West Seattle Crime Watch: SWAT officers on Delridge
Thanks to the people who tipped us about some kind of police operation under way in the vicinity of the Super 24 store along Delridge. WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand arrived and found SWAT officers, guns drawn, and someone apparently in custody. No one is commenting at the scene so we are trying to find out more. Traffic was stopped on Delridge for a while but Patrick says it’s just been allowed to resume.
Update: Woman taken to hospital after car flips in South Delridge
Shortly after we took that photo, a tow-truck crew righted the car, which had flipped onto the south side of the 20th/Henderson intersection, just east of Delridge Way. No official information on circumstances at this point but police told us one person had been taken to a hospital.
5:15 PM UPDATE: This was a two-car crash, according to Seattle Fire spokesperson Kyle Moore, whose department does not investigate the cause but does treat the victims, so he was able to tell us that the person taken to the hospital as a precaution was the 28-year-old woman driving the flipped PT cruiser. She got herself and a 3-week-old baby girl out of the vehicle before Engine 11 arrived; the 25-year-old woman and 4-year-old in the other vehicle were not hurt.
8:02 PM UPDATE: A commenter who lives nearby says the 4-year-old was actually in the flipped PT cruiser and the baby in the other car.
Delridge Way repaving project: Third phase to start May 15th
(February photo of Delridge Way work, from SDOT via Flickr)
The second phase of the Delridge Way SW repaving project is almost over, with the third phase expected to start next week. So says SDOT in this advisory just out of the WSB inbox:
The Seattle Department of Transportation expects paving work on Delridge Way Southwest to progress to the next phase on Wednesday, May 15. The contractor will detour southbound traffic on Delridge from Southwest Holden to Southwest Thistle streets, and reopen the stretch from Southwest Thistle to Southwest Trenton streets. The new detour, from Holden to Thistle, is expected to remain in place through mid July. This work is Phase 3 of the project that is rebuilding much of Delridge Way Southwest.
Delridge will remain open to northbound traffic except for intersection work. Local access to businesses and residents will be maintained. SDOT will release a map and details of the new detour as the date approaches.
After the contractor completes work between Thistle and Trenton, Delridge will be striped between Thistle and Henderson streets. Also, crews expect to return by late May to the stretch between Trenton and Henderson for weather-dependent crack seal work.
This is a five-phase project. At the end of Phase 3, construction activity will move north to Phase 4, between SW Orchard and SW Holden streets.
North Delridge Neighborhood Council Beautification Committee does it again!
Lisa Taylor-Whitley heads up the North Delridge Neighborhood Council Beautification Committee, and every month, whether 3 people show up or 30, she and helpers are out cleaning up another corner of the neighborhood. This morning, it was the walking/biking path that leads from the Skylark Café and Club parking lot down to the bus stop at SW Spokane St. (where buses and other vehicles are detoured today and tomorrow because of repaving, remember). Before we caught up with Lisa on the path, we found other members of today’s cleanup crew wrapping up outside Skylark – Tom, Oliver, Nancy, and Jackson the dog:
They all explained that the path was in pretty good shape this time, so they only needed to work for a little more than an hour, half of the time allotted. Keep an eye on the NDNC’s website for info on upcoming cleanups – and/or send Lisa a note if you have a site to suggest (lisataylorwhitley@gmail.com).
Delridge Playfield lights back on, after quicker fix for stolen wiring
After Seattle Parks announced last week that thieves had stolen almost a quarter-mile of copper wiring from the Delridge Playfield lighting system, they thought it might take two weeks to repair. Instead, the lights are already back on, after a fix that took just days. After a couple reader tips, we followed up with Parks, and spokesperson Joelle Hammerstad told WSB today that “After discovering an electrical contractor could not do the work (there), our Electric Shop team put together a plan and worked straight through the weekend to restore lights by Monday night, just one week after the problem was reported. On Tuesday night, normal activities resumed.” No arrests reported yet.
Delridge Grocery: Meeting on Monday – and part of West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day on May 11th!
A two-part announcement from Delridge Grocery – first, it’s their regular monthly meeting on Monday (April 22nd), 6:30 pm at Delridge Library (5423 Delridge Way SW), with a call for volunteers – people to help at a community event, talk with their neighbors, and otherwise help as the DG team works toward its future storefront. They’re also putting out a call for donated items to sell at their benefit sale on West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day, which is three weeks from tomorrow. You can arrange for pickup or dropoff by contacting them at delridgegrocery@gmail.com (and/or, go to Monday’s meeting and connect with DG leadership there).
Car hits pole, veers off Delridge into Longfellow Creek ravine
This is NOT affecting traffic now, but might later when it’s time for repairs – a car hit a streetlight pole (above left) on southbound Delridge Way SW across from the Boren/K-5 STEM parking lot, and veered off the road, onto the slope leading down toward Longfellow Creek:
City Light‘s been notified – one of its employees actually called in the crash – we’ll check on the repair timetable later; here’s the pole’s damaged base:
Police hadn’t yet sorted out why the driver – who was not seriously hurt – hit the pole and went off the road.
Delridge Playfield wire-theft followup: Repairs to cost up to $20,000
(Photos courtesy Seattle Parks and Recreation)
Followup today on the huge copper-wire theft that has put Delridge Playfield out of commission for many events until further notice, as reported here last night. Today, Parks says its electricians estimate the repairs will cost up to $20,000 and take up to two weeks. They were at the parks today, as were police, trying to find out more about the theft of 1,200 feet of wire. An update from Parks today explains how it happened:
The copper wiring was accessed from the junction boxes under light poles around the perimeter of the field. After cutting the wires between each junction box, thieves brought in a vehicle (likely a truck), hooked up the wire to the vehicle and pulled out the wiring. Parks staff believe the theft was conceived and executed over several nights, as it appears other junction boxes with wire still inside were prepared for theft.
Parks’ update quotes acting superintendent Christopher Williams as saying, “This is a significant theft … and we want to catch the person or people who did it because this creates a needless expense for taxpayers and an unnecessary loss of playing time for park users. … We are asking anyone who is a neighbor to a Seattle Parks and Recreation ballfield to help us keep eyes on our parks. We need neighbors’ help to deter criminal activity.” Call Seattle Police if you have any information about the theft – or any time you spot suspicious activity. Parks also says you can report suspicious behavior to the Park Rangers’ office at 206-255-8325.
(One more reminder about crime concerns/trends in general – the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meets at 7 tonight, Southwest Precinct meeting room, SW Webster just west of Delridge Way SW.)
West Seattle Crime Watch: ‘Very large’ copper-wire theft shuts down Delridge Playfield
Delridge Playfield nighttime events have been canceled/relocated TFN because “someone has stolen a very large amount of copper wiring,” 
according to Seattle Parks spokesperson Joelle Hammerstad. How large? At least 1,200 feet of wiring – which, according to Parks, ran between poles at the playfield. They also believe that the thief/thieves were planning to return – because they had, according to a Parks report, “dismantled more of the system than they were able to take in one session and had broken into other areas preparing to pull even more wire out.” Hammerstad says Parks is asking anyone with information about the theft to call Seattle Police; meantime, the Parks electrical shop is assembling a plan to get the playfield lighting back in operation, but it won’t be easy, says one manager – “this will require research and then a bunch or work to trace and then reinstall this much wire.” No cost estimate yet – we expect to find out more tomorrow.
Delridge Day 2013 is on: Vendors, sponsors, musicians welcome!
(Delridge Day 2012 photo by Nick Adams for WSB)
After a day dominated by headlines about what’s NOT happening this summer – it’s time for a reminder about what IS. West Seattle’s summer festivals and events are all in full planning swing, as we’ve mentioned in neighborhood coverage throughout the fall and winter, and now that spring is really here, everything is starting to gel. Tonight, the North Delridge Neighborhood Council is getting out the word that Delridge Day is already recruiting vendors, sponsors, and musicians, while working on the overall plan:
The 2013 Delridge Day Festival is planned for Saturday, August 17th, from 11 am-4 pm at Delridge Community Center and Park. This year’s festival will feature a large vendor area, highlighting some of the best local businesses in the area, local savory and sweet food trucks where you can grab a bite to eat, kids and family style picnic games, bouncy house, face painting, and much more! Again this year, we’ll have our music stage with plenty of local live music and entertainment. Interested music groups and talent can e-mail Chas Redmond at credmond@mac.com and provide links to their music.
The planning committee is working on securing sponsors and vendors to make this year’s event happen. We encourage local businesses to submit an application to be a part of our local event! The sponsorship and vendor fees not only support the festival but all give back to the community, as 15 percent of all fees are donated to the ARC (Associated Recreation Council), which provides scholarships for Community Center classes at Delridge Community Center. Over the last two years, Delridge Day has donated nearly $2,000 to the ARC!
Vendor and Sponsor packets are available online at:
ndnc.org/delridgeday or by e-mailing the planning committee at delridgeday@ndnc.org
To keep updated on the festival plans, visit the festival web page: www.ndnc.org/delridgeday or check us out on Facebook at facebook.com/delridgeday.
Here’s our full coverage from last year, if you want to get a closer look at how it all unfolded.
Followup: Detour map for this weekend’s Delridge-Thistle closure
(Click image to get full-size PDF of map)
That’s the detour map just in from SDOT, one week after they announced that the Delridge-Thistle intersection will close this weekend – 7 pm April 12th till 6 am April 15th – as part of the second phase of the Delridge Way repaving project. As shown on the map, here’s the detour plan – note there’s also a nearby closure that starts earlier, first thing THURSDAY morning:
· Northbound traffic on Delridge Way SW – Take SW Trenton Street to 35th Avenue SW to SW Holden Street to Delridge Way SW
· Southbound traffic on Delridge Way SW – Take SW Holden Street to 35th Avenue SW to SW Trenton Street to Delridge Way SW
· Westbound traffic on SW Thistle Street – Take 16th Avenue SW to SW Henderson Street to Delridge Way SW
· Eastbound traffic on SW Thistle Street – Take 35th Avenue SW to SW Holden Street or SW Trenton Street to Delridge Way SW
Additionally, there will be a partial closure of the SW Cloverdale Street and Delridge Way SW intersection from 7 a.m. Thursday, April 11, to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 13. This intersection will be closed to eastbound traffic on SW Cloverdale Street on these days. Through traffic will be directed to use a signed detour; local access will be maintained.
Harbor Avenue to become temporary home to Fire Station 36
When community groups were originally briefed two years ago on upgrades for West Seattle’s Fire Station 36 – on the north end of Delridge, alongside the bridge – they were told the station’s operations would remain on the site while the work was done. (Here’s our February 2011 report from the briefing at the North Delridge Neighborhood Council.) With the work now months away, we’ve learned that plan has changed, and Station 36 will now be moving into temporary quarters near Harbor Avenue and SW Florida (map), on Port of Seattle property across from the Harbor Ave. 7-11, as described by city spokesperson Julie Moore, who explains that those 2011 briefings preceded design work on the upgrades:
Early in the design process, it became apparent that it was not optimal to have the firefighters and the contractor on site at the same time. We decided that locating the temporary station away from the current site during construction would have the least impact on Seattle Fire Department operations, which of course, is the priority. Having the firefighters off site during construction also reduces construction time. … We will build a temporary station that includes two trailers and a tent, similar to what we have done for other temporary stations around the city.
The $3.6 million Station 36 upgrade includes earthquake-safety features and additional building space. According to the city’s latest schedule update for Fire Levy projects including this one, it’s expected to go out to bid in about two weeks, and construction is likely to start in late summer, lasting a little more than a year.
West Seattle has three other fire-station projects in the works – upgrades for Highland Park’s Station 11 (scheduled to start construction in November) and Admiral’s Station 29 (no date yet since it’s in pre-design), and a 2015 rebuild for Station 32 in The Triangle (here’s our recent report on that).
Delridge Grocery shows off its plan @ ‘Membership Launch/Lunch’
12:05 PM: Till 1 pm, you can drop by Youngstown Cultural Arts Center (4408 Delridge Way) and enjoy a light lunch while joining in on preparations for West Seattle’s new Delridge Grocery. You knew the organizers originally as Delridge Produce Cooperative – now, meet them under the new name as they get ready to open a grocery store in the under-construction DESC Supportive Housing building (5400 block of Delridge) next year. You can talk with DG board members, check out their business plan, enjoy fresh local food, and sign up to start your membership – look for the table in the corner of the room, where we found Casey and Ariana:
If you’re out and about with kids today, bring them too – there’s an arts-and-crafts table. To connect with Delridge Grocery online, here’s their Facebook page. No online signups yet for membership, but DG tells us that’s part of the plan. P.S. While you won’t have to be a member to shop there, membership will have its benefits – as well as being an investment in the neighborhood – organizers say.
ADDED 12:48 PM: DG has shared a drawing of the grocery store’s floor plan (click the image for a larger view):
Also, you can read the “executive summary” of their business plan here (PDF).
West Seattle development: South Delridge project site for sale
Just noticed this new commercial real-estate listing: The 16,000-square-foot South Delridge site approved for 45 apartments and live-work units at 20th and Barton is up for sale, listed at $850,000. The two vacant, graffiti-covered homes that had been on the site were demolished some weeks back, and the listing points out that the land-use permit has been granted, “building permit in process.” The project required three design-review meetings last year because the concept changed between the first and second meetings. But it drew no controversy along the way – as noted in our October report, your editor here was the only person at the last design review meeting besides board members, project team, and the city planner assigned to the project.
Permit-less parking-lot paving torn out in North Delridge
Don’t know how many days ago this happened, but we just noticed it today while turning around in the SW Yancy dead-end adjacent to Longfellow Creek, across from Allstar Fitness – the asphalt-topped parking lot installed after an old industrial facility was torn down has been torn out. Now the lot is just dirt. Checking the city’s online file, repeated violation notices were issued because the parking lot (“more than 2,000 square feet of impervious surface”), the city says, was installed without a permit. The removal was done with a permit, which was “finaled” by a city inspector yesterday (and there also was a permit for last year’s demolition of the buildings on the site). There have been previous proposals for new commercial buildings on the site, but none appears to be active right now.
Delridge repaving update: Detour map fixed, thanks to WSB readers
That’s an updated detour map for Phase 2 of the Delridge Way repaving project, scheduled to take effect sometime next week – probably not before Wednesday, according to SDOT’s LeAnne Nelson, who thanks commenter Jim P for pointing out a problem with the map sent yesterday:
Your readers bring up a good point regarding the map. It shows the right-of-way routes for both 25th and 26th Avenue SW even though parts of what would be the roadway are unimproved. Attached is an updated map. Thank you to your readers for pointing out the issue!
Nelson also addresses an issue that commenter Breeze brought up:
Comments to your Phase 2 story include a question about why we detour to 35th Avenue SW. We strive to detour traffic along arterials, and the only consistent arterials flanking Delridge are the west sides of Trenton and Thistle (east sides of those streets are not arterials) and 35th Avenue SW to link them north/south.
We cannot disallow vehicles from utilizing public streets, but we can encourage arterial use. If speeding is witnessed repeatedly on the street, let us know, and we could place speed tubes to track the problem and potentially request more enforcement in the area. We also strongly suggest neighbors partner with our Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program team to apply for roadway assessment and possible traffic calming measures. Details are at: seattle.gov/transportation/ntcp_calming.htm
Again, provided weather doesn’t get in the way of Phase 1’s completion between SW Trenton and Henderson, Phase 2 of the repaving will start sometime next week along Delridge between Trenton and Thistle, and that’s when the – revised! – detour map will apply. This phase of the project is expected to last about 2 1/2 months.
West Seattle Crime Watch: Burglary attempt thwarted
In the 4700 block of Delridge Way SW a few hours ago, a resident apparently rattled the potential burglar who had just rattled her door:
I was by myself and heard the side door being rattled and thought it strange since my husband wasn’t coming home until later this evening. As I came down the stairs, I saw a young (approximately 18 – 20 years old) thin, African American guy with his navy parka hood covering his entire face except his eyes peering into the door. We made eye contact as I was coming down the stairs to investigate, and I turned around and went upstairs to get my cell phone to call 911.
The police responded immediately and after making sure he was no longer around, I showed the officer a large piece of concrete that was on the ground close to the door that wasn’t there when I got home. After some discussion, I showed the police officer the back door to where the would-be burglar could have exited via the alley since the other police officers did not find him on Delridge. And it was there that the officer found a pile of concrete debris (from which) the suspect had gotten the piece he was going to use to break the glass on our door with.
I just wanted to let you know, since it is still pretty bright out at 6:20 pm and this guy was pretty audacious to attempt this.
We checked the police-report map – no other burglaries shown in that area in the past week.
Delridge repaving, phase 2: New detour starts next week
(Click image to get PDF with full-size view)
Phase 2 of the yearlong Delridge Way SW repaving project is about to begin (as first noted here March 1st). Just in from SDOT, the detour map (above) that takes effect next week when work moves to the Thistle-to-Trenton stretch for two-plus months. Here’s the official announcement:
Starting the week of March 18, southbound Delridge Way Southwest traffic will be detoured at Southwest Thistle Street in West Seattle to facilitate roadway reconstruction and storm drain installations. This work is Phase 2 of the Seattle Department of Transportation’s Delridge Way Southwest Paving Project that is rebuilding much of Delridge Way Southwest between Southwest Orchard and Southwest Roxbury streets.
Traffic will be directed:
· West on SW Thistle Street
· South on 35th Avenue SW
· East on SW Trenton Street
· South on Delridge Way SW
The detour is expected to be in place until early June 2013. Northbound traffic on Delridge Way Southwest will be maintained. Local access and access to businesses will be maintained during project work.
This is a five-phase project. At the completion of Phase 2, the construction activity will move to the Phase 3 section of Delridge Way Southwest between Southwest Thistle and Southwest Holden streets.
Another community cleanup next Saturday: North Delridge encore
This past Saturday was a banner day for volunteer-powered cleanups – and next Saturday is shaping up that way too. Above are members of the North Delridge Neighborhood Council-mustered crew that worked at Greg Davis Park two days ago – and NDNC beautification chair Lisa Taylor-Whitley sends “a GIGANTIC thank you” and news that they collected 14 bags of recyclables and 6 bags of trash. She adds that they’re planning on an encore: “Even though a large amount of trash was collected there is still more to be cleaned. So we are having another cleanup event this coming Saturday, March 9, from 10 am to 12 pm to finish the work that was started. Again, we will meet at the 4 large rocks.”
West Seattle traffic update: Delridge/Trenton intersection open
No need to avoid the Delridge/Trenton intersection tonight – the city says it reopened early, and the adjacent section of Trenton that was closed for prep work is open too. The detour that’s in place for southbound Delridge between Trenton and Henderson remains in place while the repaving project continues Phase 1; as reported here Friday night, Phase 2 is expected to start in about two weeks.
| 8 COMMENTS