By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Know the difference between the Neighborhood Street Fund and the Neighborhood Park and Street Fund?

What they have in common is that both are available for community-proposed projects, and both were at the heart of this month’s Delridge Neighborhoods District Council meeting, which focused on different stages of the processes for the two city funds with similar names.

NEIGHBORHOOD STREET FUND: Megan McCoy from the city presented information about this grant program, which is handled by SDOT (as opposed to the Neighborhood Park and Street Fund, which is administered by the Department of Neighborhoods) and is accepting applications now. It involves larger projects, and runs on a 3-year cycle – time to design and then build the projects – $8 million per cycle (up to $1 million/project), funded by the Move Seattle levy that voters approved last year.

Project locations have to be fully in city right-of-way (streets, sidewalks), need to not trigger a lengthy environmental process, and must meet warrants and guidelines – in other words, be necessary as defined by city rules/laws/guidelines.

Past projects here include the 30th SW sidewalks and raised crosswalks in Alki.

Applications are online now and simpler than you might think – give the location, the problem statement, and contact information – deadline April 17th. Each neighborhood district council will help winnow the list if there are more than five – the city wants recommendations of five to take a closer look at. Conceptual design for those five (or fewer) will ensue; then they’ll be prioritized in September. They’ll be evaluated on criteria including safety, interconnectedness, vibrancy, affordability, innovative, equity, and the district’s priorities. Final decision on which projects go forward will be made in October by the Move Seattle Levy Oversight Committee.

Community advocates who had already been pushing hard to fix trouble spots were concerned about potentially re-starting from scratch to get projects into this process.

For example: What about the Highland Park Way/Holden roundabout proposal? asked Gunner Scott, new chair of the Highland Park Action Committee.

That conceptual design was obtained via another funding process, as reported here a year ago:

It would still have to go through district council review to be eligible for this fund, McCoy said, and construction would be toward summer of 2018. She had some history on that project and said one of the challenges is that it’s too costly for this fund so they have to find a way to “leverage” other ways to pay for it. (Our 2015 report said the roundabout was estimated at $2.1 million, a signal at $1.3 million, but the latter wasn’t considered the most “efficient” option for the intersection.)

One person said it’s disheartening that there’s a million-plus for bicycles (referring to City Council approval earlier in the week for the Pronto bike-share buyout) but not enough money for Highland Park Way to get a safety project, “trying year after year after year.” “Three crashes in two weeks,” pointed out Scott. And from Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Council, Amanda Kay Helmick mentioned she’s been agitating for three years now for safety in Westwood. Neighborhood District Coordinator Kerry Wade urged those concerned to keep lobbying their elected representatives, including City Councilmember Lisa Herbold.

Meantime, general information about applying for the fund is here.

NEIGHBORHOOD PARKS/STREET FUND: This was the reason for the relatively big turnout – about 40 people by the time the agenda item came up – reviewing the proposed projects – which must each cost less than $90,000 – for this fund.

First – Gunner Scott from Highland Park, the 7700 block of streets near Highland Park Way to be specific: “The situation between Highland Park Way, Holden, and 16th causes backup in the morning. He quotes neighbors as saying ‘I can hear the cars from my bedroom when I get dressed in the morning.’ Scott cited high crash rates. They are proposing speed humps, after trying other tactics – radar gun, many “slowdown signs,” and more. They know people will continue cutting through, “but we need them to slow down.” They’re also working toward a street mural, and are going to circulate a petition. The project was estimated at about $45,000.

Second – Deborah Vandermar from the High Point Open Spaces Association, looking for a Bataan Park stairway overhaul – the one there is chipped, with eroded soil. There’s a gunnel for bikes but it too is in terrible shape. “There’s no other way to get up and down that reach that goes down toward the creek,” she said. It’s not safe for kids to get down to Delridge to STEM. Officially, this is Stairway S133 from Bataan Park to 26th SW and SW Graham, “heavily used as a conduit from Delridge to High Point and destinations beyond …” It has a bike runnel that also is blocked and useless. A challenge here was that it is not SDOT-owned right of way, Kerry Wade explained. With drug, safety, and other issues, the Open Spaces Association might not even be able to keep the stairway open, if it’s not chosen for rehab, said reps. Do they work with police? asked an attendee. Yes, all the time, OSA reps said.

Third – Doug Ollerenshaw from 25th and Brandon in Cottage Grove is proposing traffic calming on a 2-block stretch that many people use to get between Delridge and High Point. There’s no traffic control currently at the intersection, which is right around the corner from the Delridge Library. Because of the preschool at Delridge and Brandon, among other factors, a lot of kids are crossing the street and “it’s scary,” he said. He pointed out a crash in late January, early morning and allegedly involving a drunk driver. A traffic circle is the likely solution but they want to leave it open to SDOT to evaluate. That would cost at least $20,000. High Point Open Spaces Association’s Vandermar suggested that Brandon all the way up to High Point would be a candidate for the larger fund discussed earlier in the meeting.

Fourth – Pete Spalding from Pigeon Point, who submitted a long list of proposals, starting with a no-parking zone on the east side of 21st between Genesee and 21st/22nd intersection. It would improve the greenway that’s in progress there, he said. “These cars that are parking there are not only in the street but the shoulder’s so narrow they are parking on the asphalt path as well.” The cost would likely be around $1,000 a sign, maybe a half-dozen signs for that stretch, Spalding said in response to questions.

Next proposal, a container for holding pet-waste bags at the entrance to Pigeon Point Park. Why can’t Parks just be asked to install one? asked an attendee. They’ve been asked, said Spalding, but this grant request officially puts it “into the system.” Merica Whitehall from the Nature Consortium mentioned they’ve had a problem with it related to their restoration work, “quite a nasty problem,” she said.

After that: A crosswalk at 20th/Genesee, to facilitate safe passage for Pathfinder K-8 students and area residents. There’s a crosswalk one block away but this intersection needs one in particular. This isn’t the first time it’s been proposed, either, Spalding said.

Two more “no parking” zones were proposed to enhance visibility, including 23rd SW north of SW Andover. Following that, lighting on the Andover staircase. It’s been redone – as you might have noticed at the top of the hill from Delridge up to PP – but “what we want now is to put lighting along the staircase,” said Spalding.

Another stairway was the next proposal: The Charlestown staircase on the east side of Pigeon Point needs repairs – “the railing is falling apart,” said Spalding, adding that lighting is needed too. He reiterated that if they keep proposing it, it’ll likely eventually land on SDOT’s Capital Improvement Projects list. And last but not least, he’s proposing repairs for the shoulder of Andover between 26th and 28th, which has become a parking lot of sorts, though “numerous potholes and deep canyons” have formed on the shoulder.

All the proposals will be vetted by DNDC members; the council then will decide which it supports to advance in the process.

DNDC OFFICERS: One more major item of business for Wednesday night’s meeting – officer elections. Mat McBride continues as chair; Pete Spalding, vice chair; Willard Brown, secretary; Nancy Folsom will represent DNDC at the City Neighborhood Council.

The Delridge Neighborhoods District Council meets third Wednesdays, 7 pm, at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center (4408 Delridge Way SW).