Air Force Maj. General Will Oversee Seattle Squeeze Response

SEATTLE, WA - A retired Air Force officer has been hired to oversee the city's Seattle Squeeze response. Retired Maj. General Mike Worden was a finalist for the SDOT director job, but will now become Seattle's first director of citywide mobility operations coordination.

Worden began in the new role on Jan. 2. He will serve as a single point of contact for the city's 29 departments, according to a press release, and oversee incident response, including emergency services. He will report to Mayor Jenny Durkan.

The Seattle Squeeze - or "period of maximum constraint" - begins in just eight days when the Alaskan Way Viaduct closes. A stretch of SR 99 between the West Seattle Bridge and South Lake Union will be closed for about three weeks so WSDOT can shift the roadway into the new tunnel.

But that's just the beginning. A handful of major infrastructure projects, like the convention center expansion and possibly the 1st Avenue streetcar project, will further constrain drivers.

Before he retired from the Air Force in 2009, Worden was vice commander of Air Combat Command at Langley Air Force Base. After retirement, he worked as director of integrated intelligence systems for Lockheed Martin. Since 2016, he's operated a consulting firm, Mike Worden Consulting, LLC, which is based in Leavenworth, according to state records.

Patch file photo