Tag Improvements

The next time you walk or ride up Aurora you may notice it's cleaner than usual. In more ways than one, positive changes are starting to take hold on this historical Seattle Avenue. The city's proactive litter abatement pilot program has added Licton Spring's stretch of Aurora to its 2x weekly cleanup. This brave crew cleans up everything from coffee cups to used syringes, hopefully helping to encourage a sustainably clean street over time.

At the same time, SPD and Licton Spring's own North Precinct have been hard at work to bust a local pawn shop that incentivised theft within North Seattle. Along with the closure of the business, this had the side effect of finally permanently removing an Aurora fixture that we will all be happy to see go:

(See more on the spdblotter)

Finally, Aurora is going to be repaved and sidewalk ramps made ADA compliant over the next year. Which, while sure to be an inconvenience during construction and lacking the sidewalk improvements Aurora desperately needs, will hopefully be worth it upon completion as it plays a part in increasing road safety and accessibility.

While more work is needed along this historic stretch of Seattle, it's encouraging that we are starting to see progress toward an Aurora that we can all take pride in.

A friend of the blog dropped a hint letting us know that a new traffic circle has been outlined for N 97th and Wallingford Ave N, which SDOT plans on having completed this summer! The circle will be a very welcome addition to the area, as, despite lots of warning signs and kids, sees more than its fair share of speeding.

This new circle will complement the existing one at N 95th, hopefully reducing speed driving up Wallingford.

On my walk up to N 97th, I also noticed initials outlines for a continuation of the N 92nd bike path by the new School.

You can find out about some more street improvements scheduled to be completed this year on SDOT's Greenway & School Safety Project Website.

Enjoy this great weather! And hopefully, as the season progresses, we will all be able to enjoy some safer streets!

Licton Springs is looking to become even more well prepared for the urban demands of being a < 14 minute light rail ride from downtown. It already has relatively high side-walk coverage and population density for the North Seattle area. It is also full of pro-growth and housing community groups - with no noticeable Nimby presence. And, with the light rail approaching in a few more years, it appears the community will be well positioned to take on the growth it desires. The neighbourhood has been seeing additional improvements planned and completed at an unprecedented pace. It's hard just to keep track of all the projects going on! To try and make it a bit easier: I've gone ahead and taken inventory of all the projects I'm aware of and mapped them out by location, start time, and end time.

Did I miss anything? If so, please let me know in a comment below. In any case, we certainly have an exciting few years to look forward to!