Highland Park/South Delridge greenway: City eyeing 17th SW

(Click image to open full-size PDF with the map and its notations)
Hat tip to West Seattle Bike Connections for calling attention to this: Three months after announcing that its east West Seattle drainage/stormwater improvements would be paired with a “greenway” – a route targeted for walk/bike-friendly features – the city is circulating word it’s closer to identifying a route. From SDOT‘s update:

… After analyzing data and reviewing public input, the most-promising greenway route is 17th Avenue SW from Roxbury to SW Kenyon or Holden Streets. More studies will be done to see how to best make the connection north of Graham Street up to the West Seattle Bridge Trail. We will have a meeting this fall to get additional input from community members on this alignment. Potential east-west neighborhood greenway routes are also being considered for implementation in the future.

More details are in this letter sent to nearby residents; it also points out that the project, including the “natural drainage” features, might affect parking:

Natural drainage projects in the public right-of-way are likely to affect some on street parking. Seattle Public Utilities knows that parking and access from the street to the sidewalk is very important to residents and carefully considers and addresses the impacts on every block where a project would be built. Residents’ feedback about concerns regarding on-street parking is one of the pieces of input that help determine where to place natural drainage projects. If your block is identified for rain gardens, you will have opportunities next year to provide input about the design.

No date for the next public meeting, but we’ll publish an update when it’s announced. The project’s infopage on the city website is here.

sounds familiar to me September 16, 2013 (12:35 pm)

17th is path of least resistance. South of Henderson it is an especially super narrow street with wide street fronts. Cars are jam-packed on street and sidewalks by renters mostly in apartments and townhouses.

City/county reps preferred this route for a route to WC destination eateries and amenities. Needs of pedestrians’ safety en route to Westwood and WC are lowest of the priorities, imho.

I find it amusing they speak of a “Phase 2” funding and planning. That would be just like “Phase/Round 2” of Way-Finding signage for walkable East Delridge….haha.

Here’s my take away, Eastern Delridge: if you don’t show up and speak up at these community meetings, you cannot be counted on to participate in these “decisions”.

As I said, sounds familiar.

miws September 16, 2013 (12:38 pm)

Cool!

I just got the letter in the mail, and hadn’t had a chance to read it yet, after making my usual twice or so per week walk along 17th, from Barton to Lee’s Produce (17th/Delridge) and back.

Mike

Susan Stoltzfus September 16, 2013 (3:25 pm)

The next phase of natural drainage (aka roadside raingardens) in the Highland Park area is already underway. Find out more at the next meeting of the Highland Park Action Committee on Sept. 25. Here’s the agenda:
http://hpacinfo.wordpress.com/2013/09/13/september-25th-hpac-meeting/

bertha September 16, 2013 (5:06 pm)

Nooooo! Our street is already overcrowded and the city doesn’t have a very good history with rain gardens.

No Parking September 16, 2013 (6:48 pm)

And we are losing all street parking in front of our house in Westwood and taking time off work to attend council meetings and committee meetings, and trying to work with DPD were all pointless. Basically, we have been told to let this happen to us or lawyer up. It decreases our home value to lose all our street parking in favor of a ditch, but nobody in the city or county can help us. We happen to have a fire hydrant also, so after 30 years, we no longer can park in front of our house. Elderly parents with mobility issues doesn’t factor in either. So rain garden fans…thanks for your enthusiasm, but I am not sure they care about ensuring residents concerns are considered. :-(

m September 16, 2013 (11:01 pm)

My neighbors and I on 17th were thrilled to hear this news. It is not often that a neighborhood such as ours is picked for a green project such as this. We are a mixed-use, socio-economically diverse street made up of apartment buildings, long-established single-family residences, owner-occupied townhouses, and rented townhouses. Our street has significant drainage issues during much of the year. While we share others’ concerns about how this may impact available street parking, we also hope that this will address the drainage issues. We welcome increased green space along the planting strips to discourage people from driving/parking there and to brighten up our street.

Susan Stoltzfus September 18, 2013 (11:43 am)

We really want to hear from people who have concerns about parking or anything else related to our proposed natural drainage projects on 17th or 26th.

We have collected survey input from some, and others attended a public meeting in July. Still others answered the door and talked to us when we came to their home. We’re still knocking on doors on both streets and all residents will be invited to walk and talk on the block this fall to provide more input about parking, plants, and other concerns.

All that input will help inform the decision about where to build rain gardens.

We did have problems with one previous project, but we fixed them, learned a lot and applied it all to this project. And we have successfully constructed natural drainage in many places in the city over the past 12 years.

Our best chance for success is by listening to what the community has to say and making decisions based on that information. Thanks to those who are talking to us – we couldn’t do it without you!

Cory September 20, 2013 (3:26 pm)

Is the installation of sidewalks part of this project? Several areas along the proposed route do not have sidewalks, such as the section immediately north of Webster street.

Also, the route along 17th just north of Webster is a dead-end street. Will this project change that and make it possible to drive from Webster to Myrtle along 17th?

Sorry, comment time is over.