South Lander Street will be closed between 16th Avenue South and 17th Avenue South from Monday, October 12, through December 1 for construction of the new Lander Festival Street. The Festival Street will extend the plaza north from Beacon Hill Station, providing a space for neighborhood festivals and events.
The project will include construction of a new roadway with decorative pavers, at the same level as the sidewalks, making the street “curbless”; adding removable bollards that can be used to close the street during events; adding other side treatments to delineate the roadway surface; and installing pedestrian-scale lighting.
During construction, along with the road closure of South Lander Street, you can expect pedestrian detours and some moderate to high construction noise and dust for a short period of time. Typical work hours are planned to be 7:00 am to 4:00 pm, Monday through Friday.
The Festival Street project is a community-generated project, requested by the North Beacon Hill Council, and funded through the Large Neighborhood Street Fund. The Seattle Department of Transportation project website is located at http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/btg_nsf_lander.htm.
As posted earlier, there is a Town Hall Meeting of the Metropolitan King County Council in Southeast Seattle tomorrow, September 30. The topics of the meeting are the impact light rail will have on the regional transit system, and the fiscal challenges facing Metro Transit, which is facing a deficit of $213 million for 2010-2011. Presenters will take questions from the audience and Councilmembers will take public testimony on any issue at the end of the program.
The meeting will be held at the Rainier Vista Boys and Girls Club, 4520 Martin Luther King Jr. Way South. The site is only one block north of Columbia City Station. The public is invited to meet with Councilmembers at an informal reception starting at 6:00 p.m. The Town Hall will begin at 6:30 p.m.
This is an opportunity to meet with both officials from Metro Transit and the members of the County Council, including Larry Gossett, the Councilmember who represents the Beacon Hill and Rainier Valley communities on the County Council.
Here’s a video invitation from Bob Ferguson and Larry Gossett with more information about the town hall meeting:
Unfortunately this does conflict with the Neighborhood Plan Update Open House which is scheduled from 6:00 – 8:00 pm, but the site of that open house is just up the street, at the Asian Counseling and Referral Service, 3639 Martin Luther King Jr Way South, so it may be possible to stop in at both if you need to.
Photo courtesty cityofseattle.netYou may have noticed some red and white “no parking” signs on or near Beacon Avenue south of the library recently. City workers are trimming the trees along that stretch today and tomorrow, ensuring that they don’t interfere with electrical or other utility lines.
Shoddy phone picture by Jason
View of the African-American Museum from Beacon Bluff. Photo by melissajonas. I’m a foul-weather gym member. The Meredith Matthews YMCA (just off 23rd in the Central District) has a great facility and low rates—and they allow me to join and cancel at will with no fees. This allows me to workout outside when I want, and inside when the weather shifts. I prefer to spend as much time outside as possible in the summer, and to integrate my workouts into the rest of my life as much as possible.
If you’re looking for a great workout in our neighborhood, check out the stairs running east-west on the streets between 15th and 17th. I created a Google map to give an idea of stair locations and the route we take. Be creative and explore the area—I usually incorporate a few hills in addition to the stairs.
Depending on how much time I have (and how Tica’s feeling) we’ll walk or jog the stairs while heading north, then slow down and head south towards home along a less steep route.
Electric trolley buses such as this one (downtown) have been a common sight on Beacon Avenue for decades. Photo by Oran Viriyincy.If you live along the northern part of the 36 bus route, you probably know that many of the buses on that route are electric trolley buses. The trolley buses are good neighbors to have around; they are quiet and don’t spew exhaust or contribute to global warming. Currently, Metro is facing a big budget gap, and there have been rumors that this may mean cutting back on electric trolleys or removing them entirely.
In an interview with Seattle Transit Blog, short-term County Executive Kurt Triplett said they have “3 years to make that decision” because the existing trolleys have that much service life remaining. Commenter “serial catowner” posted a skeptical reply:
Having seen some of this stuff go down in my previous life, I can tell you right now you’re in extreme danger of losing the electric trolleys–and getting them back wouldn’t be easy.
The process is disarmingly simple- first, when you ask, they tell you “Nobody’s thinking of that”. And then, suddenly, it’s all “Well, that decision was made long ago, there’s nothing to be done about it now”…
…If they weren’t quietly preparing to jettison the ETBs, Triplett’s answer would have been “No, of course not, we’re not going to lose the only buses we have that can keep running when oil prices go up”.
A follow-up comment from an anonymous “transit voter” struck home:
Serial Catowner has it correct. Just remember the George Benson Waterfront Streetcar Line, how it met its demise. The long knives were out, and they found their mark.
We don’t claim to have any inside knowledge on what Metro’s plans are for the trolleys, and anonymous commenters on a blog are not necessarily reliable, but it seems to us that if you like the electric trolleys that run on Beacon Hill and elsewhere in the city, it would certainly be a very good time to let someone know how you feel. You can email County Exec Triplett at kcexec@kingcounty.gov or use the mailing address and phone number on his website. You can also contact King County Council members Larry Gossett and Dow Constantine, who each serve part of Beacon Hill. Constantine is running for King County Executive, so contacting him with your concerns on this issue may be particularly important.
And here we thought they just looked nice. Photo by Wendi.Apparently the new lights on the Beacon Hill station that we featured in a photo post the other day are not just for looks. We’re told they have a function, too. The lights are blue when the elevator reaches the street level, then change to purple as the elevator goes down to the platform. If this is true, it makes it easier to see which elevator to stand in front of while waiting for the door to open — as long as it’s dark enough to see them, and if you are not color-blind.
Edited to add: I watched them tonight and the colors constantly change, whether the elevators are moving or not. When an elevator opens, the light over that elevator does turn blue — but it also turns blue randomly when the elevator isn’t even moving. When the elevator closes and goes down again, it does seem to turn purple. But since the colors randomly change, and the blue color change does not come until the doors open, it doesn’t seem very functional. It’s awfully pretty, though!
This mural overlooking Hing Hay Park will have a fine view of Saturday's Chinatown-International District Night Market. Photo by J. Brew.If you are planning to leave the Hill on Saturday, you may want to be aware of some nearby events that will affect traffic.
Seattle’s Chinatown-International District Night Market will run from 6:00 pm until 11:00 pm at Hing Hay Park. The market features local vendors with food, gifts, art, and more. There will also be entertainment, games, and the Bruce Lee movie Enter The Dragon at dusk. It’s free and open to the public. Streets in the area will be closed from 3:00 pm until Midnight. Easiest way to get there? Take Link light rail from the Beacon Hill Station to the International District/Chinatown station, then walk two blocks East on South King Street.
The Central Area Community Festival will run from 11:00 am until 9:00 pm at the Garfield Community Playfield, 2223 E Cherry Street. There won’t be any street closures, but you should expect heavy traffic in the surrounding area.
And, lastly, there’s a pre-season football game. The Seahawks will take on the hated Denver Broncos in Qwest Field at 7:30 pm. 45,000 are expected to attend, so avoid the stadium area if you need to drive at that time. Going to the game? Take Link light rail from the Beacon Hill Station to the Stadium station, then walk west, then north, to Qwest Field. It’s hard to miss.
Mayor Nickels–give it up. Seattle City Council members. You too. As well as King County Council members, Governor Gregoire, State representatives and all candidates for the above offices.
I’m talking about your car. For a week. Just a week.
You see, my wife and I answered the call to help the region and the planet by giving up our car over four years ago. With climate change upon us, it was imperative that we transition out of our auto-centric society. Get on the bus. Get on our bikes. Get out and walk.
We were in a good position to give up our car. We don’t have kids. We live on Beacon Hill with frequent bus service (and now light rail). We have stores, restaurants, a library, and a park all within a ten minute walking distance of our house. We both do most of our work from home.
Easy.
OK. Walking up the hill from the grocery store with a 20lb Thanksgiving turkey in an excursion-size backpack wasn’t easy. Waiting outside in a 40 degree drizzle for a bus that never came wasn’t fun. And taking 4 buses and a ferry to get to Sequim wasn’t convenient.
It didn’t take long to understand that for someone who owns a private vehicle, our city and region’s public transportation, bike paths and pedestrian corridors are top notch. Because when it isn’t easy, fun or convenient… you take your car.
When I joined the ranks of the carless, I began an education in how auto-centric our green little region is, and how far we have to go to get to be a truly livable place … for everyone.
How many of my neighbors park their cars across the sidewalk. How cracked and poorly maintained those sidewalks are. How fast the cars fly by on our residential streets. How few cars yield to me in a cross walk. How few bike racks there are outside the businesses I frequent. How poorly signed (or not at all) the bike routes are throughout the city. How terrifying biking can be in downtown Seattle. How little park space we have downtown and how much space we devote to parking.
So many issues and problems invisible to me while driving in my own personal vehicle.
Now I’m asking you all to give up your car. Not for four years. Just seven days.
For seven days live the life that few have chosen and many have no choice but to live.
Believe me, no matter how long you have lived in or served this region, you’ll learn things that will surprise you.
I know I did. And I’ve lived here for 25 years.
The best decisions about transit and neighborhood planning will be made by government officials who have taken the time to live a life without a car as an option.
Thirty years after the stadium’s demise, the area is a relatively automobile-focused district containing fast food and big stores like Lowe’s, Rite Aid, and QFC, mostly surrounded by large parking lots, with cars speeding by on Rainier Avenue. It’s not a pedestrian-friendly environment, but the intent is that the new station, and the potential transit-friendly development it will attract, will improve that.
East of the station rises the imposing neoclassical façade of Franklin High School, which opened in 1912 and was renovated in the late 1980s.
Northeast of Lowe’s on MLK, between South Walker and South Bayview streets, you’ll find the Martin Luther King Junior Memorial Park, a tiered, grassy amphitheatre-like space containing a reflecting pool and a 30-foot-tall granite sculpture by Robert Kelly, inspired by King’s “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech.
There is good eating to be found near the station, even if you have to dodge a few cars to find it. Thai Recipe is located in the same strip mall as Domino’s on McClellan, and it is the only Thai restaurant we know of that even borders on North Beacon Hill. The very friendly staff serves good, reliable, and tasty Thai food, available for take out or to eat in the small dining room.
Perhaps your current craving is for a cheesesteak sandwich instead. If so, there’s The Original Philly’s, almost in the shadow of Mount Baker station at the intersection of Rainier and McClellan.
The art at this station includes chandeliers on the underside of the guideway, made from recycled “cobra head” street lights (Sky Within by Sheila Klein), and painted glass forming splashes of color on the glass face of the station (Rain, Steam and Speed and Seattle Sunrise, both by Guy Kemper);
If you continue on the train toward downtown from Mount Baker, you will then turn west and enter the Beacon Hill tunnel. Here’s a video taken by Oran Viriyincy to give you a taste of what it’s like to ride the train from Mount Baker into the tunnel.
In the last few days, the Beacon Hill Station has gotten closer and closer to completion, with the addition of landscaping, paving, and public art. Laborers have been working night and day to ready the station for tomorrow's Grand Opening. Photo by Jason.
