The Queen Anne Pool has now officially moved to its fall schedule.  Fall swimming lessons start next Monday, September 13 featuring courses for toddlers all the way up to adults.  You can find a complete schedule of lessons here starting on page 24.  You can register online here.

By the way, the pool is closed this Friday (9/10) for an employee furlough.

More than a dozen people got mixed up in a brawl outside Dick’s on Lower Queen Anne. It happened around 2am last Tuesday (8/31). When officers arrived, one person was on the ground unconscious. Witnesses say it all began with a verbal altercation inside the restaurant involving two different groups. Once everyone got outside, punches started flying. A third group then got involved. By the time it was over, the two primary suspects had to be taken to the hospital. You can read the full police report below.

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The city is sprucing up Counterbalance Park (no pun intended).

Over the last week nine new trees have appeared at the gravel and concrete laden ‘urban park,’ most of which have yet to be planted.

The new trees make me wonder if we should trade in some of that gravel for fresh grass? What do you think?

Although some Queen Anne community members have concerns, SDOT says it prefers the so called “curved” option for 6th Ave North around the new Gates Foundation campus on Lower Queen Anne.  During last night’s meeting of the Queen Anne Community Council, SDOT laid out the pros and cons of both the curved option and the straight option.  It’s all part of the Mercer Corridor Improvement Project that will widen Mercer and convert it to a two-way operation going east and west.

The curved option for 6th Ave N (seen below) would go around the Gates campus instead of cutting through it. 

• Half signal at the intersection of 6th and Mercer
• Traffic on Mercer going west won’t stop at the intersection
• No left turn from Mercer onto 6th
• Protected lane barrier for drivers turning left from 6th onto Mercer
• No pedestrian crossing at 6th and Mercer
• Pedestrian crossings only at Taylor and Dexter
• 6.5% grade

The straight option (below), which SDOT is moving away from and is not supported by the Gates Foundation, would cut through part of the Gates campus and under one building.

• Full signal allowing all movements at intersection 6th and Mercer
• Pedestrian crossings at 6th, Taylor and Dexter
• 4.5% grade

Although the straight option may looking more appealing at first glance, SDOT says the costs will be much lower by going with the curved option.  Some members of the council and residents in the audience worried that SDOT is trying to “choke” traffic and make it more difficult for drivers.  They also expressed concerns about freight mobility, saying the higher grade of the road on the curved option might prove difficult for truckers. 

One other interesting detail came out in the meeting.  SDOT is considering an additional lane on Mercer Place all the way up the hill from Elliott Avenue, instead of the current quick merge into one lane at the bottom of the intersection.  One person urged SDOT to consider sidewalks on Mercer Place if that change is made.

SDOT will host an open house on the Mercer project on September 21 from 4:30 to 7:30pm in the Seattle Center’s Lopez Room.

What the completed curved option would look like (looking south toward downtown)

SDOT is warning to drivers to be prepared for heavy congestion around Seattle Center this weekend.  Up to 50,000 people are expected to attend this year’s Bumbershoot festival.  Plan on heavier traffic than usual between the I-5 Mercer Street ramps and Seattle Center.  There are no road closures.  Bumbershoot runs from 11am to 11pm on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

From the Bumbershoot archives

Our partners at the Seattle Times say Saturday “Standard” tickets to mainstage acts Bob Dylan and The Decemberists are sold out. Standard tickets for Sunday (Weezer, Hole, Rise Against) and Monday (Mary J. Blige, Drake and J. Cole) are going fast.  “Economy” tickets for all three days are still available.

Kick off your Labor Day weekend a little early, with some fresh eats, live music and all around foodie fun at the Queen Anne Farmers Market this afternoon. Check out the lineup:

• 3 to 7 p.m.—Music by Santa Fe, New Mexico’s The Andé Marimba Band
• 4 p.m.—Chef Demo by Daniel Ahern and Shauna James Ahern of Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef
• 5 p.m.—Kids’ Cooking Class with Hsiao-Ching Chou, of Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution-Seattle
• 6 p.m.—Cooking Demo and Book Signing with Kim O’Donnel of the Meat Lover’s Meatless Cookbook

The featured nonprofit this week is Queen Anne Emergency Preparedness. As always the market will be held from 3 to 7 p.m. on W. Crockett Street at Queen Anne Ave N.

140 trees will soon be torn down as part of the Mercer Corridor Improvement Project.  The folks over at Publicola report many of the trees are in the direct right-of-way that will become the new two-way Mercer Street.  SDOT tells Publicola that the rest of the trees could pose a danger to construction crews.   SDOT will replace those tree with 280 new ones, but a spokesman couldn’t tell Publicola how many of the trees being torn down are mature trees.  SDOT also plans to put in shrubs and a rain garden.

The project is estimated to cost $295 million. It will widen Mercer Street to become a two-way boulevard, reconstruct Valley Street for local access, improve transit connections, install bicycle lanes and widen sidewalks. Read more on the Mercer Corridor project here.

After three consecutive Sundays of rivet busting and lane closures on the Aurora Bridge, crews will take this Sunday off to keep traffic moving smoothly over the Labor Day weekend.  Rivet removal, along with the ”rivet buster” equipment, will pick up again on September 12.

Crews continue to work Monday through Thursday nights drilling holes for the suicide prevention fence across the bridge.

Photos from WSDOT

Just a reminder that the Queen Anne Community Council meets tonight at 7pm at the QA Community Center (1901 1st Ave W).  All members of the neighborhood are welcome to attend.  Here’s the agenda for the evening, which includes discussion of the 6th Avenue N alignment options:

7pm:  Adoption of agenda, approval of minutes, treasurer’s report

7:10pm:  Open forum/comments

7:20pm:  Mercer West/6th Ave N traffic alignment (see previous QueenAnneView coverage here)

8pm:  Port Centennial

8:10pm:  Council elections committee

8:25pm:  Committee reports

8:45pm:  New business

8:55pm:  Adjourn

Mayor Mike McGinn and the City Council are looking for candidates for the Citizens’ Telecommunications and Technology Advisory Board (CTTAB) for terms beginning in January. Members would help shape city technology and city government telecommunications policies.

The City seeks five new members who reflect a broad range of diversity, professional and community experience. Here’s the information they sent us:

The 10-member board advises City officials on issues of community-wide interest relating to telecommunications and technology, including broadband, digital divide issues, open government and community technology applications, online public engagement, and cable television.

Members serve a two-year term, must reside in Seattle and serve without compensation.

Participation in the CTTAB requires attendance at monthly meetings (second Tuesday of each month) and participation in at least one sub-committee that meets monthly. Board members also attend and participate in infrequent relevant public meetings and events.

To be considered, send a letter of interest and a resume outlining your experience by September 28, 2010 to Nicole.Schultz@seattle.gov. In keeping with the City’s “Paper Cuts” program, electronic submissions are preferred, though paper applications will also be accepted.

While driving around Seattle, it’s hard not to notice the overhead wire that runs above about 70 miles of pavement in and around the city. King County Metro Transit has a fleet of 159 electric trolley buses that operate along those lines, which had 19.7 million boardings on its routes in 2009—about one-fifth of Metro’s total average weekday ridership.

Photo courtesy of King County Metro Transit

Queen Anne is a neighborhood that happens to have quite a few trolley lines going through it, (including routes 1, 2, 3, 4, 13, etc.).

The county needs to replace all 159 existing vehicles by 2015, with an order deadline at the end of 2012.

(Photo provided by the City of Seattle, depicts the central corridor of the King Country Metro Trolley Bus Network as of 2010).

King County Executive Dow Constantine has sent the King County Council a plan for a proposed evaluation in its imminent replacement of this fleet. It focuses on the technology of electric trolleys and diesel-electric hybrid buses, with a goal toward finding the most fuel-efficient, best value for the system. The Trolley Bus System Evaluation (.pdf) is expected to continue through the middle of next year. It will explore the costs, impact on the environment, funding opportunities and legal issues.

Metro plans additional public meetings for discussion of the evaluation as results become available. The next one is in Mount Baker on Sept.13.

Metro has already conducted a preliminary evaluation of several potential propulsion systems, including electric trolley, diesel, diesel-electric hybrid, compressed natural gas, electric battery, and hydrogen fuel cells.