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?

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)

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.

• 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.

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

Photos from WSDOT

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

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.

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.

As of this week Parfait has also added two Queen Anne stops to its regular schedule.The truck will be outside of Caffe Fiore on Galer from 5:30 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday evenings, and at the Queen Anne Farmers Market every Thursday from 3 to 7 p.m.

While the idea of a mobile ice cream shop may not be exactly new, Adria says Parfait is 100 percent unique.

“I am currently the only ice cream maker in Seattle that is both made-from-scratch and all organic. I don’t purchase a pre-fab ice cream mix from Snoqualmie Gourmet. Rather, I make my own custards by hand in the Parfait kitchen using certified organic dairy, eggs, and produce that I source directly from small local farms. The base of Parfait ice cream has only four ingredients: milk, cream, sugar, and eggs. Pure and simple. There is no corn or stabilizers of any kind in my ice cream.  I also make all of my own cones, and all of the confections that go into my ice cream. Parfait is REAL food, slow food, and truly farm-to-cone! It’s also pretty delicious, if I must say so myself,” she wrote.

MyBallard visited the Parfait kitchen (a commercial kitchen for rent called Cookspace) and took video of Adria making vanilla bean ice cream. The local ice cream maker was also covered on NPR’s Weekend Edition on Sunday (listen to that here), and was featured in the July issue of Sunset Magazine as one of the West’s Best Ice Creams.

In addition to Parfait’s regular flavor offerings, it also has a few scrumptious sounding seasonal flavors, including blueberry ice cream, vegan apricot sorbet, and new brownie ice cream sandwiches.

To keep up with the latest, check Parfait’s schedule, and follow them on Twitter and Facebook.