Tag Pedestrian

A friend of the blog wrote in to let us know the construction of the North Seattle Neighborhood Greenway project down 100th Ave N is set to begin as soon as tomorrow. The project aims to connect Crown Hill, Greenwood, and Licton Springs both to each other and to the upcoming pedestrian bridge that will provide direct access to the Northgate light rail station. While the entire project, which will stretch around 2 miles, is a welcome addition - of particular interest to those in the Licton Springs area are a new sidewalk from Linden Ave N to Aurora Ave N and sidewalk improvements being made between Aurora Ave N and Stone Ave N.

When the work is complete, the hope is that it will be possible to safely walk or ride a bicycle all the way from Crown Hill to the new light rail station, with sidewalk at a minimum from Linden Ave N eastward. You can find more information about the project on SDOT's overview page. The project should take around 6 months to complete with individual neighbors being directly contacted as construction work that impacts them is underway.

Meanwhile, the traffic circle on Wallingford Ave N and N 97th we wrote about earlier this year has now been completed and is just awaiting greenery.

We look forward to a safer and more walkable North Seattle!

A member of the community has come forth to formally appeal the development of the old Gold's Gym location, which helped compliment other nearby business such as Emerald City Smoothie, into a storage facility. The area in question has a moratorium on non-pedestrian oriented businesses, but the permit for the storage facility was placed right before it was put into effect. Beyond Aurora, the property is surrounded by homes and townhouses, and there is a strong desire by many within the area to increase housing and retail along Aurora, by lining it with apartment complexes that contain retail on the bottom. The thought being, that this would increase the safety of Aurora while helping to soften our current housing crises.

The appeal comes as "Greenlake" Self-storage continues its construction just a few blocks south.

The hearing for the appeal is set for 9 AM on Monday, Aug. 13, at the City of Seattle Hearing Examiner’s Office, Seattle Municipal Tower, 700 5th Ave., 40th Floor.

Hearings are open to the public, but generally only those who are parties to the appeal and persons called by the parties as witnesses will have the opportunity to testify. A person who has not appealed, but who has a substantial interest in the outcome of the appeal, may request to be allowed to participate in an appeal as an “intervenor”. An intervenor, like the parties, would have the option of appealing the Hearing Examiner’s decision in this matter. Intervenor status should be requested as soon as possible prior to hearing and in accordance with the Hearing Examiner Rules. For information regarding appeals and intervenor status, contact or visit the Hearing Examiner. The Hearing Examiner’s office provides barrier-free access.

The reason for the appeal reflects the concerns shared by many:

My interest is to maintain some sense of residential and environmental neighborhood atmosphere. This project unfortunately has been grandfathered into the rezoning of past. The current rezoning would not support this project.

You can see the full reasoning behind the appeal as well as all supporting documents on Seattle's Hearing Examiner site.

For many years Northgate enjoyed the convenience of having both of the big name wine and beer outlets right next to each other. Being able to easily walk between BevMo! and Total Wine in the same trip was a magical thing for anyone who anxiously awaited limited availability beer, wine, or spirit releases. Of course, one-day several months ago, this duo came to an end, leaving only Total Wine - which sits at the bottom of an apartment complex, left in-tact.

A friend of the blog recently reached out to us, with an unsurprising explanation for that closure: BevMo!, which was nestled into an old-fashioned shopping strip, needed to close to make way for the expansion of Downtown Northgate. In the place of the old shopping plaza, plans are in place to build a 235 unit apartment building with retail at the bottom, continuing the trend happening around the old plaza:

If you would like to give your input into the design of this new apartment building, there is an upcoming opportunity to contribute to the early design guidance August 6, 2018 6:30 pm

Meanwhile, the redevelopment of the mall into the focal point of this new downtown area continues being planned, with the first two opportunities for community input coming tentatively next month:

• August 13, 2018 6:30 pm
• August 27, 2018 6:30 pm

The transit-oriented development, temporarily paused, has come back in full swing with a new RFP based on free land from King County and an upzone to allow up to 24 story buildings promised by the end of this month.

And finally, concerns over future of the Northgate Pedestrian bridge which will connect Licton Springs directly to both the developing Light Rail and Downtown Northgate, have been alleviated after the Seattle Colleges Board of Trustees conditionally agreed to give an easement to the new bridge. The latest plans for which, will have the new bridge/path only a ~5-10 minute walk away from Oak Tree Plaza.

No matter how you feel about the developments overall, hopefully, this all will lead to a North Seattle that feels more connected both to Downtown Seattle and to the neighborhoods contained within.

As part of the upcoming HALA legislation we have the unprecedented opportunity to reshape Aurora Avenue into the hub of a vibrant walkable community. Regardless what your thoughts are on the overall legislation, I encourage you to let our council members know what we as a community want from Aurora. For me that means more gems like the wonderful neighborhood shops that fill Oak Tree Plaza and fewer storage facilities. Either way, as the final public hearing happens tomorrow (June 5th) this may be your last opportunity to let the council know how you feel.

From our friends at ALUV:

Dear ALUV Friends and Neighbors,

Thank you for continued interest in bringing positive change to the Aurora Ave Corridor, specifically from N. 84th to N. 110th. As we continue our efforts to increase public safety via “eyes on the street” our biggest obstacle is the commercial zoning designation. This zoning has recently allowed for two public storage facilities to be built that provide no housing or walkable amenities to our Residential Urban Village as designated by the city in 1999.

Please email your support for the proposed zoning changes from Commercial (C) to Neighborhood Commercial (NC) to the Seattle City Council [email protected] prior to JUNE 5th.

-> Click here for the email template from ALUV.

I was able to make it to yesterday's meeting at Neighborcare Health to discuss the development of the new pedestrian bridge and wanted to share my main takeaways:

• The college has expressed approval with the new design alleviating concerns that disagreements would lead to no bridge.

• The new design decreases costs and the maximum slope while improving visibility and addressing the concerns of North Seattle College.

• The project has secured all necessary funding contingent on it being complete before the light rail opens.

• It will take 10-15 minutes to walk from the base of the bridge to the entrance of the transit center.

• The bridge will incorporate scenic overlooks and art installation(s).

• There is no bike/pedestrian or direction lane separation planned for the bridge. Instead, users will be expected to utilize the generously wide (16ft) path to follow standard right of way rules. Additionally, visual and tactile cues will be added near mixing areas, transition zones, and overlooks providing helpful cues to bicyclists.

• VIA Architecture expressed pride in their work to create an affordable design that will still be an enjoyable experience to walk over, highlight the beauty inherit on both sides of I5, and act as another North Seattle landmark.

• Talking with Eric from VIA Architecture, I learned that they use VR to verify what a realistic experience of their designs will be once built.

I also learned about a ton of other exciting things planned for Licton Springs and the surrounding area that will be rolling out over the next few years. Expect a follow-up post with a full overview of all these changes and when we can expect them.