35 Replies to "FAUNTLEROY BOULEVARD: New business/resident association forms to elevate concerns, sets March 1st meeting"

• NW February 20, 2017 (1:25 pm)

  Bravo that a “new” business to West Seattle is finally stepping up and he ting people together to bring feedback to the city! When was it that there was actually a semi organized group in “the triangle” had meetings and reached to people in the neighborhood? 

• PSPS February 20, 2017 (1:26 pm)

  It looks like the “Fauntleroy Way Neighborhood and Business Association” didn’t get the memo.  Nobody in Seattle is supposed to drive cars anymore.

  By the way, is it really true that the head of SDOT has none of the professional credentials usually associated with such a position?

• KT February 20, 2017 (1:36 pm)

  …”lack of concern for the significant impact to commuter traffic during the year long planned construction phase”.   Who here believes SDOT can complete this in a year given their track record?   This is the main road into and out of West Seattle.   This project will cripple West Seattle.   A prime example of too many levy $$$ going to vanity projects rather than maintaining the roadways we have, that in many instances are in deplorable condition and ignored or given temp repairs which do not last.

• cjboffoli February 20, 2017 (1:59 pm)

  “Undue emphasis on improving the pedestrian experience on an arterial street.”

  That takes the cake as one the most ridiculously myopic concerns I’ve ever seen.  Yes, let’s continue to make it clear to people who are not in cars that they are unwelcome in this area, that they are anomalies, that if they’re doing business in this neighborhood it is a prerequisite that they are kept inside two tons of steel and glass as much as possible, and if they have the temerity to get out of a car they should be constantly reminded that they are playing a game of Frogger with their own lives.  

  • K February 20, 2017 (3:07 pm)

    +100

  • Kathy February 21, 2017 (11:40 pm)

    Since forever there has been undue emphasis on concrete and cars whizzing by businesses on this stretch of Fauntleroy.  It’s time to balance that out. Cars will still be using the right of way, but now it will also be welcoming to people getting around in a more sustainable fashion and it will boost the area businesses in the process. I totally understand if people have no choice but to get around in a car, but I don’t see how that gives them the right to whine about sharing the road with those who would like to safely and comfortably get to destinations in this neighborhood without driving.

• Scarlett February 20, 2017 (2:22 pm)

  Yes  let’s make sure we can strangle traffic down to a slow drip leaving west Seattle  for the sake of bike lanes I will always avoid over those on Alaska.  

• Just February 20, 2017 (3:00 pm)

  So for everyone complaining- should we just leave Fauntleroy to waste? The road is busted and not pedestrian friendly. The lanes will still be two in each direction so I’m not seeing how this is going to strangle traffic, has anyone actually looked at the plans or is outrage over anything just the new status quo?

  I hope the businesses and locals can meet with the city and figure out a plan that’s the least impactful local business and residents. 

  • sam-c February 21, 2017 (9:19 am)

    Yes, there are still 2 lanes, but they have taken away the ‘3rd-ish’ lane that feeds into being able to turn right/east-bound on Avalon.  Ever since they eliminated the right turn lane from Avalon to 35th (in front of KFC), there have been more back-ups at certain times… but now the back ups will just extend further on Fauntleroy.

• dhg February 20, 2017 (3:32 pm)

  City of Seattle:  You’re putting the cart before the horse.

  The City has it all backwards.  You don’t get more people to ride the bus by making traffic snarls.  You get more people to ride the bus by  improving the bus experience.

  Likewise, you don’t mess up the roads, and traffic, with your idyllic trees, bike lanes, pedestrian concourse, until you’ve found a way to lighten the traffic  (i.e. mass transit that works well for at least 20 hrs of the day).

  • Jort Sandwich February 21, 2017 (1:49 pm)

    Actually, you do. In the last five years, 95% of new commuters to downtown Seattle use alternative transportation. I assure you it didn’t happen because the city made it easier than ever for people to drive to work alone.

    Making traffic so miserable that choosing to driving alone is a worse option than mass transit is a proven and reliable method for increasing alternative transportation. It has been proven in major cities all around the world, over and over again, and it is being proven here in Seattle, too.

    Part of “improving the bus experience” means making the bus get to downtown faster than your own car. That means slowing the selfish, single-occupant car drivers down in traffic at the expense of the bus that holds 150 people. Sorry, but that’s how it goes.

• Harriet Husbands February 20, 2017 (4:20 pm)

  The bus experience is much better because I don’t have to deal with parking in downtown.  The biking experience is dangerous.  This road is an improvement.  5 businesses are negatively affected really?  Think about foot traffic from the nearby neighborhoods and new apartments coming up.  

  Those who want to drive their cars, move to Tacoma.

  • Mark Schletty February 20, 2017 (5:24 pm)

    Harriet husbands– I almost never comment on a comment this way– but–“those who want to drive their cars, move to Tacoma”. What unbelievable insufferable arrogance. So you think those of us who have lived here for many years, or our whole lives, should pack up and move to Tacoma because we need, for a large variety of reasons, to use a car for transportation. I hope i never meet such a totally self centered fool as you.

    • WSOldguy February 20, 2017 (8:01 pm)

      Mark….You hit the nail on the head.  Thank you for replying to HH in a dignified professional response.  I wanted to leave a much harsher response.

      • K February 20, 2017 (9:01 pm)

        Harsher than “self-centered fool?”

    • Harriet Husbands February 21, 2017 (4:30 pm)

      The truth is while you been here for some time, the city has changed.  You need to change too.  Try considering using the bus or try biking to help alleviate traffic.  If you tried you will find biking to be too dangerous down this stretch of road.  Tacoma is a great city and if you visit it will feel like how Seattle was 15 years ago.

      • WSOldguy February 21, 2017 (7:44 pm)

        I have been here my entire life…55yrs old.  If you are concerned as a bike rider, then all bikes must be registered and pay taxes like all of us.  No free rides sir.

        • WSB February 21, 2017 (8:06 pm)

          Covering a meeting so this has to be quick. But: The old canard that bicycle riders don’t pay for the roads is incorrect.
          So please don’t even bother going down that road, so to speak.
          For one, most bicycle riders own cars, and use them less.
          For two, the taxes that pay for roads come from far more sources than taxes paid specifically by motorized-vehicle users.
          I have posted a form of this comment several times over the years but the back-end search is not bringing it up and I have to get back to covering the Crime Prevention Council. There are a few key related links and I will look for them using other methods later. – TR

• WGA February 20, 2017 (4:51 pm)

  I have been looking forward to this project for many years.

  I do agree that businesses in the Triangle need better access for traffic driving SB on Fauntleroy.

  Today turning left is tough enough and holds up traffic going SB when someone wants to turn left as they wait for a gap in the NB traffic.

  Perhaps a left only signal and lane can be designed for access to 37th. Perhaps the light can even be synced with the one at Oregon and then cars going NB can turn left onto Oregon at the same time. It would require part of the center tree median be turned into a left turn lane north of 37th.

  Another option, but probably more problematic, could be a SB left turn to 36th where Avalon joins Fauntleroy.

  I am looking forward to seeing this project finally getting started.

• Denis February 20, 2017 (5:56 pm)

  Perhaps Just failed to notice the areas where there are actually three lanes in each direction allowing for unimpeaded right turns on to Genesee and Oregon going south and Avalon going north?  This will cause a backup when these right turns are at stops  and  we will be loosing a partial lane in both directions. 

  I am a biker who is required to provide my own car for work by my very cheap employer the  State of Washington so I have to drive to work because the tax payers say so. 

• Don_Brubeck February 20, 2017 (6:34 pm)

  Making the street comfortable and safe for people taking transit, walking, or riding bikes is good for business.  People using those ways of getting around shop locally, and save parking space for those who arrive by car.  

  It is not just the street that will be under construction for at least a year. All the property along there  is already zoned for 6 story buildings. The kind of development that  is happening at SW Alaska & Fauntleroy Way will be happening all along Fauntleroy to Avalon, as one and two story buildings are replaced with 5 and 6 story buildings, for several years to come. Those projects will also bring temporary inconvenience, especially for businesses who are tenants. 

• WS Dad February 20, 2017 (7:39 pm)

  It’s pretty disappointing to see local businesses coming out against this. I visited Realfine with my family for the first time a couple of months ago. We walked there. The coffee shop was nice, but it was extremely unpleasant to sit outside along what feels, essentially, like a freeway onramp.

  The West Seattle Brewery is the same. I like their beer, but the ambiance is terrible with loud speeding traffic feet away. At least they haven’t come out publicly against this plan yet.

  Speaking for myself, I’d be a lot more likely to spend time at these businesses if the area is more pleasant to be in. 

  Just my opinion, for whatever it’s worth. 

• WSRedux February 21, 2017 (7:59 am)

  I’m pessimistic about the long term  landscape maintenance of this project. Maintenance is a low priority for SDOT. For example the landscaped center strip on Admiral Way between 37th & 39th east of the Admiral/California junction & the landscaped center strip along Harbor Ave south of Jack Block Park toward Avalon Way are weed patches…good examples of SDOT’s lack of care. I don’t have any hope the long term maintenance of plantings  along the Fauntleroy Blvd project will be any better . A mix of interesting hardscape & fewer, very hardy low maintenance plants would be a better choice.

• sam-c February 21, 2017 (9:33 am)

  So did Trader Joe’s identify where their new loading zone is going to be?

• Elevated Concerns February 21, 2017 (10:56 am)

  I’m a resident in the Triangle area.  Where do I get to sign up as a member of this group?

• rob February 21, 2017 (8:55 pm)

  Not to beat on a dead horse  but wouldn’t be fare to say before we we build this pretty new road that soon will be neglected we should fix or maintain what we have. It seems the city has all money in the world for the pretty new stuff but no monry to maintain what we have

• Paul February 22, 2017 (12:08 pm)

  This Project is going to be a great change to the neighborhood.  Time and time again, studies show that customers who walk and bike to a business spend more money at that business.

  With the upzoning that is along this corridor, there will be MORE people on foot, MORE people on bike, MORE people on transit and MORE people in cars.  The city isn’t waging a war on cars. Cars are choking themselves out.  

  If west Seattle grows by just 20%, we will add 20,000 more people to a landmass accounting for less than 1/4 the size of the city.  If you expect everyone to be able to drive a car at peak hours, they will.  If you want there to be an extra car for every 5 on the road, leave this section be.  

  This is a gateway to and from our corner of the city and you have to be blinded by the traffic to see it is ugly AF. Living just a couple of blocks away and frequently walking to the Alaska Junction, it is inhospitable  in sight and experience.

• Paul February 22, 2017 (1:25 pm)

  This
  Project is going to be a great change to the neighborhood.  Time and time
  again, studies show that customers who walk and bike to a business spend more
  money at that business.

  With
  the upzoning that is along this corridor, there will be MORE people on foot,
  MORE people on bike, MORE people on transit and MORE people in cars.  The
  city isn’t waging a war on cars. Cars are choking themselves out.  

  If
  west Seattle grows by just 20%, we will add 20,000 more people to a landmass
  accounting for less than 1/4 the size of the city.  If you expect everyone
  to be able to drive a car at peak hours, they will.  If you want there to
  be an extra car for every 5 on the road, leave this section be.  

  This
  is a gateway to and from our corner of the city and you have to be blinded by
  the traffic to see it is ugly and uninviting. Living just a couple of blocks
  away and frequently walking to the Alaska Junction, it is inhospitable in
  sight and experience.

   

• Elevated Concerns February 22, 2017 (4:10 pm)

  Our Gateway is not a highway.  We have a bridge that takes you to two highways.  Most of the bicycle comments seem to only identify with bikers coming from the south.  This plan will allow for bikers from the north to actually cross Fauntleroy safely so they too can use Avalon.  

• Matt February 22, 2017 (6:06 pm)

  I’ve looked back and forth at the plans, Google Maps, Google Earth and Google Street View for what probably amounts to several hours and have pondered all sorts of alternative plans.  I like what they’re trying to do here, but this stretch of Fauntleroy — cutting through a grid at essentially a 45-degree angle, plus how Avalon connects — makes just about any improvements impossible, especially without knocking out most of the businesses and moving what ones you can another 20 feet away from the road.  I agree with both “WS Dad” that the area is not pleasant to spend time in (both for the traffic and the fact that Midas, Goodyear and a lumber yard aren’t exactly components of a “nice view”), and with “Sam-C” that Trader Joe’s completely loses their loading zone with no good alternative (they’ll probably otherwise just get the city to convert 10 parking spaces on 39th to a loading zone).

  If anything I would propose a two-way bike lane on the east/south side of Fauntleroy instead of one on each side, probably get rid of the median; TJ keeps their loading zone and we maybe get to keep the turn-only lane onto Oregon?  I don’t think the dedicated turn lane onto Avalon will have that large of an impact on traffic, at least not one that could be mostly resolved with modifications to light timing.

  But then again, with all the development continuing to go up in West Seattle, and all the re-zoning which will result in even more apartment complexes and more and more people that will need to travel into and out of West Seattle every day, there’s going to need to be some kind of long term solution for Fauntleroy and the bridge (the ST3 subway/light rail will help, to be sure, but 2030…).  So maybe we just take the money from this plan, re-surface Fauntleroy and revisit this conversation in 5 years  lol.  This project will make Fauntleroy look prettier in Google Street View, but it won’t make it any more enjoyable to visit and spend time at these businesses.

• Matt February 22, 2017 (6:10 pm)

  On a possibly unrelated note: is the crosswalk between Whole Foods and LA Fitness part of this project or is that part of another project (maybe part of the Whittaker construction) to be completed soon?  I’d really like to see a crosswalk there.

  • WSB February 22, 2017 (6:35 pm)

    Crosswalk improvement is supposed to be part of The Whittaker project. I don’t know the current timeline. Mentioned in past coverage including https://westseattleblog.com/2014/12/west-seattle-development-design-commission-revisits-the-whittaker/

• RS February 23, 2017 (1:56 pm)

  Avalon is a mess. Wish the focus would be there and just filling the potholes on Fauntleroy rather than executing this vanity project.

  Bike commuters use Avalon to access the low bridge and it is pretty dangerous as it is.

• West Seattle since 1979 February 25, 2017 (8:24 am)

  People actually live in this area and use the businesses along Fauntleroy.  People shouldn’t have to feel that they need  to drive their cars to businesses a couple blocks away in order to feel safe.  It’s ok if you want to drive two blocks or need to because of mobility problems, of course. But if you want to walk, you should be able to feel safe doing so.

• B February 28, 2017 (9:47 pm)

  I have lived a couple of blocks away from this area for twenty-five years. I never go to any of the businesses. Walking to the area is too unpleasant. The traffic patterns and limited parking make driving nearly as time-consuming as walking. Any pedestrian improvements will be welcome.

Sorry, comment time is over.