Here are our statistics from Google Analytics, showing a total of 55,760 Unique Visitors and 104,679 Pageviews for January::

Click image to see larger version.

We’re proud of our success here at The B-Town Blog, because we’ve worked very hard since 2007 to continually serve the Community we live, work, shop and spend in by updating our website daily with professionally-produced, award-winning local Journalism (we were named ‘Best Hyperlocal Website‘ in the entire northwest by the Society of Professional Journalists last May).

And we’d like to point a few things out to our Readers, as well as any businesses considering Advertising:

• We are (far as we know) the only local website in the entire country that is absolutely transparent in its website traffic statistics – something you will NOT see on any other competing “local” websites, both new and old (including amateur ones that claim to be “daily” but really aren’t and others that are based in downtown Seattle). Click on the Sitemeter or Quantcast graphics below to see our LIVEstats (keep in mind that statistics vary with each independent measuring company, something that’s not in our control, and part of the risk of being transparent):

  

  

  

  Click to learn more about our Pledge to the TAO of Journalism.

• “Transparent” of course means that, at any time, YOU the Reader can click on one of these statistics links in the footer of the website (at the bottom of any page), and see what kind of traffic we’re getting right then and there from totally independent, external sources. Ever see any other website do that? Neither have we…
• We strongly believe there is no more room in the media world for self-produced, fabricated circulation numbers. We’d also like to remind any potential Advertisers out there to shop around and ask for actual, independent proof of website traffic statistics from other sites before buying, because you deserve honesty and professionalism.
• Our philosophy for gaining Readers, though simple, is very effective:

PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS
+
AWARD-WINNING DAILY LOCAL REPORTING
+
BLOGVERTORIAL STORIES
+
ACTIVE FACEBOOK PAGE (3,442 “Fans”)
+
TWITTER FEED (over 2,452 Followers)

=
CUSTOMERS!

We are active members of Discover Burien (Publisher/Editor Scott Schaefer also serves on the Board of Directors), as well as the Southwest King County Chamber of Commerce, and you’ll see us at various events, festivals, Farmers Markets, city council meetings and much more.

We are also members of the Society of Professional Journalists and the Online News Association.

Founder/Publisher Scott Schaefer, a three-time National Emmy-Award winner for “Bill Nye the Science Guy,” is also a member of both the Writers and Directors Guilds of America, from his 23+ year career in television.

Oh, and did we mention that we also produce five other local news blogs, covering White Center, Normandy Park, Tukwila, SeaTac and Des Moines?

If you’d like more information about our very-affordable Advertising solutions, please don’t hesitate to email us (and don’t forget to ask about our effective new Coupons Page!).

And don’t forget – we’re holding a special Charter Advertiser Sale for our latest media venture, SoKing Internet Radio, officially launching Feb. 15th! More info here.

Also, if you haven’t already, please join us on our fast-growing social network:

And as always, THANKS to every single one of the 55.760 Readers for your continued support!

PS: Want to join our award-winning team? We’re currently looking for Sales Reps to help market our very-effective, easy-to-sell Advertising solutions to local businesses! Email your resumé to editor@b-townblog.com for details!

The City has begun its improvement project along 1st Avenue South, between SW/S 146th and SW/S 140th Street, which means that there will likely be lane closures between 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. between Monday, Dec. 12 and Friday, Dec. 23.

Workers will be installing utility vaults, so you may want to keep the potential for delays in mind as you’re doing those last-minute holiday local shopping trips.

Please note also that businesses in the area of construction (in the neighborhood between Burien Chevrolet and Fred Meyer) will remain open, so don’t let this stop you from supporting them!

The project is expected to be completed in 260 working days from its start date of Nov. 30, 2011, and ending in early 201

The city adds on its website:

To begin construction, the general contractor, DPK Inc, will be installing utility vaults within 1st Avenue South beginning Monday, Dec.12 to Friday, Dec. 23.

Please consider construction work zones and safety to your destinations.

Businesses in the affected area WILL REMAIN OPEN, with customers and the general public having a convenient shopping experience while visiting the downtown area.

And here’s even more from the city’s website devote to the project:

The City of Burien is pleased to bring the following improvements to the area.  This project will help decrease the rate of accidents and increase the visibility and safety for all passengers and pedestrians.   We sincerely hope you will “pardon our dust”.

The project supports the development and revitalization of the existing downtown area and increases multi-modal transportation safety by constructing new sidewalk in the downtown area and promoting greater pedestrian use of adjoining businesses. It will also improve non-motorized (including ADA) mobility leading into the downtown area by providing north-south accessibility.

Project Improvements include the following:

• Sidewalks, Curbs and Gutters on both sides
• New Concrete Driveways and ADA Ramps
• New Asphalt Pavement Overlay
• New Signals and Street Lighting
• Landscaping
• Undergrounding of Overhead Utilities
• Storm Drainage Improvements

Construction Schedule

The project is expected to be completed in 260 working days starting from Wednesday, November 30, 2011, and ending in early 2013.

Seattle City Light, Comcast and CenturyLink have already begun some relocation of their facilities along the corridor. DPK, Inc. has been awarded the construction project contract and will commence construction in early December. DPK plans to work its way through the corridor in phases starting at SW 146^th Street and ending at SW 140^th Street.

Coordination with local businesses, maintenance of business access, and maintenance of traffic during construction are important components to a successful project in order to protect business activity during the construction period. Businesses in the affected area WILL REMAIN OPEN, with customers and the general public having a convenient shopping experience while visiting the downtown area.

Here’s what the existing area looks like:

Click image for larger version.

And here’s the proposed changes:

Click image to see larger version.

For more information, here are links to documents from the city:

• Project Schedule [pdf]
• Current Conditions [pdf]
• Proposed Improvements [pdf]

Our total number of Pageviews for October was 111,093, up +22.05% (both stats adjusted to reflect 31 days’ traffic).

Here’s a screenshot of our most recent Google Analytics stats:

Click image to see larger version.

We’re proud of our success here at The B-Town Blog, because we’ve worked very hard to continually serve the Community we live, love, work, shop and spend in by updating our website daily with professionally-produced, award-winning local Journalism.

Last May, we were honored to be named ‘Best Hyperlocal Website‘ in the entire Northwest (covering a 5-state area) by the Society of Professional Journalists.

We were also just named the 3rd ‘Best Neighborhood Blog‘ in KING5′s “Best of Western Washington” contest (read more about that here).

We are Burien’s original “Local Blog,” in business since Dec. 5, 2007, and run by actual, experienced Journalists, award-winning Writers and Professional Photographers.

And we’d like to point a few things out to our Readers, as well as businesses considering Advertising:

• We are (far as we know) the only local website in the entire country that is absolutely transparent in its website traffic statistics – something you will NOT see on any other competing “local” websites, both new and old. Click on the Sitemeter or Quantcast graphics below to see our LIVE stats (keep in mind that statistics vary with each independent measuring company, something that’s not in our control, and part of the risk of being transparent):

  

  

  

  Click to learn more about our Pledge to the TAO of Journalism.

• “Transparent” of course means that, at any time, YOU the Reader can click on one of at least three statistics links in the footer of the website (at the bottom of any page), and see what kind of traffic we’re getting right then and there from totally independent, external sources. Ever see any other website do that? Neither have we…
• We strongly believe there is no more room in the media world for self-produced, fabricated circulation numbers. We’d also like to remind any potential Advertisers out there to shop around and ask for actual, independent proof of website traffic statistics from other sites before buying, because you deserve honesty.
• Our philosophy for gaining Readers, though simple, is very effective:

PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS
+
AWARD-WINNING DAILY LOCAL REPORTING
+
BLOGVERTORIAL STORIES
+
ACTIVE FACEBOOK PAGE (nearly 3,300 “Fans”)
+
TWITTER FEED (over 2,300 Followers)

=
CUSTOMERS!

We are active members of Discover Burien, as well as the Southwest King County Chamber of Commerce, and you’ll see us at various events, festivals, Farmers Markets, city council meetings and much more.

Founder/Publisher Scott Schaefer, a three-time National Emmy-Award winner for his work on “Bill Nye the Science Guy,” is also a member of both the Writers and Directors Guilds of America, from his 25+ year career in television. And recently, he was elected to serve on the Board of Discover Burien.

We are also members of the Society of Professional Journalists and the Online News Association.

Oh, and did we mention that we also produce five other local news blogs, covering White Center, Normandy Park, Tukwila, SeaTac and Des Moines?

If you’d like more information about our very-affordable Advertising solutions, please don’t hesitate to email us (and don’t forget to ask about our effective new Coupons Page!).

Also, if you haven’t already, please join us on our fast-growing social network:

And as always, THANKS to every single one of the 58,703 Readers for your continued support!

PS: Want to join our award-winning team? We’re currently looking for Sales Reps to help market our very-effective, easy-to-sell Advertising solutions to local businesses! Email your resumé to editor(at)b-townblog.com for details!

The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is completing demolition of the southern mile of the viaduct and will open the new construction bypass midday on Saturday. Metro viaduct service will operate on the reroutes that have been used during the closure for the entire day on Saturday, then move to the new bypass on Sunday morning.

The Metro routes that will use the bypass are: 21 Express, 37 southbound, 54, 54 Express, 55, 56 Express, 113, 120, 121, 122, and 125. Bus riders should note that due to narrower lanes and lower speed limits on the bypass, bus travel times on these routes may be longer than before the viaduct was demolished.

Prior to the viaduct closure, Metro increased bus service on the SR 99 corridor. That service will remain in effect to help with anticipated construction disruptions over the next several years.

For the five weekdays during the viaduct closure, additional sailings were added to the King County Ferry District’s West Seattle Water Taxi route. Those sailings will not continue, because the water taxi is moving to its winter schedule on Monday, Oct. 31. That schedule can be found at: http://www.kingcounty.gov/watertaxi.

To stay up to date with any changes to Metro service, please sign up for Transit Alerts at http://www.kingcounty.gov/metro/alerts.

The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is warning that the Alaskan Way Viaduct closure, which begins this Friday (Oct. 21) is expected to affect traffic throughout the Seattle area.

In addition to traffic congestion on the West Seattle Bridge, Aurora Avenue, and in SODO, you can also expect delays on SR-509, SR-99, I-5, the floating bridges, and local streets.

“If you can travel by bus, bike, water taxi, carpool or vanpool, or telecommute, it takes vehicles off the roadways and helps everyone travel more quickly and smoothly,” said Metro Transit General Manager Kevin Desmond. “Still, it will be very important that you allow for extra travel time no matter how you are getting around, and consider traveling outside of the peak commute times.”

Please be aware that bus tracking programs lose accuracy when buses are rerouted or significantly delayed, so your favorite smartphone apps may not be reliable during this time. More information about the closure and the affect on bus travel is available online.

Short-term reroutes for Metro’s 21 Express, 37 southbound, 54, 54 Express, 55, 56 Express, 113, 120, 121, 122, and 125.

During the closure of the Alaskan Way Viaduct that starts at 7:30 p.m., this Friday, Oct. 21., 11 Metro bus routes that currently travel on the viaduct will be rerouted via Fourth Avenue South in the SODO area and Third Avenue in downtown Seattle. These short-term reroutes affect Metro’s 21 Express, 37 southbound, 54, 54 Express, 55, 56 Express, 113, 120, 121, 122, and 125.

Bus stops on Columbia and Seneca streets at Second Avenue will be temporarily closed during this time. When the viaduct reopens, those 11 routes will begin using the new viaduct bypass currently under construction.

Traffic congestion on the north end of the viaduct is also likely to cause delays for Metro routes: 5, 15, 16, 18, 26 Express, 28 Express, and 358.

For more information, visit http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/viaduct.

Tukwila’s Southcenter Parkway and Klickitat Drive have reopened, making access to that part of the city much better, just in time for shopping season.

BUT…as this Reporter experienced first-hand, there have been some changes that Drivers should be aware of:

• When turning right (heading south) from the very right lane from Klickitat Drive onto Southcenter Parkway, you will be funneled straight ahead. You cannot turn left onto Strander Blvd. as you could prior to the construction.
• This “funneling” may confuse and upset some Drivers trying to get to the mall. This Reporter ended up turning left into the parking lot of Outback Steakhouse, then heading north and turning east on Strander.
• Many Drivers have been seen performing u-turns in this area to access Strander Blvd. and the mall.
• If you want to get to the mall, stay in the middle lane of Klickitat and turn right, or turn left and head towards Nordstrom!

UPDATE: Apologies to everyone – this appears to have been driver error – as many Commenters have noted, to turn left onto Strander from the Klickitat interchange, stay in the middle/left lane. However, it is still confusing if you’re used to the “old way” at this location.

Here are some pics of the re-opened interchange:

As you turn right from the very right lane, the new interchange looks nice and smooth...

...until you realize you're being funneled straight ahead. Be aware of a u-turn frenzy ahead!

Here’s more on the re-opening from the city’s website:

After the roads open, the contractor will continue to wrap up some of the final construction elements of the project. Please expect some temporary lane closures within the project limits as these final elements are completed. These temporary lane closures will occur on up to ten days spread over the next month, with as much work being completed at night as possible. During this time, depending on weather, some of the work that will continue after the roadway opening may include:

• Paving of the final layer of asphalt.
• Turning on the new traffic signal just south of Strander Boulevard.
• Construction of concrete crosswalks in the Doubletree Hotel vicinity. The crosswalks will require a minimum of 24 hours of cure time before vehicular traffic can cross them. Consequently, both directions of traffic will be routed to one side of the parkway while the first half of the crosswalk is curing, followed by the reverse process to complete the second half. These lane shifts may occur on up to four days spread over the next month.
• Installation of a large sign structure across southbound Southcenter Parkway near the new tunnel. This work will most likely occur at night during late October. The new sign structure will have signs with arrows indicating which lane to be in for accessing I-5/SR 518, Strander Boulevard and Southcenter Park way.
• Continued landscape maintenance throughout October. The contractor will provide this service to ensure the plants are established throughout the coming year. Some slopes may be temporarily protected against erosion using plastic or special matting.
• Replacing all temporary wood pedestrian railings with new steel railings.
• Continued monitoring and optimizing of the new traffic signal timing.
• Installation of permanent striping. Some striping materials require a minimum cure time on asphalt pavements before they are installed. Permanent striping is also weather dependent.
• Painting of concrete retaining walls. This will be completed as weather permits.

It’s summer, which means construction season, and the City of Burien is warning residents to expect delays on 8th Ave SW between SW 160th and Sylvester Road (adjacent to the Highline Medical Center), as major storm drainage improvements are taking place.

The road will be closed to through-traffic at times, with limited access over the next few weeks.

Drivers are encouraged to take take alternate routes to avoid the construction area if at all possible.

Motorists using 8th Ave SW as part of the detour from Sylvester Road, where a bridge is being replaced should use 10th Ave SW instead.

Now this wouldn’t normally be considered news unless you used this road for, oh I don’t know…maybe as the assigned official Detour for the closure of Sylvester Road Bridge perhaps?

We say do yourself a favor and just avoid the area in general…

Here’s the schedule:

• Friday, July 15, 8 a.m. – Noon: SR 518 eastbound to SR 509 northbound ramp shoulder closure and SR 509 southbound right lane closure.
• Friday, July 15, Noon – 4 p.m.: 8th Ave. S. at SR 518 single lane closure (flagger controlled).

Ah, the sweet sweet rain of ‘June Gloom.’

Cold breezes! (especially at the Burien Farmers Market!)

And, according to Google Analytics, 61,182 Unique Visitors and 117,771 Pageviews of The B-Town Blog for the month of June!

That’s a year-to-year growth of +24.33% in Visitors and +37.84% in Pageviews over our May-June 2010 stats!

Click image to see larger version.

We’re proud of our success here at The B-Town Blog, because we’ve worked very hard to continually serve the Community we live, work, shop and spend in by updating our website daily with professionally-produced, award-winning local Journalism.

And recently, we were honored to be named ‘Best Hyperlocal Website‘ in the entire northwest (covering a 5-state area) by the Society of Professional Journalists.

We are Burien’s original “Local Blog,” in business since Dec. 5, 2007, and run by actual, experienced Journalists, award-winning Writers and Professional Photographers.

And we’d like to point a few things out to our Readers, as well as businesses considering Advertising:

• We are (far as we know) the only local website in the entire country that is absolutely transparent in its website traffic statistics – something you will NOT see on any other competing “local” websites, both new and old (including ones that claim to be “daily” but really aren’t). Click on the Sitemeter or Quantcast graphics below to see our LIVE stats (keep in mind that statistics vary with each independent measuring company, something that’s not in our control, and part of the risk of being transparent):

  

  

  

  Click to learn more about our Pledge to the TAO of Journalism.

• “Transparent” of course means that, at any time, YOU the Reader can click on one of at least three statistics links in the footer of the website (at the bottom of any page), and see what kind of traffic we’re getting right then and there from totally independent, external sources. Ever see any other website do that? Neither have we…
• We strongly believe there is no more room in the media world for self-produced, fabricated circulation numbers. We’d also like to remind any potential Advertisers out there to shop around and ask for actual, independent proof of website traffic statistics from other sites before buying, because you deserve honesty.
• Our philosophy for gaining Readers, though simple, is very effective:

PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS
+
AWARD-WINNING DAILY LOCAL REPORTING
+
BLOGVERTORIAL STORIES
+
ACTIVE FACEBOOK PAGE (nearly 3,000 “Fans”)
+
TWITTER FEED (over 2,200 Followers)

=
CUSTOMERS!

We are active members of Discover Burien, as well as the Southwest King County Chamber of Commerce, and you’ll see us at various events, festivals, Farmers Markets, city council meetings and much more.

We’re also proud to say that we’re the only local media outlet that has sponsored Candidate Forums recently, the next of which will be for Burien City Council candidates on Tuesday, July 26 (details here).

We are also members of the Society of Professional Journalists and the Online News Association.

Founder/Publisher Scott Schaefer, a three-time National Emmy-Award winner, is also a member of both the Writers and Directors Guilds of America, from his 23+ year career in television.

Oh, and did we mention that we also produce five other local news blogs, covering White Center, Normandy Park, Tukwila, SeaTac and Des Moines?

If you’d like more information about our very-affordable Advertising solutions, please don’t hesitate to email us (and don’t forget to ask about our effective new Coupons Page!).

Also, if you haven’t already, please join us on our fast-growing social network:

And as always, THANKS to every single one of the 61,182 Readers for your continued support!

PS: Want to join our award-winning team? We’re currently looking for Sales Reps to help market our very-effective, easy-to-sell Advertising solutions to local businesses! Email your resumé to editor(at)b-townblog.com for details!

The City of Burien on Tuesday (May 31st) released its updated Paving Schedule for asphalt laying on Ambaum Blvd. SW, with the caveat being that it may not follow the schedule if it rains again (which it surely will…).

As before, paving work is being relegated to nighttime hours to have the least impact on traffic.

Did we mention that work will be postponed in the event of rain?

“A schedule for the paving on Ambaum from S.W. 153rd St. to S.W. 156th St. is not yet determined,” reads a statement on the city’s website.

Here’s the city’s schedule:

• Paving will continue Thursday night, June 2.  It will be southbound, starting from S.W. 124th St. to S.W. 148th St.  Southbound traffic will be rerouted to  4th Ave. S.W.
• Friday night, June 3: paving will be northbound, from S.W. 148th St. to S.W. 124th St.  Northbound traffic will be rerouted to 4th Ave. S.W.
• Monday night, June 6: paving will be southbound from S.W. 148th St to S.W. 153rd St.  southbound traffic will be rerouted to 4th Ave. S.W.
• Tuesday night, June 7: paving will be northbound from S.W. 153rd to S.W. 148th St.  Northbound traffic will be rerouted to 4th Ave. S.W.??All traffic rerouted to 4th Ave. S.W. is free-flow.