From our friends at the Wallingford Community Council:
Time: 7:00 – 8:30 PM
Date: Wednesday, March 2
Location: Zoom videoconferencing
Please join us for our monthly meeting with our featured guest, Councilmember Sara Nelson (position 9, citywide). We also will have a conversation about the Seattle Redistricting Commission’s plans.
Meeting Agenda
- Question & Answer session with Councilmember Sara Nelson – Attendees can ask questions directly in the videoconference, by submitting them through the chat feature, or in advance by email to the moderator.
- Seattle Redistricting – Guest Elsa Batres-Boni, Civic Engagement Advisor, will introduce the Seattle Redistricting Commission and how to participate. The Seattle Redistricting Commission is responsible for overseeing the development of new City Council district lines in response to the completed 2020 Census.
- Update on new apartment building on Stone Way N. – Guest Scott Lien from Kamiak will join us to provide an update on the development plans and design.
- Board / Committee reports
- Good of the order – (anything you want to bring up).
- Announcements
Register for the March WCC Meeting
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. Registration is presently limited to 100 participants. The Zoom service is available as an application for computers, as an app for iPhones or Android phones, or via browser. Please configure your device before the meeting to ensure your participation. |
Thanks. Question submitted.
“Bike and pedestrian access from Wallingford to the new U District station is terrible. NE 45th Street has narrow and crumbling sidewalks (a portion of which, at I-5, has been dug up since September with no apparent work being done), and no safe bike access.
“It’s not like the station is a surprise: the city has known about it for over a decade. Yet nothing was, or has been, done to improve access for Wallingford’s bikers and walkers. Something needs to be done YESTERDAY. What do you propose?”
Doug, the status of the project to improve that connection is here:
https://www.udistrictmobility.com/safe-crossing.html
The only problems we are running into are with SDOT leadership. They are afraid to make any changes to the bridge. All community councils and residents are infavor of the proposed changes. Please offer support for this connection happening.
I’m a little fuzzy on the University District part of this route. I see they want to route bicycles on NE 43rd / 8th NE / NE 45th, but is there a more or less concrete idea for how that would look, on NE 45th? What lane space there’s going to be on NE 45th, how westbound bicycles get from 8th NE onto NE 45th, etc.? I doubt you’re going to talk SDOT into sacrificing a motor vehicle lane there – traffic in the U District is only going to get worse, a lot worse if the UW’s plans are realized. If this improved bridge design just dumps you onto 7th NE & NE 45th and good luck to you, it’s a bridge to nowhere for most bicyclists.
See slide 5 under “why is it important?” for planned cyclist routing. The main benefit to cyclists is to help with the uphill into Wallingford. In the U-District and Wallingford they are routed to greenways parallel to 45th.
OK, you’re saying the westbound route is NE 47th, which makes sense, but … why not do what I do, from there, and cross north to NE 50th, on the south sidewalk? Then south on 5th NE, where there’s “sharrows” so you know you’re doing the right thing, and up 47th per old master plan, which is quiet and I think the grade is a little better.
When you insist on taking the route down to NE 45th, via “Roosevelt Mews” (?) or 8th NE, there’s still an unresolved problem getting to the bridge. It’s just a block, but it’s a horrible block that’s absolutely unsuitable for bicycle traffic.