Tag Transit

If you are as excited about the ongoing art project on the Aurora Pedestrian Bridge as we are, you will be thrilled to hear there is now an opportunity to meet neighbors and help enhance the project! This coming weekend (Saturday the 17th and Sunday the 18th), neighbors will be meeting 10:00am-4:00pm to prepare the soil and then plant over 3 thousand daffodil bulbs.

The project will be completed in two steps, first preparing the soil on Saturday and then planting on Sunday:

• Aurora Bridge Art Installation - Ground Prep
• Aurora Bridge Art Installation - Daffodil Planting

Wear heavy gloves and yard shoes. Bring your own planting tools: shovels, trowels, hand clippers (for cutting ivy roots). Rain gear if it is wet!

You can find out more on ALUV's website, who first alerted us to this community project.

Hope to see you there!

Well ahead of the light rail opening, many changes are coming to Northgate Transit Center, some over the next few weeks, and others early next year.

Back in September, we saw our first positive change as the 41 bus received more frequent service. However, as Seattle prepares for the period of maximum constraint early next year, you can expect even more changes to come to our transit station.

The first major change coming is the opening of the new parking garage to the north of the station, coinciding with the close of the 2 west side lots:

The new parking garage will contain 450 parking spots, more than making up for the closed lots, but some of the new spots will be reserved for paying customers. More information about the parking changes can be found on Sound Transit's overview. These changes will take effect Monday, November 19th.

Then, come March of next year, big changes are planned for our fastest connection to Bellevue - the 555. The route will be updated to bypass Montlake and operate only between Northgate and Bellevue, no longer serving Eastgate or Issaquah. This should result in much quicker and dependable transit times for those commuting between Licton Springs and Downtown Bellevue.

Finally, with land usage signs now visible around the North Seattle College's Campus, construction on the pedestrian bridge from Licton Springs to the transit center has passed its biggest hurdles and is set to begin construction next year.

Here's to hoping all the transit changes lead to a quicker more dependable commute!

The Aurora Ave N corridor is about to see some welcome color and vibrancy on its pedestrian bridge at N 102nd St. Crews will be focused on cleaning and painting the pedestrian bridge through the next three weeks. The pedestrian bridge will be open during cleaning and painting, although a worker may escort you through the work zone. There may be temporary bridge closures. In six to eight weeks, Vicki Scuri's art installation will be installed.

Inspired by the sunrise, this project adds color and pattern to an aging pedestrian bridge, transforming it into a community landmark gateway. Hundreds of translucent colorful fins transition through the hues of the sunrise across the span of the bridge. The four foot tall and six and half inch wide fins sit on the outside of and attach to the railings. The fins elevate the bridge into a unique art experience for both the cars traveling under and the pedestrians above. The colors on the translucent fins will shift and blend as the viewer moves through the site, creating a dynamic experience. The bridge's columns and stair hold colorful painted graphic, connecting the artwork directly to the site.

This project was funded by the Neighborhood Street Fund program to enhance safety and add visual identity for the Aurora-Licton Urban Village.

Visit the project's webpage at www.seattle.gov/transportation/NSFAuroraCorridor.htm to learn more or sign up for the project's email list.

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!