West Seattle, Washington
19 Thursday
That’s a new map that could change your life, for the better: the draft of the first-ever West Seattle Walking Trails map, whose creators want to hear your take on it, before they draft the final version. (Click the image above, or this link, to download the whole thing as a PDF so you can zoom in to your neighborhood, your favorite walking route, or just to get a closer look at all of it.) One of the project ringleaders is the tireless West Seattle activist Chas Redmond, who explains what it is and how you can help with it:
Feet First, in partnership with Morgan Community Association, Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association, the Southwest and Delridge District Councils, The Southwest Historical Society, every community association here in WS and other organizations such as the West Seattle Junction Association and West Seattle Chamber of Commerce, present the first draft of the now-Climate Action Now program grant-funded walking trails map.
This is the first public review – folks should examine it, suggest changes – both additive and subtractive. There will be a second draft based on the comments of the first draft. SDOT will have the final review and there will probably be some changes from that resulting in a – final – third draft.
In the meantime, the back side of the map – which will include write-ups on every neighborhood and organization and signature interest point – will hit the streets. Probably two weeks from now we’ll have the text draft, which will coincide with the closing of comments for the first draft. The back side review will also include a second review round.
Folks should comment not only on the trails, the evolution of which can be learned by reading the contents of westseattlewalks.org, but also on the use of symbols, the correct location of schools and parks (we’ve checked, always helps to triple check), the color scheme (we’re limited to two colors to get max number of copies), and anything else.
Within a month or so we’ll have 20,000 copies of this map, which will be folded to a size about like a Metro route schedule. We have a complex and involved distribution scheme which should allow everyone in WS to at least have access to a copy. Eventually we’ll reprint in larger numbers, but want this first version to not only serve the neighborhood, but serve as a learning tool for what an urban wayfinding system and info tools about such a system might be like and how they might be better. A year of using this map will teach all of us – including the users – a whole new dimension in getting around – we hope, anyway.
Here’s the link again to take a close-up look at the map as a PDF (using zoom if you choose). As Chas mentioned, there’s a lot of backstory on the parent site for that link, westseattlewalks.org – once you’ve reviewed the map, Chas asks that comments be sent to him (credmond@mac.com) and Feet First’s Seth Schromen-Wawrin (seth@feetfirst.info).
Starting a week from Sunday, the megachurch branch on 35th says no more shuttle buses – it’s asking all its attendees to park in the lots at the old Hughes (South Lake) school. Here’s the announcement (which doesn’t explain why the shuttles are going away; perhaps they’ll be needed for the new Belltown branch opening in March, plus their WS holding lot is slated for development).
WSB EXCLUSIVE: The city Transportation Department invited reporters to a briefing downtown this morning announcing a new program to evaluate and potentially revise parking in several Seattle neighborhoods, including The Junction — and those revisions could even include a return to paid street parking. Other media invitees were no-shows, so your editor here got an exclusive briefing and a chance to ask SDOT all the questions we could think of. Most important thing you need to know: SDOT says the process of assessing the Junction parking situation, coming up with recommendations, and implementing them, will take a full year, and the clock on that doesn’t start ticking till later this year — but you can start having a say NOW. (Other West Seattle neighborhoods will get the same sort of review within the next few years; more on that ahead too.) Read More
We have answers this morning to yesterday’s questions, thanks to Marybeth Turner of SDOT:
Our traffic engineers are counting traffic volumes on 35th SW and Thistle, and at several other locations on 35th SW. This is a follow-up to traffic counts done last year. I understand that results will be available in several weeks.
12:07 PM ADDENDUM: Now we’re told the cameras are NOT part of this, nor part of the red-light cam program. So they remain a mystery.
(Thanks to Val for the newly added second photo.) As the city Transportation Department promised yesterday, their crews are out on 35th just north of Alaska today, starting repair work on what became known in WSB-land as “Bruno” the megapothole. (Backstory here.) Reminder that they expect to work for a week, 8 am-2 pm, reducing 35th to one lane at that spot. Meantime, thanks to several WSB readers for pointing out that SDOT crews were busy elsewhere along the 35th corridor even earlier in the morning, putting down detection cables and installing cameras like this one:
That camera is near 35th/Thistle, identified as one of the two West Seattle intersections that will be first to get red-light cameras, so we have a message out to SDOT asking if that’s what this is all about. One more camera note: Remember the speeder-cam bill (much-discussed here last weekend)? You can track its status here; right now, it’s moved on to the state House Transportation Committee – whose membership does not include either of West Seattle’s state House reps.
Just got this. We suspect it’s the section best known for “Bruno” the pothole (backstory here and here, which included photos such as the one above), going out to check:
SDOT to pave 35th Ave SW at SW Alaska
SDOT crews will begin tomorrow (February 20) to pave a portion of 35th
Avenue SW at SW Alaska Street. One northbound lane on 35th Avenue SW
will be closed from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day for approximately one
week.
5:26 PM UPDATE: Marybeth Turner of SDOT confirms “it is the same area, according to our pavement management staff.” So bye-bye, “Bruno” …
ELECTION: Presidential primary, 7 am-8 pm if you haven’t voted by mail; more info here.
RAPIDRIDE: Last of 4 West Seattle open houses to share information and take comments for this phase of Metro’s West Seattle RapidRide bus-service planning, 6-7:30 pm @ Southwest Library.
CRIMEFIGHTING: West Seattle Community Safety Partnership, under new leadership elected last month, invites you to tonight’s meeting, 7 pm, Southwest Precinct. If you have a neighborhood crime or nuisance concern and would like to ask local police what’s being done, or what can be done, about it — this hour is well worth your time. (WSB coverage of last month’s WSCSP meeting is here.)
Just posted at the Times site – a bill is advancing through the state Legislature to allow Seattle to use robocams to catch speeders as well as red-light runners. (To recap, the city announced last month that two red-light cams are on the way to West Seattle this year.) The official Legislature page about the speeder-cam bill is here; one of the 28 senators voting in favor of it today was West Seattle’s state Senator Joe McDermott.
Thanks to Jerry from JetCityOrange for that photo of the Luna Park Cafe-branded Smart car he just spotted yesterday. They get about 40 mpg, according to this page on the Smart website. One more note about driving with a bit more environmental sensibility – biodiesel users will want to check out some local-availability updates in this topic on the WSB Forums.
As mentioned yesterday, some interesting nuggets emerged from the transportation presentations at the monthly West Seattle Chamber of Commerce lunch: On the RapidRide bus route that will replace the 54 in three years, a Metro rep acknowledged opposition to possible re-routing along California through The Junction, saying the agency’s heard “loud and clear” from the “strong fan base” for the current routing. (One more meeting about RapidRide is coming up – next Tuesday night, Southwest Library.) City transportation director Grace Crunican suggested we haven’t heard enough about the major improvements coming to the Spokane Street Viaduct section of the bridge – which she describes as the city’s #1 priority – particularly the eastbound exit to be added at 4th (no westbound onramp at 4th though, and the long-closed one will finally go away). And while recapping the latest developments with the Elliott Bay Water Taxi — particularly the creation of the county Ferry District — West Seattle’s King County Councilmember Dow Constantine noted this year’s schedule should be announced relatively soon.
Tonight at Cooper Elementary in Pigeon Point, state, city, and county transportation leaders — along with more than 50 members of the public — took the next step toward deciding the future of the critical central section of the Alaskan Way Viaduct – the section that Governor Gregoire has said will come down in 2012, period:Read More
Just back from both of tonight’s major meetings in West Seattle. Full separate articles coming for both. But in the short run, the headlines:
DENNY-SEALTH: West Seattle’s school board rep Steve Sundquist announced he’s “leaning toward Option 2,” the “go ahead with the shared campus but add $10 million for a few more Sealth renovations” option that district staff is officially recommending the board approve. However, Sundquist reiterated that it’s the board’s decision, and he invites EVERYONE to spend the next two weeks letting him and other board members (three of whom were at the meeting) know what they think. 10:30 PM ADDITION: Just in from Steve Fischer, president of the Westwood Neighborhood Council, which presented tonight’s meeting – results of the unofficial, voluntary straw poll they took (via secret ballot) after the meeting: Zero for Option 1, 16 for Option 2, 52 for Option 3. (100-plus people were there tonight.)
VIADUCT: This open-house-with-open-mike was part of the process leading up to a decision in about a year regarding what will replace the “Central Waterfront” section of The Viaduct. Some of those who offered open-mike comments urged reconsideration of the notion of NOT tearing it down, but retrofitting it instead.
Again, much more to come, including some video, from both meetings.
That’s how Mark Neuman titled this e-mail and it’s a perfect headline:
To the person driving the reddish four-door VW Gti on California Avenue this morning (February 12, 2008):
Your left turn at 9:56 am PST (westbound onto Alaska Street from northbound on California Avenue) was illegal (no left turns 7 am to 7 pm except transit, as the sign in front of you clearly stated).
Though I was able to make it through the (yellow) light and no drivers had to wait for the next traffic light cycle to go through the intersection, the move you made oftentimes DOES result in law abiding drivers having to wait, in addition to the fact that many drivers will quickly move around to get beyond the offending driver.
Ask any auto insurance company: such sudden moves do not reduce the overall probability of collisions on the road, not to mention the possible impact on inattentive pedestrians.
OK, just thought I’d share. Have a nice day.
By the way, to the nice lady in the grayish sweater who, just a few minutes later, let the elderly gentleman go ahead of her in line at Bartell’s: that was very thoughtful of you.
We’ve all discussed the crosswalk situation at that intersection before. Thoughts on the turn ban?
Those are our first clips from a media tour this afternoon of ongoing Viaduct strengthening work that’s been under way since fall beneath the section of the Viaduct that’s just south of Columbia. This is the part – site of the old Yesler Mill, long ago, according to WSDOT’s Matt Preedy – that’s settled several inches, and WSDOT isn’t sure why this section settles more than the rest, but they’ve got a couple months more work to keep it from getting worse. Here’s his progress overview:
Another WSDOT spokesperson told us this event was meant not only as a media update on the work but also as a reminder of tomorrow night’s meeting at Cooper Elementary, which will focus on the big piece of the Viaduct puzzle – what might be done with the “Central Waterfront” section. WSDOT confirms that it will be open-house format 5:30-6:30, then open mike @ 6:30 for you to have your say on what you hope will happen. (And another reminder, the next weekend closure of the Viaduct is March 22-23.)
We reported here on Jan. 20 that it appeared wi-fi service had finally begun – albeit without fanfare – on the Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth ferry run. Today, 2-plus weeks later, the vendor, Parsons, just issued this announcement confirming it had indeed launched in mid-January. (A Feb. 7 news release announcing that something started Jan. 17 still seems a little odd. Give it a few days to be sure it’s working before you announce it, but three weeks?)
The city Transportation Department says it’s looking at ways to convince more people to turn off northbound Alki Ave at 63rd, where the yellow “residential street” sign shown above seems to be too subtle a clue that the arterial ends there, instead of continuing up and through the narrow stretch where it becomes Beach Drive at Alki Point. Sandra Woods of SDOT tells WSB that might even include physical changes to the intersection, “to make the turn more obvious.” This is part of the next stage of the process regarding pedestrian improvements west of that intersection, now that the city has told concerned area residents it won’t do anything that would take away their existing non-parallel parking in the sidewalk-less zone. (That’s the proposal that brought an upset group to the Alki Community Council last month, as we reported here.) Woods emphasizes the sidewalk plan isn’t dead — it was the result of a neighborhood application/planning process — but will likely turn into some kind of what she calls a “nonconventional walkway.” Right now, the city is developing “conceptual drawings” to be presented at a future public meeting, likely late March/early April.
Per the P-I, city councilmembers officially voted this morning to spend money on studying six possible streetcar lines to follow the SLU…etc., including one that potentially would head out our way. (Interesting history culled from a websearch: The county looked into studying a WS streetcar more than two years ago, says this link; and of course The Junction takes its name from the fact two streetcar lines crossed there.)
(Fauntleroy ferry photo by Matt Durham)
Just announced by WSDOT: David Moseley, a former Federal Way city manager and current executive at the Institute for Community Change, will run Washington State Ferries. (Its previous boss, Mike Anderson, left the job late last year.) Here’s the news release:Read More
First, from Harbor Avenue – this just out of the inbox from Jeff @ Skyline Secure Park:
We just wanted to let everyone know that the dangerous semi trucks that used to roar up and down Harbor Ave. between 7-11 and the West Seattle bridge are officially gone. The company who owned them has moved to a more appropriate home! I know a lot of people will be happy about this because there were hundreds of trucks crossing the bike/walk path every day, creating a safety issue.
And from Alki Avenue – Babs says she’s tired of risking life and limb:
I’m wondering if you can post a reminder that the Alki beach bike path is for bikes. Yes I understand other walkers/runners use it but maybe a reminder that large groups of people should not stand there and have “hi 5” meetings or discussions. I can survive a jogger here and there, a dog walker or two… but large groups blocking the path pose serious risk to all parties. I almost had to ride off the bike path [Saturday] because of a large group of rude woman joggers (who saw me coming) but continued their meeting which took over the entire path. I was rude in voice to them but it’s SCARY when people do not yield.
That’s “Bruno” the recurring pothole (or should we call it a potpit?) at 35th/Alaska, as nicknamed (and photographed) by Casey Crowell, who e-mailed WSB with a complaint that sparked plenty of discussion after we featured it here two weeks ago. Casey’s contention: Sure, the city will come out and fix potholes, but they don’t fix them correctly, and the repeated repairs cause even more trouble, so why aren’t they fixed properly the first time? Now Casey has sent photos plus a response he just received from the city’s top transportation boss:Read More
GAMES PEOPLE PLAY: Wii is not just for kids, and the Delridge Library will show you why at 10:30 this morning; other one-time-only West Seattle events today/tonight include the Seattle Majestics‘ karaoke contest — see the West Seattle Weekend Lineup for the full rundown on what’s up.
TRAFFIC REMINDERS: SDOT will be doing significant work today at two sites in West Seattle, as announced yesterday afternoon: California/Othello paving here, Admiral medians here.
LOOKING AHEAD TO VALENTINE’S DAY? The latest newsletter from Skylark offers this: “Skylark is hosting a Valentine’s Day ‘Cheap Date Night,’ filled with free music; homemade spaghetti & meatballs; garlic bread and a bottle of red or white wine all for just $32 per couple from 5 pm to 10 pm.” Read more here.
PICTURES WE’VE BEEN MEANING TO SHARE: During a busy week full of news, they wound up on the back burner, but if you’ve got a minute, take a look:Read More
Just a couple hours after the announcement (see below) of SDOT work at California/Othello tomorrow, we just got another alert from the city — regarding work on the Admiral medians (December photo above) tomorrow, and beyond, including a request for input on the median trees when work crews return a week later:Read More
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