Monthly Archives: June 2009

Life on the Hill

Walking with Tica: the Triangle Park stream

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Water leaking next to Stevens Place Park running north on 17th Avenue South. Photo by Wendi.
Water leaking next to Stevens Place Park running north on 17th Avenue South. Photo by Wendi.
I’m drafting a post about walking the stairs around Beacon Hill for fun and fitness (okay…not really that fun). That was yesterday’s walk–a little much for an old dog on a hot day.

Today’s walk was a slow stroll around the west side of Beacon Ave. As we often do, we looped around Triangle Park (Stevens Place) for a drink from the fresh, cool water running out into the gutter. Tica appreciates the drink and the chance to splash/pad around in the water. I’m a bit worried about the waste.

The water runs out from a pipe on the curb underneath this blue pillar. Often birds use the resulting puddle as a birdbath. Photo by Wendi.
The water runs out from a pipe on the curb underneath this blue pillar. Often birds use the resulting puddle as a birdbath. Photo by Wendi.
Has anyone else noticed this? There’s either a broken water main or some other problem, because I don’t think the City intentionally pumps large amounts of fresh water into the storm drains on a regular basis. This water has been flowing for at least 2 years. I keep forgetting to call it in and can’t find a way to email it in while it’s fresh in my mind.

Maybe if several of us call? Or if someone reading this works for Parks & Rec and/or Seattle Public Utilities? The water flows out directly underneath the locked blue box on the SW corner of Triangle Park.

Take advantage of the cooler weather and go out for a walk!

Getting Around

Columbian Way closed due to fallen tree, wire in road

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Columbian Way South (and part of South Alaska Street) is closed between Beacon Avenue South and Martin Luther King Jr. Way South, due to a tree that fell and took some power lines with it in the 2500 block at 1:27 am. It’s expected to be closed until at least 8:30 this morning.

(Edited to add: a later story at KIRO has an overhead picture of the fallen tree. Wow, that was a big one!)

Power was out for about 3,000 folks on Beacon Hill and elsewhere in Southeast Seattle, including the VA Hospital. Power has since been restored to all but about 300 City Light customers, and the current expectation is that the power will be fully restored by noon. Here at the BHB, we noticed two power flickers at the time of the outage, but power stayed on in our part of the Hill.

According to City Light, the area now affected is bordered on the north by South Hinds Street, on the south by South Ferdinand Street, between 4th Avenue South and Martin Luther King Jr. Way South.

(Thanks to West Seattle Blog for tweeting useful info and more!)


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This is the approximate location of the downed wires and tree on Columbian Way South.
Getting Around

The last bits of the blue wall coming down

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The final portion of the blue sound wall surrounding the light rail station construction has come down. BeHi Bonsai was there and recorded some video of the process.

The opening is getting closer!

Thanks, B.B.!

(Edited to add: Jason was slightly misled. There is a tiny bit of the blue wall remaining. Most of the site, however, has been freed of its blue prison. Now the chain-link just needs to go away. — Wendi)

Local Business

Amazon Fresh comes to Beacon Hill

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Coming soon to your street. Photo by Jason Walsh.
Coming soon to your street. Photo by Jason Walsh.
The Amazon Fresh grocery delivery service has now come to Beacon Hill. There has been some resentment here on the Hill that, despite having Amazon’s offices right here in North Beacon, we were left out of the delivery area. Now ZIP codes 98144, 98108, and 98118 in Southeast Seattle are eligible for deliveries. (According to the website, however, delivery to 98144 and 98118 is still only partial; they don’t provide a map to show which parts of those ZIP codes don’t get deliveries yet, but if you enter your address on the site you can find out if your house qualifies.)

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has said that Amazon Fresh won’t be expanding outside of the Seattle area anytime soon, so it makes sense they’d be adding more Seattle neighborhoods into the delivery area.

Now, if only Pagliacci would deign to notice Southeast Seattle…

Beacon Bits

Beacon Bits: Missionaries, moving meats, and making crime more difficult

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Getting Around

17th Avenue South to be closed at Lander for repaving

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Starting as soon as Monday, June 15 , 17th Avenue South will be closed at the intersection of South Lander Street for repaving. The closure will remain in place for 24 hours a day/7 days a week, and is anticipated to last for approximately 10-14 days.

Local access will be maintained at all times and all sidewalks will remain open. Flaggers will be available on site to allow local traffic through the work zone.

Sound Transit sends information on the recommended detours during the closure:

The recommended detours are as follows:

Traveling southbound on 17th Ave:
(Option 1) Traffic will be detoured left on S. College Street,
Right on 23rd Ave S,
Right on S. McClellan Street to return to 17th Ave S.

(Option 2), Traffic will be detoured right on S. College Street
Left on 15th Ave S
Left on S. McClellan Street to return to 17th Ave S.

Traveling northbound on 17th Ave:
(Option 1) Traffic will be detoured right on S. McClellan Street
Left on S. 23rd Ave S
Left on S. College Street

(Option 2) Traffic will be detoured left on S. McClellan Street
Right on 15th Ave S
Right on College Ave S to return to 17th Ave S

If you have any construction-related concerns, please call Sound Transit’s construction hotline at
(888) 298-2395.


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Getting Around

Bike lane added to 15th Avenue S

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New bike lane and sharrows on 15th Avenue South, just north of South Atlantic Street. Photo by Jason.
New bike lane and sharrows on 15th Avenue South, just north of South Atlantic Street. Photo by Jason.
15th Avenue South at the north tip of Beacon Hill has been restriped, with a bike lane added to one side of the street and sharrows to the other side.

This part of 15th tends to have drivers who drive excessively fast. Cyclists, remember the bike lane doesn’t guarantee your safety, so please be careful out there; drivers, please watch out for cyclists both here on 15th and elsewhere on the hill, and remember that it is illegal to drive in the bike lane.


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Google Maps shows this area as it was until recently.

(The dedicated bike lane does run only a few blocks before going back to “sharrows”, but it’s a start! — Jason)

Beacon Bits

Beacon Bits: Farewells, fines, and fowl film

Education, Site News

Beacon Hill graduates, send us your names

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Photo by David Goehring.
Photo by David Goehring.
Back in the day, community newspapers used to publish announcements when local residents graduated from high school or college. We’d like to do that, too. If you are a Beacon Hill resident and graduating from high school or college this year, please send us your name, school name, which type of diploma or degree you’ve earned, and a graduation photo by June 15. We’ll post the graduation announcements we receive shortly after that.