They started taking down the big blue wall around the light rail construction site today! They removed a few segments at 17th and Lander — right where Lander St. used to go through.
The end of the seemingly endless Beacon Hill Station construction project is in sight!
By Andrew Smith
Recently House Bill 1490 has started a discussion in our region over density and transit-oriented-development. Originally the bill required cities to create zoning packages that would have allowed increased density in a half-mile radius around all light rail and commuter rail stations. In a recent revision, that requirement was scaled back to apply to only communities defined by the Puget Sound Regional Council as “growth centers”: Auburn, Downtown Bellevue, Overlake, Everett, Federal Way, Kent, Lakewood, Lynnwood, Puyallup, Redmond, Seatac, Capitol Hill, Downtown Seattle, Northgate, the University District, Downtown Tacoma, and Tukwila. I imagine many in Southeast Seattle breathed a sigh of relief when they read that, as many in that area were very concerned about increased density changing their neighborhoods. However, I’d like to make the case for increased density in these areas, focusing my argument on Beacon Hill, and point out that while increased density could change the neighborhood, that change might be a better change than what will happen if density is prohibited.
Continue reading Reader Opinion: North Beacon needs higher density
The parking changes will be installed on a rolling basis this Spring, and should be complete by the time the light rail begins service in July. To park in the RPZ without penalty at that point will require an RPZ pass, which will cost $45/two years, with a discount available for low-income households.
We note something interesting in the FAQ about these changes: “Enforcement will also increase to help those new regulations function properly. Increasing enforcement will affect all types of parking violations, including vehicles parked too close to driveways or blocking fire-hydrants. Please obey the law.” The new RPZ may have some unexpected consequences for some people in the area who have become accustomed to relatively lax parking enforcement in this neighborhood.
If you have an opinion about the changes, there are several ways to tell SDOT what you think. An open house is scheduled for Saturday, January 10, 11:00 am – 1:00 pm at El Centro de la Raza, 2524 16th Avenue South. Other open houses are scheduled to be held at New Holly and at the Starbucks building in Sodo.
You can take an online questionnaire about the parking plan. Read the mailer, then fill out this questionnaire.
Additionally, you can email your comments and questions to lightrailparking@seattle.gov, or comment by phone at 206-684-8186. You may call Sound Transit’s language lab hotline at 1-800-823-9230 for translation if you need to speak in a language other than English.
As we mentioned earlier, there was an information meeting scheduled last night about Sound Transit’s request to extend the technical noise variance for construction of the Beacon Hill station and light rail tunnels.
I attended the meeting. I was the only person to attend, other than the Sound Transit representatives. Though the weather was probably a factor in the low attendance, it seems that there isn’t a big fuss about this variance extension.
The friendly Sound Transit folks answered a few questions for me. There will be no additional noise beyond what is happening currently (if you do have a noise complaint, however, the 24-hour construction hotline number is 888-298-2395). The station is currently still on schedule to open in July 2009, but they don’t yet have an exact date. And the blue wall around the construction site is expected to come down in February or March, so we should start seeing more of the station site soon. It has been a very long time that we’ve lived with that blue wall around a big chunk of our “downtown.”
An information meeting about the variance extension is on Tuesday, December 16, 6:00 – 8:00 pm at the Beacon Hill Library, 2821 Beacon Avenue South.