VIDEO: See Fauntleroy Creek’s ‘home hatch’ baby salmon

February 27, 2024 12:40 pm

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 |   Fauntleroy | West Seattle news | Wildlife

In our last update on Fauntleroy Creek salmon, volunteers had counted 34 during last year’s spawning season. Now, three months later, some of the results are in view! Fauntleroy Watershed Council‘s Judy Pickens explains:

Coho fry from last fall’s spawning are now feeding in lower Fauntleroy Creek. Volunteers first noticed them last week and called in Sam Verbon, who captured this video on his GoPro.

Several of the 34 spawners counted in November left fertilized eggs. Protected from predators by a blanket of gravel, they hatched over several weeks into alevin, then matured into fry ready to swim freely and start feeding.

To avoid detection by birds or curious people, the tiny fish will forage near the bank and overhanging vegetation as they grow into fingerlings (parr), then 4″-5″ smolts. Those that survive will leave for saltwater in spring 2025.

This spring’s crop of smolts will soon begin leaving for Fauntleroy Cove and saltwater points beyond. Volunteers will check soft traps in the upper and lower creek twice daily to get an accurate count of them. Last year they documented 41.

In May, 19 West Seattle schools expect to release fry in Fauntleroy Park. Some of those fish will wash into the middle reach to populate the entire creek system with coho juveniles.

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Roll on in! Eagle Scout leads pathway project for smoother access to Fauntleroy Park

February 23, 2024 10:21 am

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 |   Fauntleroy | West Seattle news | West Seattle parks

(Photos by Tom Trulin)

The main north entrance to Fauntleroy Park is a little easier to navigate now, thanks to a local Eagle Scout and helpers. The report is from Judy Pickens:

Visitors to Fauntleroy Park will notice something new at the SW Barton St. entrance: a crushed-rock path providing firm footing between the sidewalk and kiosk.

Eagle Scout candidate Kai Longmeier (above) rallied a crew from Troop 681 to strip the pathway of grass, lay and compact 7.5 yards of crushed rock, and put in 12 plants around the entrance’s rainbow sign.

The project started with interest by the Fauntleroy Watershed Council in improving access for those who rely on wheels to enjoy the park (strollers, walkers, wheelchairs). Council member Rosalie Miller worked with Amir Williams, trails program manager for Seattle Parks, to come up with the project and Kai ably took it from there.

Haven’t been there before? Here’s a map.

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YMCA, ferry dock, pickleball @ Fauntleroy Community Association’s February 2024 meeting

February 14, 2024 9:52 pm

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 |   Fauntleroy | West Seattle news

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Guests for two of the topics on the Fauntleroy Community Association agenda last night were no-shows, so the meeting centered on the YMCA and the future ferry-dock replacement. One of the other two topics – pickleball in Lincoln Park – surfaced at meeting’s end anyway. But first:

FAUNTLEROY YMCA’S FUTURE: This was the first formal FCA discussion of the issue, which had just surfaced a few days before last month’s meeting. Representatives of the Y and Fauntleroy Church, with which it’s co-housed, were in attendance last night. Rev.Leah Atkinson Bilinski reminded everyone that her church has hosted the Y for a century. But the pandemic’s after-effects linger – and Y execs initiated a discussion with the church about their organization’s challenges. Cleveland King, West Seattle/Fauntleroy Y branch executive, acknowledged that before the community outcry, they had expected to be closing Fauntleroy – and because of that, he said, the Y’s 2024 budget had no line item for operating that location. It’s the only site in the Greater Seattle Y system that the Y doesn’t own, he explained, and they had already closed some other rented spaces to save money. But he said he agree with the emergent sentiment that “it would be a shame to lose this relationship”- it’s more than another gym space. The question then became, “Are we actually using the space for the best use of the community?” At the recent town hall (WSB coverage here), he said, though some attendees wanted answers on the spot, he wanted to listen.

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VIDEO: Stoplight at Fauntleroy ferry intersection before terminal redo? Possibility presented to Community Advisory Group, along with new renderings

February 13, 2024 12:54 pm

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 |   Fauntleroy | Transportation | West Seattle news

The traffic flow – or lack of it – into and out of the Fauntleroy ferry dock has long been a challenge. At peak times, when available and funded, a law-enforcement officer helps. So what about a stoplight? The idea is far from new, but it’s resurfaced during the planning process for the dock-replacement project – and suddenly there’s talk it could be installed a lot sooner. That’s part of what was presented in the most recent meeting of the project’s Community Advisory Group.

First, here’s video of the entire meeting, published Monday (the meeting was held online last Wednesday):

Washington State Ferries managers told the CAG members – who represent all three stops on the route served by this dock, Fauntleroy, Vashon Island, and Southworth (Kitsap County) – that they’ve been talking with SDOT about the possibility of installing a stoplight sooner rather later, and talked about preliminary ideas for how it would work. They also said they had ruled out one controversial idea discussed at an earlier meeting – cutting into the bluff across the street from the dock in order to widen the intersection. (The bluff is topped by a lookout known as Captain’s Park.)

The diagram they showed (top image) was based on the concept of signalizing the intersection based on its current configuration. And the signal would be set up to use vehicle detection – obviously the dock-into-Fauntleroy Way direction wouldn’t be needed in the times between boats’ unloading. Discussion with CAG members included questions about how, or whether, the signalized intersection would discourage drivers from turning left into the dock from northbound Fauntleroy, and how it would be sequenced so that pedestrians and bicyclists could safely get across.

No specific time frame was listed for potential installation.

As for the dock itself, the process is moving toward design and construction in 2027-2029, and a “preferred alternative” size and shape for the replacement isn’t expected to be chosen until next year.

But WSF is continuing to consider seven alternatives (above) – potentially longer and/or wider than the current dock – so another major section of this meeting was devoted to new sets of renderings of how those alternatives would look. The renderings’ views were presented as from the pump station north of the dock, from the Cove Park beach north of the dock, looking toward the water from the street end of the walkway to/from the dock (which could run a fifth of a mile in the longest-new-dock scenario), and from the Captain’s Park lookout across the street. Since there were so many renderings, we have to refer you to the slide deck PDF for a look instead of posting them all here. Here’s a sample set, though – the existing view from Captain’s Park and the rendering of what the longest, largest alternative – C, which could hold up to 186 vehicles, a boatload and a half – would look like from there:

The WSF project engineering lead who presented the various sets of renderings, Edd Thomas, was asked questions such as how the motorcycle and bicycle loading – envisioned to have their own lanes – would work, and what sort of elevation change would be required from street to dock in order to prepare for sea-level rise. (Not much, was that reply – the current dock is a bit of a drop from the tollbooths, so that would instead be leveled out.) Another question: With the dock surface potentially much larger, what kind of light permeability would be built in, in order to avoid shading so much more water? Still under evaluation, was the reply – maybe some glass block along the south side of the dock.

The project is currently in a variety of studies before moving into the next phase of alternating alternatives. One major issue that’s being studied is how ferry traffic would be affected by advance ticketing or the Good To Go! automatic-payment pass system – potentially enabling the new dock to have a footprint similar to the existing one. WSF managers promised they will have that information at the next meeting, probably sometime in March. (UPDATE: It’s scheduled for 6 pm March 20.) In the meantime, the project is a major topic on tonight’s Fauntleroy Community Association meeting agenda, with guests from WSF, 6 pm at Fauntleroy Schoolhouse (9131 California SW), open to the community (also viewable online).

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