headways to 20 - 25 min. and having occasional stoppages along the way.
We apologize for the inconvenience, but we believe the results will be worth it. Grinding activities will be finished by Dec. 30, and the work doesn't occur on Sundays and Dec. 24 - 27.
Regarding the service interruptions that you experienced last night, they were due to track maintenance. Sound Transit is grinding the tracks to make them smoother and reduce train noise. ST has received numerous complaints about noise since trains began running last summer.
Grinding machine operations require that one track be taken out of service during evening and nighttime hours. This requires trains to operate both directions on the remaining open track, what we call single-tracking. The only way this can be done safely is by increasing headways to 20 - 25 min. and having occasional stoppages along the way.
We apologize for the inconvenience, but we believe the results will be worth it. Grinding activities will be finished by Dec. 30, and the work doesn't occur on Sundays and Dec. 24 - 27.
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