Reminder: Fauntleroy Way restriping “open house” tomorrow

(the Fauntleroy stretch targeted for restriping, “dashcam” view heading northbound)
Drivers and bicyclists had a lot to say when we first reported two and a half weeks ago that Fauntleroy Way between Alaska and California is up for restriping – reconfiguration – as part of next year’s planned repaving, and after our Q/A followup two days later with the project’s SDOT point person. Now – it’s almost time for you to go get information, and offer comments, in person, on the proposal to change it from two lanes each way to one lane each way plus a center turn lane: Tomorrow night is the SDOT “open house” about the proposal, 5:30-8:30 pm at High Point Community Center (map). When we spoke with department reps earlier, they said it would be a true “open house” – no formal presentation planned, just drop by, get info, offer feedback – we will reconfirm that tomorrow with SDOT. Comments offered in person mean a lot, so if you have strong feelings about the proposal one way or the other, we suggest you go to the event at some point during that three-hour window. If you absolutely cannot – the e-mail address for your comments is: walkandbike@seattle.gov – the sooner the better, though the timetable for the project is uncertain, since some of the Fauntleroy Way repaving money was redirected in the city-budget process (WSB coverage here) and SDOT director Grace Crunican told us they would be working to figure out how much they have and what they can do with it (also the case with 16th SW, as reported here last week).

Dan December 1, 2008 (8:31 pm)

Well I just came from the “community forum” and it was a sham in my opinion … the tone of all the printed materials and posters state this is happening after “comments” are gathered. Eric, one of the project managers, stated specifically that the objective was to slow traffic down. It was also the first posted objective in the printed materials. Agree people shouldn’t speed but there are other ways to enforce this vs restricting a major arterial – Seattle defines this as a major arterial.

Several of the City of Seattle DOT people stated that comments were vocal and 50/50 for and against. Clearly something of this degree of controversy deserves more thought than to ram it through based on repaving funding in January (which was stated as the reason for the urgency).

If you disagree with this proposal you can email the following people:
george.frost@seattle.gov (public outreach coordinator)
jessica.murphy@seattle.gov (project manager)

Also consider emailing Jan Drago, city council for transportation, at jan.drago@seattle.gov

Dan

WSB December 1, 2008 (11:47 pm)

I’ve posted my report atop the page (I was there during the final hour) and just one note, the e-mail addresses you list are for the contacts on the paving plan, while the e-mail address for comment on the “rechannelization” plan is walkandbike@seattle.gov – I’m sure if you e-mail the two folks above it’ll get forwarded, but they are definitely not involved in the “rechannelization” — I spent some time talking with Jessica, who is the “paving geek” as she cheerily described herself (and gave us some great info we’d never heard before – like the history of Fauntleroy and why that center section is the part that just keeps crumbling, as opposed to the outer lanes) – TR

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