SEATAC –A new northbound expressway and loop road to the main Airport terminal opened today, and authorities are expecting it to lessen congestion.

Port of Seattle crews opened the new roadway Thursday morning, a key step in the realignment of Sea-Tac roads to accommodate Sound Transit’s light rail construction.

More than a mile of elevated tracks are being built between the northbound and southbound lanes for a station by the airport parking garage.

The southbound lanes were rebuilt and relocated earlier, and officials expect the opening of the northbound lanes and the return-to-terminal loop to ease traffic congestion at the largest airport in the region.

Construction is continuing on some parts of the roadway.

SOURCE:

• Seattle P-I

SEATAC –A United Airlines jet landed safely at SeaTac Airport after its crew reported possible hydraulic problems Monday afternoon.

Just before 4pm, an Airbus A-320 touched down with an “absolutely perfect landing,” according to a witness.

The aircraft, flying in from Dulles Airport, called in with a possible hydraulic failure and the pilot was apparently very careful with the landing gear as the plane landed, the witness said.

Firefighters met the plane on a taxiway, and a tow vehicle pulled it away.

“All in all, (it was) a nice piece of flying, but it looks like it was a bad indicator rather than an actual problem,” the witness said.

SOURCE:

• KIRO-TV

SEATAC – A Kent woman is in serious condition after being shot on State Route 518 in SeaTac Tuesday night.

The King County Sheriff’s office says the 34-year-old woman was driving westbound on SR-518, between I-5 and SeaTac International Airport and Burien, when someone fired several shots at her car, striking her once.

At least two shots were fired from a car that drove up beside her about 10:40 p.m. She pulled off the road near the light rail station at South 154th Street and International Boulevard, where police found her. She was taken to Harborview Medical Center, where she was in serious condition.

Detectives had little information about the suspect but did not think the shooting was random, sheriff’s Sgt. John Urquhart said.

The woman had no idea why someone would want to shoot her, but told police that her home in Kent had been shot up a few weeks ago, the Sheriff’s Office reported.

No arrests and no specific description of the suspect vehicle.

SOURCE:

• Seattle P-I

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SEATAC – The Port of Seattle is preparing to move ahead with a $413 million rental car center at Sea-Tac Airport. It’s the next big project after last week’s port commissioner decision to lift a moratorium on major contracts.

The commissioners say the port has made reforms recommended in a critical state audit that found it mismanaged projects.

SOURCE:

• Tacoma News-Tribune

SeaTac-area husband and father Nicholas Francisco is still missing, but his wife has put up a website with some more info:

Alert: Although Nicholas’s car was recovered, there is one item that is missing that, if found, could greatly help the effort to locate Nicholas: his laptop computer.

Nicholas wore his computer like a wedding ring—he took it with him everywhere and was never without it. It was not recovered when the car was. It is a Macbook Pro 15 inch glossy. The serial number is YD6217LKVWW.

If you locate this, please call 911!

• Nicholas’s car was recovered at the Heritage Condos on South 340th Street at about 10:20 a.m on Feburary 18th. If you or someone you know saw someone driving his car in that area from the 13th to the 18th please call 911 or email the webmaster of this site.
• Again there is a $15,000 reward for information leading to his location.