Story and photos by Keri DeTore
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
Next rainy morning you commute – by car OR bike – those huge puddles may be a little less prevalent, thanks to the efforts of some of your West Seattle neighbors this morning: Before the wind and rain took a break, intrepid community members turned out in force in northeast West Seattle this morning to rake leaves from sidewalks and gutters, clear drains, and collect trash.
Rose Feliciano, who lives near the Pigeon Point portion of the bike trail, has been trying to keep it clear of leaves since her bicycling friends mentioned “the path is getting smaller!” Additionally, through the city’s Adopt-a-Drain program, Rose has been working to maintain a clear drain at Delridge and 23rd –the site of the West Seattle Bridge onramp. Unfortunately, she didn’t get out there quite soon enough yesterday morning to beat the BMW that drove through the deep puddle, stalling their engine. She notes: “It doesn’t take much for those drains to get clogged.”
After posting a request for help on the Pigeon Point Neighborhood Council e-mail group asking for leaf-raking assistance on the bike path today, she was joined by three more volunteers including Andy and Andre (photo above). Rose will be continuing her efforts until the trees have finished dropping their leaves. And her group wasn’t the only one out in northeast West Seattle this morning:
The North Delridge Neighborhood Council not only meets monthly but also gathers four times a year for Adopt-a-Street street cleaning. In their efforts today, they’ve also joined the Adopt-a-Drain program and before the group set off with their bright yellow bags, leader of the Adopt-a-Street program Nancy Folsom asked volunteers to “Check for drains as you go.”
They are also focusing on clearing street gutters for bicyclists. As part of the Adopt-a-Drain and Adopt-a-Street programs, the city provides plastic bags to the volunteers, then sends out a truck to pick up the full bags. (For more info on Adopt-a-Drain, go here; for more on Adopt-a-Street, go here.)
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