West Seattle, Washington
15 Sunday
(Cross-section from city project page)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Some Triangle-area businesses are worried that the Fauntleroy Boulevard project has too much in common with the 23rd Avenue project on the other side of Elliott Bay.
That was one of the concerns voiced during the launch meeting for the new Fauntleroy Way Neighborhood and Business Association.
Not only did last Wednesday’s meeting draw about two dozen business reps and residents, it also drew the former City Councilmember who long advocated for the project – Tom Rasmussen – and the current City Councilmember who is somewhat shepherding it now – Lisa Herbold. (Both are West Seattleites.)
First, a bit of backstory in case you aren’t caught up on the recent “re-activation” of the project: Read More
Spring’s almost here. Thinking about spring cleaning? Clothes you and/or your teen(s) don’t need? Here’s a great way to get them to someone who can use them. From parent volunteer Lisa Conley, who also shared the photo:
The Chief Sealth International High School Clothing Closet would like to give a big shoutout to our wonderful community that donated hundreds of coats, hoodies, shirts, socks, gloves, and other articles of clothing over the holidays. Our students and staff are grateful for your generosity which is keeping our homeless, foster and low-income students warm and styling this winter.
We’re getting ready for what students will need this spring and through the end of the school year. Many students will be interviewing for jobs or college and attending prom. We would love donations of new or gently used:
* business wear for young women — blazers, skirts, dress pants, dresses and tops
* business wear for young men — suits, jackets, white shirts and ties
* casual tops for young women
* formal and party dresses
You may drop off donations at the school office Mondays – Fridays, 8 am – 4:30 pm. If you have any questions, please email Lisa Conley, parent volunteer, at lisalconley@hotmail.com.
CSIHS is at 2600 SW Thistle. If you’ve never been there, the office is reachable through the entrance up the stairs just northwest of the parking lot.
(WSDOT photo: Crews assembling rebar for a section of the foundation to support northbound SR 99 roadway and wall on west side of roadway)
The Highway 99 tunneling machine is back on the move, and re-aligned after veering a half-foot off course, according to this update late today from WSDOT:
Seattle Tunnel Partners resumed mining today after conducting additional survey work to verify Bertha’s position and to make necessary adjustments to complete the tunnel drive. Crews performed routine inspections and maintenance while mining was stopped, including the replacement of cutterhead tools.
As of this afternoon, Bertha was tunneling north toward the intersection of Denny Way and Sixth Avenue North, less than 1,000 feet from the disassembly pit.
STP stopped mining on February 28 after survey data indicated the tunneling machine may be several inches off the tunnel alignment. Three independent surveys confirmed the 57.5-foot machine was approximately six inches off alignment.
STP designers made a slight change to the tunnel alignment between the machine’s current location and the end of the tunnel drive. Adjustments are common during tunneling, including on this project. STP made a similar adjustment to correct Bertha’s course after the machine mined out of the access pit following repairs.
Crews steer Bertha based on information they receive from its on-board guidance system. The system is now set to the new tunnel alignment. According to STP’s most recent schedule, Bertha will arrive at the disassembly pit in May.
(Hydrologist/watershed resident Steve Winter [left] directed the work party and staked coir logs into place with Mark Harman. Photo courtesy Judy Pickens)
By Dennis Hinton
Special to West Seattle Blog
Volunteers turned out Saturday morning for state-approved emergency work to check bank erosion in lower Fauntleroy Creek. Over the past four years, erosion had chewed away a section of path used by hundreds of schoolchildren in the spring and salmon watchers in the fall.
The Fauntleroy Watershed Council spent nearly a third of its bank account on supplies and called on creek lovers to pull ivy and anchor coir logs to force flow away from the eroded bank. The council unsuccessfully sought grant funding two years ago, before the problem became severe, and plans to try again this spring to fund what has become an even larger scope of work.
“Starting in the late 1990s, the City of Seattle got behind restoration of its urban creeks and, in partnership with residents, accomplished a lot,” said longtime Fauntleroy Creek advocate Judy Pickens. “Over the past few years, the city has pulled back, making maintaining natural drainage systems a challenge borne to a great extent at the neighborhood level.”
(Steve Hodson, Judy Pickens, Pete Draughon, Mark Harman, Steve Winter, Fred Fleischmann. Photo by Dennis Hinton)
As the mile-long Fauntleroy system illustrates, urban creeks convey more than a lot of water. “They’re also rich outdoor classrooms, science labs, urban respites, and close-at-hand examples of the value of protecting habitat,” Pickens said. “We’re doing all we can to avoid losing this urban creek to the impact of development and shifting city priorities.”
Last May, volunteers with the watershed council hosted a record 764 students, who released 1,795 coho fry as part of the Salmon in the Schools program. In October and November, volunteer salmon watchers documented seven coho spawners in the reach just repaired.
2:47 PM: If you are in, or headed toward, downtown, avoid 4th Avenue in/through the Yesler vicinity – a major Seattle Fire response has been dealing with a natural-gas leak from a four-inch line. The area is closed off and some nearby buildings have been evacuated. SFD reports the leak has been stopped as of moments ago but they are still monitoring to decide if it’s safe to allow people back into the area.
3:18 PM: SFD says the 100 people evacuated from nearby buildings are in the process of “re-occupying.”
3:30 PM: SDOT says all lanes of 4th have reopened.
(Bald eagle watching M/V Walla Walla – photo by Dan Ciske)
Before we get too much further into the afternoon – four reminders for tonight, from the WSB Calendar:
TOWN HALL WITH YOUR U.S. HOUSE REP: Not in West Seattle, but this might be the closest “town hall” to our area for U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, whose district includes WS, so it’s in our calendar; 5:30 pm at the Great Hall in Town Hallhttps://townhallseattle.org/ downtown. (1119 8th Ave.)
MORGAN JUNCTION REZONING: Each of West Seattle’s three other city-designated urban villages has had a city-coordinated Community Design Workshop to talk about proposed Mandatory Housing Affordability rezoning under the Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda, and tonight, it’s Morgan Junction’s turn. 6 pm at The Hall at Fauntleroy, as previewed here last night, come hear about HALA and then talk about what’s proposed in Morgan Junction. (9131 California SW)
WEST SEATTLE HI-YU’S FUTURE: 6 pm at West Seattle (Admiral) Library, the board discusses two options for the future, as previewed here, and the question, what would be missed without Hi-Yu, which has 82 years of history? All welcome. (2306 42nd SW)
WEST SEATTLE PRIDE AAU BASKETBALL TRYOUTS: Tonight, 7-9 pm at West Seattle High School, senior, junior, and sophomore boys are invited to try out. Details in our calendar listing. (3000 California SW)
TOMORROW AND BEYOND … look ahead via our full-calendar page.
(Photo by Christopher Boffoli)
When we saw via Twitter this morning that Dick’s Drive-In is taking votes again on where to add a new location, we thought it hadn’t been that long since their last vote. Checked our archives and … well, time flies. It’s been six and a half years! Anyway, this time they’re asking “east or south?” – with West Seattle included in the potential “south” spots. You can vote here.
(Back in 2010, north beat south, and Dick’s opened its Edmonds location a year later.)
The Sunset Sunrise kids-consignment store at 4140 California SW has announced it’s closing at the end of this month, via its website and via this e-mail that proprietor Suzanne sent to customers today:
I have loved being a shop owner in my West Seattle community. I am grateful for these last two years. The hundreds of families that I have had the joy of meeting and develop relationships with have made this journey priceless. I will cherish the memories and look forward to seeing you and your sweet children around West Seattle for many years to come. … Sunset will close on March 31st. New inventory will continue to be put out in the shop over the next couple of weeks. Please stop by and use your available store credit and say hello.
No word yet on what’s next for the space.
From today’s city-circulated Land Use Information Bulletin, the next phase of a microhousing project we first told you about in May of last year, at 5952 California SW, north of Morgan Junction, replacing this 1925-built house and the garage building behind it:
(King County Assessor’s Office photo)
Last September, we reported on the “administrative design review” phase – a process in which comments are invited, but there’s no public meeting – for the proposal. Today’s notice (see it here) is for the land-use permit; the project has downsized from the first-proposed 48 units and is now described as “a 4-story apartment building with 29 small efficiency dwelling units and 6 apartment units (35 units total). Surface parking for 5 vehicles.” (Small efficiency dwelling units is the current official city term for microhousing.) Comments will be taken until March 20th, the city says; here’s how to send in yours.
P.S. Here’s the city’s final report on the aforementioned no-meeting design review.
(SDOT MAP with travel times/video links; is the ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE)
(Click any view for a close-up; more cameras on the WSB Traffic page)
7:42 AM: The trouble this morning has all been outside the city so far. But as we write this, a Seattle Fire medical-aid response is headed for 28th SW/SW Roxbury, so be careful through that area.
7:57 AM: Trouble on I-5 northbound downtown – a big “heavy rescue” response at Mercer. WSDOT says it’s in the left lanes. Per scanner, it’s a car on its side.
8:05 AM: Now another West Seattle incident – crash at 16th SW/SW Myrtle.
8:31 AM The NB I-5 incident is reported to be blocking all but one lane.
9:04 AM: More lanes have opened, and SFD has just cleared the crash scene. But the I-5 NB backup has stretched south of the West Seattle Bridge.
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