Tag Archives: ballard district council

Transportation

Transit Survey

bdc

King County Metro Transit made big changes to many of its bus routes on September 29th, 2012. They made these changes after much public consultation. Most changes to routes and schedules were a response to the introduction of the Rapid Ride C and D lines providing service from West Seattle to Downtown Seattle, and Ballard to Downtown Seattle via Queen Anne. This is a Ballard District Council led initiative to determine whether these changes have made it easier or harder to use public transit. Some people feel their commute or other use of the bus system has been impaired, while others feel the changes have been an improvement. This is not designed as a scientific survey, but an opportunity to see whether or not the service is improved over what it was.

Participation in this survey is completely voluntary. The information collected will be tabulated and used for transit planning discussions for Ballard and in discussions with Metro Transit. The survey is open until Jan 31, 2013

To add your voice, please visit:

tinyurl.com/BallardTransit

Uncategorized

Ballard District Council prioritizes NPF projects for construction in 2012

2 Comments

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.

 

Crown Hill Center

Crown Hill Center Grant to Repair Roof Moves Forward

At the Ballard District Council meeting on May 11th, a grant to repair the roof of the south wing of the future Crown Hill Center received an excellent rating. This means the grant will move forward to the next round, a city-wide review of all large project neighborhood matching grant applications for this year.  The Department of Neighborhoods administers the Large Project Fund for awards up to $100,000 to foster community members in projects which build community involvement in large projects.

The Ballard District Council review committee headed by Joe Wertz, rated the project at 96 out of 100.

The Crown Hill Center was purchased from the Seattle School District two years ago as the result of a community supported effort to acquire the former Crown Hill School, creating the Crown Hill Center and the soon to be Crown Hill Park. The roof project is one of the most critical at the Center, and will prevent deterioration of other elements of the building. Although this project is called the ‘roof project,’ it actually includes many additional elements:

  • Gardening, digging, planning including the rain garden for the west side to address drainage issues
  • Creating signage for the building
  • Building a fence between the playground and the new park
  • Restoring the south lobby
  • Turning the nook outside of the south lobby into an active space to compliment the park
  • Arts Festival activities (all aspects of)

Catherine Weatbrook recently appealed for pledges of community support for this project. Thanks for all the offers, and we look forward to completing the project with your help.  The actual roof work will be done by a contractor rather than volunteers, so no worries about climbing up there and toiling in the hot sun with roofing tar!

Events

Ballard District Council Meeting, Wed May 9th 2012, 7-8:30 PM

BALLARD DISTRICT COUNCIL
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Ballard Library – 5614 22nd NW
(Free parking below building – accessed from NW 56th)
7:00 PM

Chairperson:  Catherine Weatbrook
AGENDA
7:00     Introductions & Short Announcements – please hold announcements to not more than one minute.
7:15     Assistant City Attorney Jana Jorgensen.  Jana has recently been assigned as the City Attorney Liaison to the North Precinct.  She’ll be working on stubborn neighborhood public safety issues including:  graffiti, chronic public nuisance locations, as well as advising and supporting the work of the North Precinct Community Police Team.  She also plays a major role in developing the city’s response to liquor license applications in north Seattle.
7:35     Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Program Update, Matt Preedy – WSDOT.
Matt will provide an update on the two projects replacing the SR 99 Alaskan Way Viaduct along Seattle’s waterfront: replacing the viaduct’s southern mile, near Seattle’s port and stadiums, with a new side-by-side roadway and replacing the viaduct’s central waterfront section with a bored tunnel beneath downtown Seattle. He will provide information on the upcoming construction milestones and measures planned to mitigate the impact to those who must travel to or through the construction zone.
8:00     Update — Central Waterfront/Seawall Project, Steve Pearce, SDOT Project Manager. With the completion of the Deep Bored Tunnel, what are current plans to replace the existing surface Alaska Way?  How will this roadway be configured to accommodate the needs of general traffic, freight, bikes, as well as those who must cross this roadway to access waterfront destinations?  What is envisioned for how ferry traffic to the Colman Dock will be accommodated?  What is the estimated cost of the entire project; and how will it be financed?    Will surface Alaska Way continue to provide an accessible and efficient means of travelling through this corridor; esp for those of us in northwest Seattle?
8:25     Report — Executive Committee, Catherine Weatbrook
8:30     Adjourn
Notes:

For more information or to share your ideas about projects and issues contact

For more information about Ballard and the Ballard District Council go to
www.ballarddistrict.org