Businesses think ahead to help workers avoid I-5

As drivers grit their teeth on their Interstate 5 commutes this month, Carolyn Burnham will be sailing right by.

Burnham usually drives from her West Seattle home to her job as a product manager at REI's headquarters in Kent.

But for the next few weeks, she plans to take the Elliott Bay Water Taxi and a bus, working instead at the company's flagship store in Seattle's South Lake Union neighborhood.

She'll be sitting at one of 45 workstations that REI has set up in conference rooms — the result of brainstorming and planning that the company began in April.

"It's all set up for me so I don't have to worry about anything going wrong," Burnham said.

Like many large employers, REI aims to make sure its operations aren't disrupted by the traffic congestion sure to accompany the road repairs on northbound I-5. The work will close two to three lanes at a time from Friday through Aug. 29, causing backups on Interstate 405, the Interstate 90 bridge, Highway 99 and surface streets south of downtown Seattle.

While some companies are launching temporary new efforts, others see the upcoming snarl as a chance to encourage workers to try pre-existing alternatives to the standard commute.

Boeing, with plants and offices throughout the Puget Sound area, is reminding employees about commuter options that already are available, including telecommuting, either from home or one of six company centers.

"These options have been in place for a long time," said spokesman Dean Tougas. "This might be one of those occasions where someone who hasn't tried it yet may decide to get in a van pool or use our virtual office."

King County has a similar message for its 15,000 employees.

"It's the perfect time to try a new way to get to and from work," County Executive Ron Sims told employees last month.

To encourage van pooling, King County Metro Transit has reduced the monthly van-pool fare for the general public to $45 during August for commuters who travel the I-5 corridor and who form a new van pool this month. (Van-pool fares ordinarily range from $31.79 to $185 or more per person, depending on van size, number of riders and miles traveled.) County employees usually receive a $45 subsidy for van pooling, so they could commute this month for free.

Seventeen new van pools were created in anticipation of the I-5 mess, and another seven are recruiting riders, said county spokeswoman Natasha Jones said.

The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the affiliated Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, also in the South Lake Union neighborhood, are luring employees from private vehicles to public transportation by offering free bus and train passes in August.

"The center needs to stay open and operating," said Hutch spokesman Dean Forbes. "We're doing what we can."

Harborview Medical Center on Seattle's First Hill is using internal newsletters and its Web site to share commuting information, as well as putting up posters from the state Department of Transportation (DOT), said spokeswoman Susan Gregg-Hanson said.

In the Seattle city government, 5,600 of approximately 10,000 employees live south of Interstate 90. Telecommuting is an option for some, primarily managers, who are linked to the city computer network, said Dawn Schellenberg, strategic adviser for the city Department of Transportation. Individual employees can temporarily change their schedules, on a case-by-case basis, by negotiating with their supervisors, she said.

Starbucks is offering discounted public-transit and train passes to employees who drive to work alone. Some already have bought passes, but more are expected to do so, spokeswoman Tara Darrow said. Employees at Starbucks' corporate offices, in the Sodo neighborhood just south of downtown, also have the option of telecommuting.

Jamie Holter, DOT spokeswoman, was enthusiastic about these employers' plans.

"Those are absolutely perfect, perfect, perfect strategies," Holter said. "We want people to get out of their personal vehicles and into the buses, [or] into their jammies and stay at home."

Holter said the DOT has been working with companies since November to prepare for the I-5 lane closures this month. They made presentations to community groups, went to employee meetings and helped companies learn their options.

But as other downtown and South Lake Union employers make preparations, ZymoGenetics won't be doing anything drastically different.

Out of its 515 employees, about 130 already take part in car pools, van shares and van pools, said Susan Specht, spokeswoman for the biotech company.

"We encourage people to telecommute one day a week to lighten the carbon load," said Specht, and employees already have flexible schedules.

ZymoGenetics has been doing so well that the DOT gave it a Diamond Award in July for promoting alternatives to driving alone.

The University of Washington is coping with the potential congestion by putting to use a unique asset — its dormitories. The university has outfitted about 50 rooms with towels, bedding, a phone, a drinking cup and access to a shared restroom. Employees have the option of staying there at a discounted rate while the lanes are closed.

"Not quite a hotel, but the basics," said Leonard O'Connor, manager of conference services.

Employees will pay $40 a night — less than the $52 a night charged people attending conferences and sports camps in the summer.

"It's a simple thing that we're able to do and it seems like the reasonable thing for us to do," O'Connor said. "

Seven employees have booked rooms. Six of those are staying a single night, but one signed up for almost the whole three-week period. O'Connor expects a rush next week after people see how much they really might be affected by the traffic.

Some enterprises see an opportunity in the prospect of worsened rush-hour traffic. Twenty downtown businesses are offering discounts on parking, dining, shopping and entertainment, making a pitch that workers could simply stay in the city a bit longer, rather than fight congestion on the evening commute.

Reporters Emily Heffter, Mike Lindblom, and Keith Ervin contributed to this story.

Bibeka Shrestha: 206-515-5632 or bshrestha@seattletimes.com