Category Archives: Getting Around

Getting Around, Health and Safety

WSDOT warns neighborhood: construction to be noisy

1 Comment

Enjoy holiday peace and quiet while you can. According to the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), neighbors living near I-5 need to prepare for noisy construction work over 11 weekends starting on January 4, 2013 and ending in April. This is to replace 31 steel expansion joints in ramps on northbound I-5 near Georgetown, and between I-5 and the West Seattle Bridge, 6th Avenue South, South Spokane Street, and Columbian Way South.

WSDOT warns that nearby neighbors may hear jackhammers, sawcutters, air-powered tools, and other noise. Work crews will use noise shields when feasible. If you want to ensure your sound sleep, free earplugs are available to nearby residents; call 206-440-4699 for more information.

Along with the noise, there will be complete closures of the affected ramps during work weekends, and occasionally during the week. Detours will be provided.

See more about the project here.

Clean and Green, Getting Around, Neighborhood Pride, Urban Planning

Beacon Hill bicycle and pedestrian plan honored with award

2 Comments
Photo by Wendi Dunlap.

The Beacon Hill Family Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan, a project of Beacon BIKES and the City of Seattle, has won a 2012 VISION 2040 Award from the Puget Sound Regional Council. Vision 2040 Awards honor real-life examples of sustainable growth and improvements to quality of life in Puget Sound communities.

The Beacon Hill Family Bicycle and Pedestrian Circulation Plan has been designed as a ten-year plan to develop a network of pedestrian and bicycle routes to connect important and well-used locations with neighborhood greenways, cycle tracks, intersection improvements, and other solutions to increase safety for walkers and cyclists of all ages. Among the proposals is a crosswalk and “median refuge island” at South Spokane Street and Lafayette Avenue South, a location that leads directly into Jefferson Park from a neighborhood greenway but is currently very dangerous to cross.

Read more about the award here.

Getting Around, News

Zipcar car sharing service returns to Beacon Hill

10 Comments
Zipcar sign in Washington DC. Photo by NCinDC via Creative Commons/Flickr.
In December 2008 carless Beaconians received an unwelcome Christmas gift when Zipcar announced they were pulling out of Southeast Seattle. The car sharing service had kept a car in a spot at Red Apple for some months. The closing announcement they emailed to customers suggested unhelpfully that the Zipcar location at South Charles Street/Hiawatha Place (on the other side of I-90, near Dearborn, and about 1.4 miles away from the Red Apple site) would be a good alternative. (That location is no longer in service.)

This December, Zipcar is bringing a much more welcome gift: the return of a Zipcar location on Beacon Hill. Two vehicles will be located at the El Centro de la Raza parking lot at 16th Avenue South and Roberto Maestas Festival Street. The cars, a Nissan Sentra nicknamed “Seahawk” and a Kia Soul named “Shapeshifter,” will be available to Zipcar users for $8-10.25 per hour (depending on vehicle) or, in the case of the Sentra, $72 per day.

Along with the Beacon Hill location, there are two other Southeast Seattle Zipcar sites: Rainier Avenue South/South Angeline, and South Othello Street/MLK Jr Way South.

Getting Around

Columbian Way/I-5/West Seattle Bridge interchange repairs to force weekend closures

2 Comments

The West Seattle Blog reports that a new WSDOT project will start early next year which will affect Beacon Hill drivers traveling through the West Seattle Bridge/I-5/Columbian Way interchange. The project, “Spokane Street Interchange Vicinity – Special Bridge Repair,” is to replace deteriorating expansion joints on the interchange. Some weekend ramp closures will be required to complete the work.

Closures will begin the weekend of January 4-7 and continue into April. See the closure schedule and detour maps here.

The ramps to be worked on. Map courtesy of WSDOT.
Getting Around

Pedestrian improvements planned for Beacon/14th intersection

1 Comment

Mayor Mike McGinn today announced new funding for a Safe Routes to School project on North Beacon Hill. The project would install curb bulbs, curb ramps, and a pedestrian island at the complicated intersection of Beacon Avenue South and 14th Avenue South, near Beacon Hill International School.

Other projects in the Safe Routes to School program include pedestrian improvements near West Woodland Elementary School in Ballard, and improvements near McGilvra Elementary in Madison Park. The $800,000 for the plan comes from the city’s Real Estate Excise Tax, which is required by law to go to fund capital projects such as these.


View Planned pedestrian improvements at Beacon and 14th in a larger map

Getting Around, Local Business, Neighborhood Pride

New bicycle parking at Red Apple

10 Comments
Jumping for joy at the Red Apple’s new bike corral. Photo provided by Dylan Ahearn.
Dylan Ahearn of Beacon BIKES sent us a celebratory announcement and photo:

“It is the small things that count.

“After months of persistent effort, hours of off-the-cuff design work, and even construction management, out own Ryan Harrison has, with the gracious support of our friends at the Beacon Merchants Association and Red Apple, succeeded in shepherding the construction of a sweet new bike corral at Red Apple. As you can see from the attached photo we are jumping for joy up on Beacon Hill.

“Way to go Ryan for all the hard work, the Beacon Merchants Association for supplying a $500 grant, and Red Apple for footing the rest of the bill.

“Ryan has all the details if you want more.

“Show the Apple some love and roll in soon for your next shopping trip.”

Getting Around

South Orcas sidewalk project begins Sept. 4

A new sidewalk will soon make South Orcas Street a bit friendlier to pedestrians. The sidewalk is to be built on the south side of Orcas between 28th Avenue South (near the Chief Sealth Trail and Dearborn Park School) and 32nd Avenue South and will include ADA-compliant ramps, rebuilt driveways, and improvements to vegetation along with the new concrete sidewalk.

However, there is some pain to come before the promise of better walking conditions. During the project work, starting September 4, South Orcas Street will be closed for 24 hours a day to eastbound traffic between Beacon Avenue South and 32nd Avenue South. There will be an open sidewalk on the north side of the street. Completion of the sidewalk project is scheduled for October 31.

For more information about the Orcas sidewalk project, see the project’s website. We first wrote about this project when it was announced back in September 2010.


View South Orcas Street Sidewalk Project in a larger map

Getting Around

Beacon B.I.K.E.S. appeals for greenway support

6 Comments
Beacon B.I.K.E.S. members at the neighborhood greenways group meeting at the Beacon Hill Library in January, 2012. Photo by Dan Bennett in the Beacon Hill Blog photo pool on Flickr.
The folks at Beacon B.I.K.E.S. sent out the following appeal on Facebook yesterday:

Hello Beacon BIKErs,

This is a call to anyone who is on this list that lives on Beacon Hill and wants to see our Greenway be built.

SDOT had a community open house on July 19, I saw many of you there. They collected public comments, many of which were positive. However, there have been a few individuals that have been very vocal in their opposition and their voices are drowning out the broad-based support we have for this project in our community. Please take 5 minutes to write an email showing support for the project to SDOT and Council. I have spoken with key individuals at the City and they say these emails are the single most important thing we can do right now. If you can, add why the project is important to you personally. They have heard from me and a couple other active members many times, to have a really powerful effect it would be wonderful if those of you who have not been very active could write an email.

The details of SDOT’s plan can be found here:
http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/beaconhillgreenway.htm

Address to: Brian.Dougherty@seattle.gov
CC: sandra.woods@seattle.gov, dongho.chang@seattle.gov, sally.bagshaw@seattle.gov, Douglas.Cox@seattle.gov, tom.rasmussen@seattle.gov, dsahearn@gmail.com, and anyone else you want…

Thank you for your help in making Beacon Hill a safer and more livable neighborhood.

The proposed greenway would follow 18th Avenue South from the I-90 trail south to South Hanford street, where it would zigzag over to Lafayette Avenue South, then along the edge of Jefferson Park to South Dakota Street, then south on 12th Avenue South to South Lucile Street. The greenway route would have improvements and repairs to make the street safer for cyclists, drivers, and pedestrians alike, including new signage and street markings, crossing islands at certain intersections, a new left turn lane on South Spokane Street, and others. As mentioned above, details may be found here.


View Beacon Hill Neighborhood Greenway in a larger map

Clean and Green, Getting Around

Open house to discuss Neighborhood Greenway

2 Comments

All are invited to a Seattle Department of Transportation open house on Thursday, July 19 from 6:30-8 p.m. at Jefferson Community Center (3801 Beacon Ave. S.) to discuss the Beacon Hill Neighborhood Greenway.

The greenway is a 2.8 mile long pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly route through North Beacon Hill, providing improved access to locations including the I-90 Trail, Beacon Hill Station, Beacon Hill Library, Jefferson Park, Maplewood Playfield, Mercer Middle School, Maple Elementary School, and Cleveland High School.

The route has changed slightly since the earlier proposed version of the Greenway. The current route will start at the I-90 Trail and 18th Avenue South, then continue south along 18th. The greenway will then turn and cross Beacon Avenue South at South Hanford Street, and continue on Lafayette Avenue South into Jefferson Park. The route will continue south of Jefferson Park, crossing 15th Avenue South at South Dakota Street, and continuing on 12th Avenue South to South Lucile Street.

What makes a run-of-the-mill route a neighborhood greenway? Greenways are non-arterial street routes that have improvements to encourage and support safe bicycle and pedestrian use, in combination with reduced auto speeds and volumes. In the case of the Beacon Hill Greenway, these enhanced features have been proposed:

  • Signs and pavement legends along the greenway
  • Stop signs to control traffic crossing the greenway
  • A median island with new marked crosswalks at Lafayette Avenue South and South Spokane Street
  • A median island with new marked crosswalks at Beacon Avenue South and SouthHanford Street
  • Rechannelization and signal improvements at Beacon Avenue South and South Spokane Street
  • A widened sidewalk on South Dakota Street between 16th Avenue South and 14th Avenue South
  • A paved trail adjacent to Jefferson Park


View Beacon Hill Neighborhood Greenway in a larger map

Getting Around

R.I.P Metro Route 38

A Route 38 bus. Photo by Oran Viriyincy in the Beacon Hill Blog photo pool on Flickr.
As of today, one of Beacon Hill’s bus routes is gone: Route 38, a shuttle between Mount Baker and Beacon Hill Link stations. The route formerly ran down to Sodo, but since the opening of Link the 38 was truncated to a shorter route, running only during part of the day. The limited hours and route that duplicated Link made the route not terribly useful, and Metro finally pulled the plug today.

If you were a Route 38 rider, Metro suggests using Link instead.

Photo by Oran Viriyincy in the Beacon Hill Blog photo pool.