Stair shutdown looms for sinkhole repair

| Utilities | West Seattle news

One of West Seattle’s best hillside workouts is about to be off-limits for a week or so. We told you ten days ago that the Upper Fauntleroy sinkhole (at the top of the above-pictured Thistle staircase, a popular route to and from Lincoln Park) is finally about to be filled in, 10 months after it opened in the December ’06 storm; this morning, we checked back with Seattle Public Utilities for an update on the timetable, and Jim Lee just told WSB that work begins tomorrow, with debris removal first, followed by sinkhole-filling. New flyers are up at the site, with the reminder that the stairway will be closed during the work, which should be finished within a week or so.

MOe October 22, 2007 (10:52 am)

This looks more like the Fairmount Park staircase.

WSB October 22, 2007 (11:05 am)

We haven’t been to the FP staircase so can’t discuss the resemblance but we took this photo ourselves yesterday afternoon while out walking and trust us, it’s the Thistle staircase. From the very top step (after the temporary bridge), looking down.

seattle golfer October 22, 2007 (11:11 am)

In deed it does look like the Fairmount stairs. The Fairmount Community Association has asked the city three times over the past year to clear the blackberries and overhanging vegetation so they could be better utilized. They are barely passable at this point and very dark and scarry. We made a formal request to DOT and the city for a small grant to provide lighting and clean it up in 2006, got approved but yet still nothing. I would use them if I could.

WSB October 22, 2007 (11:22 am)

That’s a shame. The city actually does a pretty good job of keeping the Thistle stairs clear — especially the second section (the section shown above ends at a small dead-end street on the “switchbacks” along the hillside over Lincoln Park, then picks up a more gradual section of stairs that run between homes, all the way down to one block east of Fauntleroy).

add October 22, 2007 (12:02 pm)

As my walking partner said upon hearing this news: “Whoohoo! Vacation for those quads and glutes!!”

Jenny October 22, 2007 (12:15 pm)

Where’s the Fairmount Park stairway? Is that the one that goes downhill facing south at 39th?

http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=rxmwt14t1bd5&style=o&lvl=2&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=3704509&encType=1

(Where’s Fairmount Park?)

Oh wait, this must be it:
http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=rxrsnq4t1h8c&style=o&lvl=2&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=3698671&encType=1

Katherine October 22, 2007 (1:03 pm)

seattle golfer, why don’t you take a bushwhacker down and cut those blackberries back yourself? Or get a bunch of neighbors to come out with you. I always carried my pruners with me when I walked the freeway overpass path.

Jeff October 22, 2007 (1:37 pm)

Can someone tell me where these Fairmount Park stairs begin and end? I’ve gone down the street a hundred times and never noticed any stairs.

Vanessa October 22, 2007 (3:04 pm)

If you turned West off of 35th SW on Findlay, cross 36th SW, it dead-ends at 37th and the Fairmont steps are right there. The steps end at the cul-de-sac, in front of the (now closed) Fairmont School. A few times over the years, I’ve raked the leaves off of those steps for fear that someone would slip on all of the debris. The shame is all of the litter-bugs who have no respect for their neighborhoods. Down the block to the North is another set of steps (off of 37th) that end up by the soccor field that runs along Fauntleroy and the Fairmont school. Those two sets of steps make for a nice walk/work out loop. See you there……puff, puff!!!

add October 22, 2007 (4:01 pm)

If you really want to make a nice long walk/workout loop, there is a short(er) flight of stairs from 38th to 39th, just south of Morgan.

Jeff October 22, 2007 (5:05 pm)

I was confused. I was thinking of the Fairmount Park where the Fairmount ravine runs down to Beach Drive. I thought we were talking about the possibility of a stairway that ran down from Admiral. I do love it when I come across stairways I’ve never seen before. Thanks for pointing me out to a new park to check out.

seattle golfer October 22, 2007 (6:05 pm)

I love the fact that our neighborhood can use the stairs at 37th and Edmonds, down the hill, and back, if you can, to the Junction and soon, multiple choices of groceries. As for me, 23 years of sweeping and pruning has worked. It’s the lack of lighting and the rotten/swaying in the wind handrails that are the limitations. By the way, at the head of these stairs, a dead end of Edmonds at 37th, we’ve removed more stolen vehicles than any other site west of 35th, so I’m told. Stairs there make a great get away. Hope I don’t greet one of them returning east, day or night.

Mike Dady October 22, 2007 (10:48 pm)

Hey seattle golfer, I think Edmunds Street has some kind of strange vortex surrounding it. Edmunds at 23rd Ave SW also had a history of being a dumping ground for stolen vehicles. Thankfully that problem has vanished in the last year or so.

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