All posts by dennis

Traffic, Transportation

15th Ave NW Traffic Cameras Now Working

Traffic Camera 15th Ave NW, NW 85th St
15th and 85th (click to go to Traveler's Information Map)

The traffic cameras at NW 85th St. and 15th Ave NW have now gone live, and are beaming back minute by minute images of the intersection.  The cameras were installed earlier in the year at 15th and 85th, 15th and 65th, 15th and Market, and 15th and Leary. They are available on the Department of Transportation’s Travelers Information Map. Refreshing this page will update the image if a new image is available.

These are traffic information cameras designed to provide close to real-time information about traffic congestion. During the Alaska Way Viaduct replacement project, 15th Ave NW is projected to receive additional traffic and these cameras will also provide information to manage the additional traffic. The images from 15th Ave NW and NW 85th  will not be used to issue traffic citations. However, red light cameras are installed for both North- and South-bound traffic at 15th Ave NW and NW 80th.

Other traffic cameras:

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Crown Hill Center, Parks & Greenspace

Crown Hill Park Meeting Wrap-up

Crown Hill Park Meeting

On April 28th, 2010, more than 50 community members gathered in room 4 of the Crown Hill Center (formerly Crown Hill Elementary School) to hear about, see and provide community input on the latest plans for the soon to be Crown Hill Park. Kim Baldwin, Pamela Alspaugh, and Shwu-Jen Hwang of the Seattle Parks and Recreation Dept presented the latest version of the schematic for the new park. Lynn Wirta (former director of Small Faces) presented the latest version of the schematic for the playground which will be on the adjoining Crown Hill Project/Small Faces property.

April 2010 Schematic Park Plan
April 2010 Schematic Park Plan (click to view full size)

The last schematic (developed in 2006) was out of date, and needed to be updated to reflect the change in ownership of the park and school land. When the plan was last looked at, the future park land and buildings were owned by the Seattle School District. Subsequently, the School District surplussed the property and the Crown Hill Project acquired the building(s) and associated land on the northern portion, while the city acquired the actual park land on the southern portion.  In the map below, the park property is shown in green while the Crown Hill Project property is shown in red and blue. Additionally, the project has suffered delays due to the temporary relocation of SFD Fire Station #35 to the southernmost portion of the property. The fire station will be relocating to its newly revamped headquarters in late summer or early fall, clearing the way for the development of the new park.

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Crown Hill Center, Parks & Greenspace, Volunteers

New Playground Plans for Small Faces

Lynn Wirta unveils the new playground plans
Lynn Wirta unveils the new playground plans

At the recent Seattle Parks and Recreation Dept. community meeting to present the proposed plan for the new (as yet unnamed) Crown Hill park, Lynn Wirta presented the conceptual drawings for the new Small Faces playground. Lynn is the recently retired director of Small Faces, and she now serves as a volunteer on the playground renovation project.  Small Faces recently received a Small and Simple Grant from Seattle for $17000 to update the playground. The working group has been meeting on alternate Thursdays for a number of months now, and recently asked for community input in the form of a survey. Community input and especially volunteers are always welcome — contact Small Faces (206.782.2611) or simply come to one of the meetings.

Below are closer views of the actual proposed plan the first is visionary and the second is bare-bones:

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Public Health, Sewers/Drainage

Rats!

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Seen rats in the neighborhood recently? I’ve seen them scurrying about various places (along Holman Road, and fences). And we’re not alone.  Seattle now has a video about the problem and what we can do about it. And according to the video, it is not an urban legend that rats can come up through your toilet.

The press release from the city can be seen here.  If you cannot view the video above, it is also available here.

So, here is what to do if you spot a rat in your toilet:

  1. Stay calm, and shut the lid.
  2. Reach for a bottle of dish detergent.
  3. Squirt dish detergent into the toilet bowl. This will make it harder for the rat to float and swim by neutralizing the oils in the rat’s fur.
  4. Flush repeatedly until the rat is gone.
  5. Report the incident: 206-205-4394 or online here.
  6. More information is available here: http://www.kingcounty.gov/healthservices/health/ehs/rats/sewerbaiting.aspx

Additional information about rats in the city from King County:

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