The McGinn Administration’s recent move to redirect Nickerson Street (on Queen Anne’s north edge) from an all-too-busy four lane road into a more modest two lane road with bike lanes and a center turn lane is not cut and dry.

There’s been a lot of attention to the policy shift in large part because it’s a tangible reflection of the Mayor’s passionate commitment to improved bike and pedestrian safety. I certainly respect his view and his policy priority.

One larger public policy concern, however, is the impact on our neighborhood traffic and access relative to the deep bore tunnel. As you can imagine, the city has identified Nickerson as a major arterial necessary to ensure access from Queen Anne, Magnolia and Ballard to the tunnel. N. 46th in Fremont and N. 39th in Frelard as well as Nickerson and then finally West Mercer all play critical roles in ensuring quality traffic flow from the West to the East in our city to the SR 99.

SDOT does not appear to have an aggressive plan to ensure the integrity of those three major arterial roads in a post-tunnel environment. The kicker is that the Mayor is opposed to investment in the West Mercer arterial improvements that would strengthen traffic flow from Elliot Avenue (ie especially critical to Magnolia, Ballard).

So, in effect, the Administration is opposed to improving BOTH a primary arterial (West Mercer) that three major neighborhoods–Ballard, Magnolia, and QA–need to access the north portal to the tunnel AND capacity for the ‘second’ major arterial (Nickerson) as well. In fairness, McGinn is accurate and right in that “it’s just paint” so at least we are not making major, permanent structural changes to Nickerson that can’t be reversed. That gives me hope that he’s open to reviewing the data on either side.

If you make Nickerson difficult to access the tunnel, it will obviously force more people to West Mercer. That’s exactly the opposite direction literally and figuratively we want people to travel. We want the 150,000 people of the NW neighborhoods to use the closest, most convenient northern arterial to SR 99 and not funnel unnaturally into West Mercer.

The unknown question is whether these changes will indeed make it more difficult to travel from West to East. I don’t know the answer but intuitively a one lane direction during rush hour traveling to SR 99 seems more difficult than a two lane road.

Still, from a safety perspective, let’s appreciate that Nickerson indeed needs reform since it is dangerous and traffic moves too quickly. Students at Seattle Pacific University deserve a safer campus environment, and we need to make safety improvements to benefit everyone. And from an aesthetic perspective Nickerson could use some TLC.

I am struggling that SDOT identifies Nickerson as a major, vital arterial for traffic flow and access from three neighborhoods with 150,000 people and yet says there is virtually no impact from the people trying to access the deep bore tunnel.

No one in our neighborhood wants Nickerson to become a cross town highway. But we do want the street to handle the right number of vehicles to improve access to SR 99 from Magnolia and Ballard.

In the meantime, I’d like to see us improve the safety of the street by slowing traffic, increasing enforcement and signage for pedestrians and bikes while the city figures out whether or not Nickerson is vital for improved access to the tunnel or not. It’s tough to have it both ways.

Your partner in service,

Reuven.

The 2010 legislature adjourned this morning at 1 a.m. I’ll have a post-session debrief and analysis coming later but in the meantime wanted to remind folks of this state Department of Transportation announcement about loud, late-night construction on the Aurora Bridge.

Queen Anne and Fremont folks can expect a few extra night time noises for the next month as the DOT begins work on the Aurora Bridge building a fence to prevent suicides.

Beginning next Monday, April 19, crews will be working from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., resulting in lane closures and extra noise from power tools.

See the full WSDOT official advisory below, and plan accordingly.

The Washington State Department of Transportation and Massana Construction of Georgia begin work on the Aurora Avenue Bridge fence over Lake Union on Monday, April 19. When complete, drivers and local residents will see a fence along the outer railing designed to discourage falls and jumps from the landmark structure.

We want to let you know about a month of noisy night work that begins Monday, April 19 and will affect residents of Fremont , north Queen Anne and Eastlake. Crews will be on the bridge between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. Sunday through Thursday night between April 19 and May 10 to install wooden supports under the bridge.

This work requires the use of generators, drills, and saws and it will be noisier than usual and different from traffic noise. We are taking steps to reduce the inevitable noise including the use of noise shields around equipment, noise blankets to deaden noise where we can, and noise-reducing back-up alarms on trucks. We are also handing out industrial strength earplugs free of charge to local residents. Please call 206.267.6019 to request a pair.

We have a 24-hour noise hotline. Call our inspector on duty at 206.390.5697.

The good news? It lasts a month. The bad news? It lasts a month. We have to work at night during this phase because we have to close two lanes of traffic. Two lanes during the day on that bridge would create a traffic mess. But after this we will work during the day and take only one lane. We appreciate your patience.

If you’d like to know more about this project, go to http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/sr99/aurorabridgefence/
If you have any questions, please call Jamie at WSDOT at 206.440.4698

Your partner in service,

Reuven.

$50,000 for Queen Anne or Magnolia??

With six people living in our home, I’m the character who hauls out garbage, recycling and yard waste every week. And every week I find myself precariously balanced on top of the recycling container, stomping down the week’s deposits, trying not to fall into the bucket.

It’s ridiculous.

We’re a typical Seattle family: We recycle a lot but still feel like we throw away too much because we consume too much.

So I was thrilled to read today’s Seattle Times that has a wonderful story of using market forces to try and move behavior in a positive direction.

I’m all in to help–just reducing our family’s waste will help. Neighborhood, what’s our plan? Come on folks let’s win this!

The story is here and posted below:

Garbage collector issues $50,000 challenge to 5 neighborhoods
Cleanscapes, a garbage-collection company, is challenging five Seattle neighborhoods to reduce the amount of things stuffed into garbage, recycling and yard-waste bins. The winning neighborhood gets $50,000 for a project of its choosing.

Five neighborhoods south of the Ship Canal are competing for a $50,000 project, such as a new playground or park benches, offered by a garbage-collection company.

The contest, announced today by Cleanscapes, is part of its effort to reduce the amount of things stuffed into garbage, recycling and yard-waste bins in the city.

“Rather than governments passing a law we want to see what happens with a carrot,” said Chris Martin, president of Cleanscapes, which took over the garbage collection in certain Seattle neighborhoods last March.

Ray Hoffman, head of Seattle Public Utilities, said that every week Seattle loads 5,100 tons of garbage onto a mile-long double-stacked train heading to a dump in Oregon 300 miles away. Recycling is taken to Allied Waste in SoDo; yard waste is trucked to Cedar Grove in Maple Valley and Marysville.

Today, nine garbage trucks were lined at SPU’s north transfer station, illustrating what a 10 percent reduction in waste would mean: nine full trucks of waste, 72 tons of trash.

Martin said his company chose South Seattle for the contest because it has a poorer record in garbage reduction than north Seattle neighborhoods. He said homes north of the ship canal produce about 18 pounds of garbage a week; those south of the canal 22 pounds.

The most significant thing people can do to shrink their garbage footprint is to buy a mulching lawn mower so residents don’t fill up their yard-waste containers with grass clippings, Martin said. Another huge step would be canceling junk mail, which fills recycling bins, he said.

SPU officials say households should replace their disposable paper bags, cups, water bottles, paper plates and shopping bags, in favor of durable, reusable items.

The five neighborhoods eligible for the contest are divided by day of pickup and include Magnolia, Queen Anne, downtown Seattle, Capitol Hill and south Seattle. In all, it includes about 28,000 households.

The winner — the neighborhood with the biggest weight-reduction of what goes into its trash, recycling and yard-waste bins — will be announced in May. It will be up to winning neighborhood residents to decide how best to spend the prize money.

Pam Lewis, from Magnolia, said she is excited about the contest and stood at the transfer station jotting down ideas. She said community education is key, and it’s critical to reach children who will not only help their parents reduce but will learn a habit they’ll carry on with their own families.

Lewis said she’d like to see more collection bins for clothes and furniture so people don’t throw reusable items in the trash.

Susan Gilmore: 206-464-2054 or sgilmore@seattletimes.com”>here and posted below:

Garbage collector issues $50,000 challenge to 5 neighborhoods; Cleanscapes, a garbage-collection company, is challenging five Seattle neighborhoods to reduce the amount of things stuffed into garbage, recycling and yard-waste bins. The winning neighborhood gets $50,000 for a project of its choosing.

Five neighborhoods south of the Ship Canal are competing for a $50,000 project, such as a new playground or park benches, offered by a garbage-collection company.

The contest, announced today by Cleanscapes, is part of its effort to reduce the amount of things stuffed into garbage, recycling and yard-waste bins in the city.

“Rather than governments passing a law we want to see what happens with a carrot,” said Chris Martin, president of Cleanscapes, which took over the garbage collection in certain Seattle neighborhoods last March.

Ray Hoffman, head of Seattle Public Utilities, said that every week Seattle loads 5,100 tons of garbage onto a mile-long double-stacked train heading to a dump in Oregon 300 miles away. Recycling is taken to Allied Waste in SoDo; yard waste is trucked to Cedar Grove in Maple Valley and Marysville.

Today, nine garbage trucks were lined at SPU’s north transfer station, illustrating what a 10 percent reduction in waste would mean: nine full trucks of waste, 72 tons of trash.

Martin said his company chose South Seattle for the contest because it has a poorer record in garbage reduction than north Seattle neighborhoods. He said homes north of the ship canal produce about 18 pounds of garbage a week; those south of the canal 22 pounds.

The most significant thing people can do to shrink their garbage footprint is to buy a mulching lawn mower so residents don’t fill up their yard-waste containers with grass clippings, Martin said. Another huge step would be canceling junk mail, which fills recycling bins, he said.

SPU officials say households should replace their disposable paper bags, cups, water bottles, paper plates and shopping bags, in favor of durable, reusable items.

The five neighborhoods eligible for the contest are divided by day of pickup and include Magnolia, Queen Anne, downtown Seattle, Capitol Hill and south Seattle. In all, it includes about 28,000 households.

The winner — the neighborhood with the biggest weight-reduction of what goes into its trash, recycling and yard-waste bins — will be announced in May. It will be up to winning neighborhood residents to decide how best to spend the prize money.

Pam Lewis, from Magnolia, said she is excited about the contest and stood at the transfer station jotting down ideas. She said community education is key, and it’s critical to reach children who will not only help their parents reduce but will learn a habit they’ll carry on with their own families.

Lewis said she’d like to see more collection bins for clothes and furniture so people don’t throw reusable items in the trash.

(End of Seattle Times story).

Your partner in service,

Reuven.

The old Queen Anne High School building, sitting magestically atop Seattle, is a stark reminder of the lack of long-term strategic thinking from the public sector. The building was sold for a song to developers in the early 1980s after the student population fell dramatically, a result of ‘White flight’ and overall declining enrollments–and the school district was looking for a quick buck. Today, the seams are bursting on Queen Anne and Magnolia and the neighborhoods lament the loss of a high school.

In the coming weeks the Seattle City Council and the Seattle Public School Board will vote on another deal. The school district owns much of the rights to highly valuable property–Memorial Stadium–part of the heart of Seattle Center and the soul of our city.

The nine acres of real estate in Seattle Center is extremely valuable by any measure. “The parties have agreed on a combined value of $45 million for the Stadium Lots and the Parking Lot,” according to the Memorandum of Understanding. Yet, from my buddy and Queen Anne parent Kelly Charlton’s research, it looks like the combined value of the parcels in the King County Records is $76,226,000. That’s a 41% difference.

Are you kidding me?

The School District is giving up a world class, high quality, amazingly valuable property in exchange for a reduced price and a modest income stream. That’s a bad deal in my view even during rough economic times and I hope they reconsider. I am a huge booster of the Seattle Center, and I want the facility to be built in the best interests of the public for generations to come. But school kids shouldn’t lose out in the process. Can’t school kids get a little something?

Queen Anne and Magnolia need a high school and a rejuvenated middle school. The leverage from a pure business deal perspective resides with the school district, not the city. This is our chance to capture value from real discussions with the city to strike a better deal.

When the school district and, unfortunately, much of the public sector “negotiates” deals over assets, the public often gets the short end of the talks. One suggestion that has surfaced is the idea of the city providing support for a comprehensive high school, rebuilt McClure Middle School building, and Queen Anne community center facility. Or even programmatic support from the city in exchange for the Memorial Stadium, in addition to capital facilities.

I hope the school district will throw some elbows (in a good way) and renegotiate this deal which to me, as an outsider, seems like another Queen Anne High School-like give away that will be regretted for decades.

I often prod the public sector for its failure to have an entrepreneurial spirit and an innovator’s passion. School district: You have an amazing asset. Don’t give it up without striking a smokin’ hot deal for the future of the district.

Your partner in service,

Reuven.

just a thought....

It would be disingenuous of me not to acknowledge that I’m a Queen Anne guy through and through. I love our neighborhood. That doesn’t mean, of course, that neighboring Magnolia, Belltown, Ballard don’t have their wonderful charms–they do. Yet for me, QA is a place of special community that has captured my heart. My family works here, lives here, prays here, gets educated here, plays here, eats here, celebrates here and enjoys our community so much.

Let’s make it better.

We need a new community center with a new approach to recreation. Imagine the possibilities: A world-class pool like Magnolia’s Pop’s Mounger…a re-use of the Big Howe fields by adding a tennis court or two….a reconnection with McClure Middle School to improve the grounds for everyone…a change in parking policy to use the street for walking, biking, even vendors….so many ideas that would need community engagement to decide and make happen.

QA is growing, our density is increasing dramatically by the day. We need a long-term vision for what’s possible in terms of building the public infrastructure for the 30,000 people who call QA home. It’s easy to make idealistic calls for improvements but it takes hard work and resources.

How to pay for it?

A combination of private, local, county and state resources would require a strategy and a workplan. We can’t push new density and not build the 21st Century infrastructure to sustain, improve and enhance the quality of life for all of us.

Let’s embrace what’s possible.

Rep. Dickerson (left), yours truly and lots of others tour the north tunnel entrance area

More than 30 community leaders and organizations representing all sides of the deep bore tunnel issue came together in the sun Friday for a hands-on tour in Uptown (lower Queen Anne) to walk together, block by block, and gain a hands-on understanding of the proposed tunnel design issues and implications.

My legislative colleagues Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles and Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson and I worked to organize the tour after the Queen Anne Community Council, Uptown Alliance, Magnolia leaders, North Seattle Industrial Association, folks in Ballard and other area organizations throughout the entire 36th Legislative District raised serious concerns about the initial proposed design, and asked for greater participation from the public to get it right.

How and where will folks from Queen Anne, Magnolia, Ballard, Interbay and Fremont enter the tunnel? How and where will they exit? What about huge community events at the Seattle Center? Will traffic be a nightmare or is there hope? Is the Mercer Street project aligned with the larger strategy or not? Will freight and commercial vehicles have equal access along the key arterials? Will parking along congested streets be changed?

The thoughtful, insightful, tough and focused questions rattled on for two hours in the hot sun while traffic engineers from the city and state did their best to address the issues head on. Many questions don’t yet have answers and the public’s participation is essential to get it right.

The North Portal Working Group, a gathering of community organizations representing the neighborhoods of Queen Anne, Magnolia and Ballard, has been actively engaged in tackling these issues for months. Still, as a legislator, I felt a sense of personal frustration when looking only at maps and charts that didn’t help me get my hands around the details of these vital and important design issues. We must ensure traffic flow and access from the neighborhoods. Period. I wanted a better understanding of every turn, every new signal, the exact location of each aspect of the new tunnel not only to answer constituent questions but to make more informed decisions about the impact on our neighborhoods. In organizing the tour, Sen. Kohl-Welles, Rep. Dickerson and I felt it would help elevate the level of dialogue about the issues of congestion, traffic flow and access, and it did.

It’s easy to roll our collective eyes at the “Seattle Process,” and I’ve made my share of disparaging remarks about how long it takes us as a community to make bold decisions. But the walking tour, in providing a common understanding among previously warring parties, was a symbolic representation of the genuine and meaningful value of a decision making process that seeks common ground. Robert Moses, the famed New York City infrastructure czar who pushed through massive projects without a word edgewise from the community, would have scoffed at our community walk today. Standing on the street corner as cars whipped by on Highway 99, today everyone was aligned on one goal: To ensure our neighborhoods have genuinely improved traffic (auto, truck, bike, pedestrian) flow and access to, around and near the north entrance to the deep bore tunnel.

The 21st Century tunnel will impact our entire city and state for generations. The process has been long and hard, and we’re not done. Our area will see construction for nearly a decade and there are many decisions not yet made. But a nice walk around lower Queen Anne helped put a passionate, engaged, insightful group of community activists and leaders in a good mood for the challenges to come.

Mercer Street

The deep bore tunnel has consumed our attention and, understandably, the focus of the transportation world in Seattle. It almost makes us forget the other 800 lb gorilla in the room: Mercer.

The Mercer Street ‘mess’ has been a problem for so long it’s hard to get a handle on where it all stands. The politics of Mercer are unpleasant at best given that folks running for city council and the state legislature–including me–have promised for years to solve the issue once and for all. Of course, this year federal money to fix the Mercer Street mess (via a city-driven design strongly supported by Vulcan and other neighborhood interests) got sucked into the politics of the relationship between the City of Seattle and the State Legislature.

It’s important to recognize the ineffectiveness of essentially dividing the Mercer project into two different projects….western portion is associated with the tunnel by way of Elliott Avenue, and the far eastern section is associated with the redevelopment of South Lake Union. I’m extremely familiar with the status of the western portion, but struggle to get a handle on the eastern issues. What is the cost literally and figuratively of it becoming two projects? Huge. Obviously none of the agency folks at the city, state level will acknowledge that it’s quickly becoming two projects but by all indications it is and we should be concerned.

Now, with the Puget Sound Regional Council unlikely to provide a portion of their federal funding for the eastern Mercer project, the question is now what steps are needed to move forward? The city process seems to have slowed, in large part because of the opposition of Councilman Nick Licata and reservations from Queen Anne Community Council advocates.

Is the current proposed plan viable for Queen Anne and tens of thousands commuters from other neighborhoods who use the major arterial everyday? Not an easy question. Is there a new design that is less costly, more efficient that recognizes the community’s need for access, flow and walkable/livable housing and living?

As a state legislator representing 130,000 people–a good chunk of whom use the Mercer Street arterial regularly–you’d think I would have a handle on where things stand politically. Admittedly I don’t serve on the House Transportation Committee and, in the time I’m writing this post I could have put calls into folks in the know…but the point still stands. The fact that I don’t have a sense of where things stand financially–and that it’s so tough to get any accountability from anyone about how we can move forward with a workable action plan–does not reflect well on anyone. Different levels of government usually and frequently struggle to coordinate around large-scale projects; this is one more unpleasant example of that.

I don’t have the answer on how to get the incremental dollars to fix Mercer or even whether the current design is as strong as it could be. But I do know that the people of our community want, need, require, expect and deserve action!

UPDATE: Here’s an email from John Coney, Uptown Alliance transportation guru, activist and community leader:

Reuven,

Funding for Mercer East Project? I haven’t heard any progress reports
either. When Grace Crunican last reported on this to the City Council
Transportation Committee and to Queen Anne Groups the plan was to
assemble the final funding elements from bonding against City surplus
land sales in the Mercer Corridor and by obtaining early low bids in
the hopefully low point of the recession. In March SDOT folks were
confident of putting together the funding. Some federal grants are
still cooking. I understand that applications are in. I’ve heard
nothing of cutting back the project to fit any sort of reduced budget.

The Mercer Corridor Stakeholders Group guided by Marni Heffron, traffic
consultant, is planning, but has not yet scheduled, a further meeting
to look over the combined effects on South Lake Union, Uptown and
Seattle Center of the North Portal Concept “B”with three new east/west
crossings of Aurora (Harrison, Thomas, John Streets), 2-way Mercer East
(Dexter to Fairview), 6th Ave. extension from Harrison to Mercer, new
double width Mercer Aurora underpass, and 2-way Mercer West (5th Ave.
to Elliott Ave.)

So far the North Portal concepts by WSDOT look to be greatly beneficial
on balance to South Lake Union Urban Center and Uptown Urban Center.
There are many new bike/pedestrian route possibilities with the new
east/west crossings of Aurora and a better Mercer/Aurora underpass. As
Uptown Alliance
Co-Pres. I’m workng now with Seattle Parks Foundation
and Seattle Center staff to re-invigorate the Lake to Bay Trail concept
for bike/pedestrian routes connecting Elliott Bay waterfront, Seattle
Center, Uptown, BMGF campus, UW Medical Campus (around the old “Blue
Flame” building in SLU), South Lake Union Urban Center, and Lake Union
Park whiich will have the MOHAI Museum and historic ships.
This is big bike/pedestrian set of amenities that the State funding for
the deep bore bypass tunnel North Portal makes possible.

The Mercer Corridor Stakeholers have agreed that 2-way Mercer doesn’t
work well without the 6th Ave. extension creating a new north/south
link between Denny and Mercer, serving as an on-ramp to the bypass
tunnel southbound and as a distributor for the new east/west crossings
of Aurora.

The BMGF has opposed the 6th Ave. extension, but now is showing SDOT
some compromises that would allow the extension and retain their third
building site as it was planned some years ago. This is hopeful
development, since I’d guess that BMGF can block the 6th Ave.
extension, if they choose to do so. We may be close to a compromise
design that serves all parties well.

One negative in the North Portal concept: the big ventilation structure
which WSDOT currently has sited on the west side of the new surface
Aurora (over the tunnel) between Harrison and John Streets. This will
be a really big, tall structure.
The vent structures for Boston’s “big
dig” tunnels are very daunting, massive, and blighting. We might dodge
that bullet by co-locating the ven structure with some public facility
or even mixed use structure(s).

The surface Alaskan Way between Pike and SODO along with the planned
new bridge linking Elliott and Western Avenues to Alaskan Way surface
street at Pike seems to be a workable solution for much of the freight
trucking. Well designed signal lights should move traffic along what
is now the Alaskan Way Viaduct alignment with only a one to two minute
longer trip time. SDOT and WSDOT seem to be in agreement on how to
make that route work well.

This is complex stuff, but it seems to be pulling together in to a
package that will create economic development, improve transit access,
create new bike/pedestrian connections, better trucking routes, etc.
The last opposition to the Mercer and North Portal projects may well be
the BINMIC Action Committee which is pressing for wider truck turnning
radii at key corners and exclusive truck lanes on Mercer. The Magnolia
Community Club, while still on record as opposing Mercer East, is
taking a more rational approach and making some good DEIS comments.

The Uptown Alliance Planning and Transportation Committee will be
meeting with SDOT staff at 5pm, Monday, July 6 at the Colorcraft
Building, southwest corner of 2nd N. and Roy St. We’ll be going over a
0Alot of this material with SDOT then. You’re invited to sit in if you
want. Of course I’m always happy to meet with you.

Keep up the good work in Olympia,

John Coney, Co-Pres. Uptown Alliance

My central priority has been to ensure the traffic flow and access from Ballard, QA, Magnolia to the tunnel is as easy as possible. Second, I have worked to ensure the state maintains its obligations to fund the state highway portion of the project.

Here’s some coverage: http://publicola.net/?p=4930