As a result of much public backlash to the challenging budget cuts, the City Council has asked the Department of Parks and Recreation to rethink how community centers in Seattle are operated. As part of the process, the city is holding a public meeting with the community to discuss ideas for how the centers could be run differently tomorrow, Wednesday, February 2 at the Miller Community Center, 330 19th Ave. E, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Seattle Parks and Recreation operates 26 community centers. The cost to run the centers far exceeds revenue brought in from center programs. Because of the current budget situation, Parks staff are exploring alternatives that would offer continued services for the public while reducing costs, including new methods of management, staffing, fundraising, and partnerships.
At the February 2 meeting, Parks staff will ask attendees to share ideas and concerns relating to community center operations. In the spring, Parks will hold another public meeting to discuss specific options.
The Community Center Advisory Team, which is comprised of community members, representatives from the Board of Park Commissioners, representatives of employee unions, employees, the Associated Recreation Council, and City Council and City Budget Office staff, is also working on a solution to the community centers operations and budget problems. For questions about the public meeting, contact Susan Golub at susan.golub@seattle.gov or at 206-684-7046.
The Seattle Department of Planning and Development is holding a design review meeting for the Seven Hills development at 6:30 p.m. tonight, Wednesday, January 19 in at the Queen Anne Community Center, located at 1901 1st Ave W, Room 3.
Artist rendering of Seven Hills project courtesy of Emerald Bay Equity.
For those of you unfamiliar with the project, Seven Hills is the third of four mixed-use projects developer Emerald Bay Equity has slated for 2.1 acres of property (referred to as “The Collection”) at the top of Queen Anne hill. The first two developments—the Sweetbrier and Eden Hills mixed-use residential/retail buildings—are already finished and housing a number of retail and residential tenants along Queen Anne Ave N.
The public meeting tonight will serve as a forum for members of the Queen Anne community to discuss the new development plans with EBE representatives, and voice any questions or concerns they may have.
If you’d like to read through the design review proposal before the meeting, you can download the 25-page document here (.pdf).
The Seattle Department of Transportation is hosting a public open house on the Elliott Bay Seawall Project from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. today, Wednesday, January 19, at the Seattle Aquarium, located at 1483 Alaskan Way.
Attendees will have the opportunity to take a virtual tour of options for the seawall, meet the project team and learn how the Seawall Project is coordinating with other waterfront projects.
Officials say attendees will be able to “help design a seawall that supports and protects Seattle’s waterfront, including critical utilities, transportation corridors, recreation and tourist destinations, and thousands of businesses and homes,” meet the project team, and learn more about the intersection of the Seawall project, the Central Waterfront planning process, and the Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Project.
Input from the public will be used to define alternatives to the project. Officials ask that community members submit comments by February 1, so that the Mayor, City Council, and project team may identify preferred alternatives to the seawall project, which they expect to do by April. Construction is currently scheduled to begin in late 2012.
The seawall protects Seattle’s waterfront from wind driven storm waves and the erosive tidal forces of Elliott Bay. Major utilities, Alaskan Way and SR 99, the ferry terminal, and rail lines also are supported by the seawall. Since its construction between 1916 and 1934, the seawall has deteriorated significantly; it does not meet current earthquake standards and must be replaced. The Seattle Department of Transportation is working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on this shoreline protection project.
Major transportation changes are heading to SR 99 as the deep-bored tunnel option to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct moves forward.
Late last month, the Federal Highway Administration, Washington State Department of Transportation and the City of Seattle released its Supplement Draft Environmental Impact Statement (.pdf), which analyzes the bored tunnel alternative, the preferred option for replacing the Viaduct. The SDEIS report outlines the project’s effects on transportation and the environment.
At the most recent Ballard District Council meeting WSDOT representative Mike Rigsby outlined the project for the community. Read the full story at our sister site, MyBallard.
Since the deep-bored tunnel will affect Queen Anne, Magnolia, Ballard, and other north Seattle neighborhoods, we thought we’d keep you abreast of upcoming community meetings regarding the project. This coming Wednesday from 6 to 8 p.m., there will be a hearing at Ballard High School, located at 1418 NW 65th St., to discuss the entire project and the SDEIS. The meeting will be open-house style with display boards and staff to answer questions. Attendees will be able to leave make comments. Until then, read more about the project at MyBallard.com.
(Full disclosure: The Federal Highway Administration, Washington State Department of Transportation and the City of Seattle are sponsors of NextDoorMedia, which owns QueenAnneView and sister site MyBallard.)
The Uptown Alliance‘s Planning and Transportation Committee is hosting a discussion on the Mercer West Project redevelopment, along with representatives from SDOT, from 5 to 10 p.m. tonight, Wednesday, August 4, at the Queen Anne Neighborhood Service Center, located at 160 Roy St.
The Mercer West Project is the final leg of the larger Mercer Corridor Improvements Project, and deals with the street reconfiguration that would make Mercer a two-way street connecting I-5, SR99′s deep bore tunnel north portal, Elliott Ave/15th Ave W corridor, and the neighborhoods of South Lake Union, Uptown and downtown.
Because so much of this corridor lies in Lower Queen Anne—extending from Dexter Ave to Elliott Ave—the neighborhood will be directly affected by the work. The project includes a new, wider Aurora Ave overpass above Mercer, and two-way configurations for Mercer St., W. Mercer St., and Roy St. From the Uptown Alliance’s event description:
SDOT plans to complete the Mercer West Project prior to the opening of the deep bore tunnel segment of SR99. For a period following 2016, the Central Waterfront segment of SR99 will not be fully accessible, as the Viaduct and the connector bridge from Elliott Ave. and Western Ave. are demolished and replaced. In that period there will be freight and general traffic increases in the Mercer Corridor.
Tonight’s meeting will give members of the community an opportunity to hear a presentation on the Mercer West Project, and speak with SDOT Deputy Project Manager Eric O’Brien and KPFF Project Manager for Mercer West Monica Moravec.
For more information contact John Coney at 206-283-2049, or via email at djohnconey@aol.com.
There’s going to be an open house and community meeting on the proposals for the south Fun Forest replacement tonight, Wednesday, July 7 from 4:30 to 8 p.m. at Seattle Center’s Center House main stage.
The open house will be held from 4:30 to 6 p.m., when attendees will have the opportunity to meet with the various project proposers and talk one on one. The meeting will follow from 6 to 8 p.m.
The Seattle Department of Transportation has proposed improvements to the stretch of Dexter Ave N between Mercer and Nickerson that it says are “designed to benefit everyone who uses the street, including commuters, truck drivers, bus passengers, pedestrians, and bicyclists.”
The project would include:
Repaving Dexter Ave N
Installing bike lanes on both sides of the street that are separated from vehicle traffic by a parking lane
Removing the two-way left turn lane
Providing dedicated left-turn lanes at busy intersections
Providing dedicated load zones for businesses that need them
Providing in-lane bus stops to improve transit speed and reliability
Installing dedicated bus islands
SDOT will be holding an open house regarding the plan from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 29 in Conference Room A at the Seattle Center’s Center House.
If you can’t make it to the meeting, public comments may be submitted via e-mail to walkandbike@seattle.gov, or by calling 206-684-7583.
The project, if approved, would be funding Seattle’s Bridging the Gap Levy.
The county is holding an open house tonight, Tuesday, June 22 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Plymouth Congregational Church, located at 1217 6th Ave, and invites the public to take part in the discussion. The meeting will cover the Trolley Bus System Evaluation, a study that will examine the 14-route trolley system and “help the county make an informed decision about the best vehicle technology to use on these routes as the current trolley buses wear out.” For more information, check out the City of Seattle’s electric trolley bus network data (.pdf).
Ever noticed how much quieter some buses (routes 1, 2, 3, 4, 13, etc.) are than the many others that run through Queen Anne? You can thank those overhead wires — and the electric trolley buses they power — for that respite from noise pollution. The trolley buses also produce much less air pollution than diesel buses.
Our news partner The Seattle Times covered this story last month. On Tuesday, June 22, the public will have an opportunity to learn more about the Trolley Bus System Evaluation, a study that will examine the 14-route trolley system and “help the county make an informed decision about the best vehicle technology to use on these routes as the current trolley buses wear out.”
(Photo provided by the City of Seattle, depicts the central corridor of the King Country Metro Trolley Bus Network as of 2010).
The open house will be held downtown at Plymouth Congregational Church (1217 6th Avenue) from 5 to 7 p.m. For more information, see the City of Seattle’s electric trolley bus network data (.pdf).
What do you think of the trolley buses and their possible replacement with diesel buses or other alternatives?
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Ever noticed how much quieter some buses (routes 1, 2, 3, 4, 13, etc.) are than the many others that run through Queen Anne? You can thank those overhead wires — and the electric trolley buses they power — for that respite from noise pollution. The trolley buses also produce much less air pollution than diesel buses.