Category Archives: Uncategorized

Ballard District Council prioritizes NPF projects for construction in 2012

The City of Seattle each year funds approximately $1.2 million dollars worth of projects citywide through the Neighborhood Projects Funds. The funds are composed of the Neighborhood Street Fund and Cumulative Reserve Subfund. The City tries to equitably allocate funds among the 13 neighborhood districts in the city. An equitable share for a district is approximately $90,000. Projects are: 1) proposed by citizens; 2) initially evaluated by district councils; 3) checked for feasibility and costed by SDOT and Parks and Recreation; 4)  re-prioritized by the district councils; 5) moved through the city budget process by Mayor and City Council; then 6) implemented the following year.

The process this year recommended 3 projects in Crown Hill in the following priority:

  1. Textured crosswalks on NW 85th Street. The committee recommended that $20,000 be allocated to construct textured crosswalks across NW 85th at 8th Ave NW and 15th Ave NW. The textured crosswalks are inlaid into the pavement and provide an attractive, durable marking.
  2. Radar speed signs on 8th Ave NW between NW 85th and NW 100th. Originally this proposal also included establishment of dedicated bicycle lanes. The dedicated bike lanes would have reduced on street parking and the district council review committee decided to limit the proposal to the radar speed signs only. The review committee recommendation was to allocate up to $40,000 to fund the two radar speed signs.
  3. Speed control on residential streets 13th Ave NW and 14th Ave NW between NW 95th and NW 100th Streets. There were initially two separate proposals received to install speed bumps on these blocks individually. The review committee recommended the projects be considered jointly for more effective speed control.  The recommendation is to allocate up to $40,000 to install speed control measures to be determined by SDOT in consultation between the neighbors and SDOT’s Neighborhood Traffic Control Program.

The grand total this year is estimated at $100,000 for the 3 projects.

 

Rapid Ride Line “D” Route Map Updated


View 15/Line D changes in Crown Hill in a larger map

Back in January 2011, we reported the tentative routing for the northern terminus of King County Metro’s new Line “D” service. That routing as well as the routing for the southern terminus has now been finalized. Additionally station and stop information has been added and/or altered. In the map above, the new routing is in red and the current routing (15 and 15X) buses is in blue. The official route map from King County Metro is below.  KC Metro has recently secured federal funding for the “C” line. The “D” line has not yet been funded by the Federal Transit Administration. The D line is presently proposed to be up and running in late 2012. More information on the D line is available here.  Metro also has a Rapid Ride Blog which is updated from time to time.

Rapid Ride Line D routing and stops
Rapid Ride Line D routing and stops (click to download PDF from Metro)

 

Fall 2011 NMF Grants Focus on Emergency Preparedness

For any one planning to submit a proposal (or who has already submitted a proposal) for a Dept of Neighborhoods Small and Simple Grant for fall of 2011, the DON will only consider granting funds for Emergency Preparedness activities in conjunction with the SPD Office of Emergency Management. The full text of the DON press release follows:

 Neighborhood Matching Fund to focus on emergency preparedness for fall cycle
New Small and Simple Projects Fund focus and deadline to be announced  

July 15, 2011 (Seattle, WA) – The next cycle of the Small and Simple Projects Fund will have a single focus on
emergency preparedness this fall. Seattle Department of Neighborhoods is partnering with the Office of
Emergency Management to offer this funding opportunity which invests city resources to help community
members connect, organize, and plan for emergency situations with their neighbors. The recent national and
international disasters are vivid reminders that all need to be prepared.

No applications outside of the new emergency preparedness focus will be accepted for the last cycle of the 2011
Small and Simple Projects Fund. The exception is for existing capital projects funded by the Neighborhood
Matching Fund (NMF) that are ready for their next phase of implementation; these projects will be invited to
apply by their NMF project manager.  

Once the new focus is finalized later this fall, information on project types, funding amounts, and the application
process will be available at www.seattle.gov/neighborhoods/nmf/smallandsimple.htm. The deadlines for the
2012 cycles of the Small and Simple Projects Fund will be announced in November.

LED streetlights coming to Crown Hill soon!

Seattle City Light installed new LED streetlights in Olympic Manor a couple of weeks ago. The new streetlights are replacing the older sodium vapor lights. The new lights are much more energy efficient, but even more important, they have a projected life of three to four times the life of the old lights. The biggest difference is in the more natural rendering of colors — the sodium vapor lamps have an orange color balance while the LED replacements are much closer to day light, and this allows us to see colors of vehicles and clothing more accurately. City Light recently completed the rollout of the new lights in the area south of 65th. The LED lamps will be installed this year to the northern border (145th Street). Commercial areas and major thoroughfares will be phased in soon as well.

Sodium Vapor Street Light
Sodium Vapor Street Light
LED Street Light
LED Street Light

We received a press release from Councilmember Bruce Harrell’s office explaining the program in more detail:

Continue reading LED streetlights coming to Crown Hill soon!

Heaven and Earth III: Sculptures Return to Carkeek Park

Many of you recall last year’s Heaven and Earth installation at Carkeek Park. The show was a great way to view man-made art in a natural setting. This year’s show: Heaven and Earth III, Cycles of Return will run from July 9th to October 9th 2011. It also includes a satellite installation at Point Shilshole Beach.

Heaven & Earth III: Cycles of Return

According to the Save Carkeek Park blog:

A walking tour of Carkeek’s “Heaven and Earth 3” takes about an hour and a half.  Some works can be seen in less time, including a variety visible from the access road.

See lots more information plus links to the prior two installations at the Heaven And Earth website.