Alki Community Council: Sidewalk controversy resurfaces

| Neighborhoods | Safety | Transportation | West Seattle news

(click image to see full three-page document with city’s “final design”)
First update from tonight’s Alki Community Council meeting: Issues are still simmering with the city plan to finish the sidewalk on the north side of Alki Sw, from 63rd SW west to the other side of Alki Point. What you see above – difficult as it may be to decipher (even if you click on the image to see the full three-page document) – is what’s described on the city’s webpage for the project as “the final design,” and labeled on the document as “100% review” (dated tomorrow, by the way). At one point, the ACC had hoped that city project manager “Sam” Woods would be at tonight’s meeting; instead, she has been going door-to-door through the affected area this week to talk with residents. Just one problem, said a few attendees at tonight’s meeting: The letter from SDOT director Grace Crunican (read it here) says those visits were happening yesterday and today – but some didn’t even get the letter till today. They say they still have safety concerns about the plan and would like to see it presented one last time (the previous, contentious community meeting was this one in April) – with safety details highlighted (beyond the two raised crosswalks, at 64th and at Alki/Beach, as reported here in July) — before it’s finalized prior to construction (which Crunican’s letter says will start early next year). ACC secretary Larry Carpenter says he’s certain that such a meeting is already in the city’s plans; we’ll check with SDOT tomorrow, and we’ll also be asking about a report tonight that the project is $150,000 over the original budget.

Michael September 19, 2008 (12:12 am)

…aaand expect the overage to grow as SDOT keeps having to fight selfish residents over a sidewalk that should have been built years ago.

carraig na splinkeen September 19, 2008 (7:10 am)

When the public sector gets maligned for not operating like the private sector, it’s issues such as this that are a good example why. The project is on public right-of-way and is consistent with the city’s (and the region’s) goal of creating walkable environments for all, so if the city had acted like the private sector it would not have had to consult with the adjacent residents and could have built the sidewalk. But it did, and now the project has overhead costs that could possibly double the total value of the project. Tax dollars are going into paying for the extensive outreach on this project, taxes paid by all Seattle residents not just those who live adjacent to the project. My street near Alki not only has sidewalks but a bus route with stops. This is what urban living is about.

Rick September 19, 2008 (5:48 pm)

It has always amazed me when private citizens on private property feel an entitlement to public property for their benefit because “it’s always been this way”. Better than losing their property to eminant domain. But it’s not theirs.

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