West Seattle, Washington
10 Saturday
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
You’ve heard lots of pitches about making your plan for the Seattle Squeeze, Period of Maximum Constraint, whatever you want to call the looming post-viaduct-and-more transportation crunch.
At tonight’s West Seattle Transportation Coalition meeting, another way to look at it – if you are a Seattle employee or employer, Commute Seattle can help.
The group also got to do a little brainstorming with a group looking far beyond the looming years of transpo-trouble, envisioning the future of downtown.
But first:
(WSB photo, added Friday)
Two months after we last checked on Upton Flats – the mixed-use development at 35th SW/SW Graham in High Point – its management has announced a “grand opening” event for this weekend. They’re inviting people to stop by for a look at the ~100-apartment complex Saturday or Sunday, 10 am-5 pm, and they’re promising beer and snacks. No confirmed tenants yet for the retail space, though; as we’ve reported previously, Seattle Housing Authority offices will occupy about 80 percent of the complex’s commercial space.
(WSB file photo)
Last night, we featured the new entertainment schedule for Saturday night’s Hometown Holidays Tree Lighting and Night Market in and around Junction Plaza Park (42nd and Alaska) – see it here. Tonight, the vendors you’ll find at the market! The latest list from the West Seattle Junction Association includes:
Alki Beach Glass, Erose Creations, It’s Cathy Wu, Basilic, Live Inspired Jewelry, Jessica Heide Illustrations, Semilla Designs, Ramsey Chavez Art LLC, Sheetal Berg, Ranceart, Ugly Yellow House, From Where I See It, Apple Cox Design, Perch Papergoods, Angels Salon, Bakery Nouveau, Dream Dinners, Falafel Salam, Pacific Knotwest, Amarelo Bread, Chelo Cultured Cashew Crème, Timber City Ginger Beer, Patty Pan Cooperative, Seattle Canning Co, Lesedi Farm, Adrienne’s Cakes & Pies, Pinckney’s Cookie Café, La Pasta, Britt’s Pickles, Little Prague, Wilridge Winery, Whole Foods, Hope School, Flemings Lights, WestSide Baby, Trevani Truffles
The market will run from 3 pm to 7 pm on SW Alaska between California and 42nd, and you’ll find Santa there too!
More light reading! That’s the updated “work plan” for the Levy to Move Seattle, as just released by SDOT, with the levy’s oversight committee meeting at City Hall tonight (as noted in our daily highlights list). You’ll recall that SDOT said earlier in the year that it would have to revise the plan, and now the revision’s out. Key West Seattle (and vicinity) projects and dates mentioned:
-SW Avalon Way rechannelization/repaving (plus repaving 3 blocks of 35th and one of Alaska) is now listed as a 2020 project. Most recently, SDOT had said this project would have to span two seasons, 2019 and 2020, so we’ll be following up to see if the new work-plan date really means it won’t even start until 2020.
-Repaving Delridge between Avalon and Graham is listed as 2021, which is in line with the RapidRide H Line now scheduled to launch that fall
-East Marginal corridor improvements for freight and bicycles now listed as 2022-2023, pending additional funding
-Andover and Delridge pedestrian bridges are scheduled for work in 2020
-Both Admiral Way bridges are scheduled for work in 2023
-Here are the only “new sidewalk” projects listed for West Seattle between now and 2024:
Myrtle stairway from Sylvan to 25th, 2019
Sylvan Way between Orchard and Delridge, 2019
Sylvan Way, same stretch, other side, 2020
24th from Thistle to Barton, 2020
Kenyon from 24th to “dead end,” 2020
Edmunds stairway from Cottage Place to 23rd, 2023
Also of note, a reminder that the Move Seattle levy was supposed to fund the “Fauntleroy Boulevard” project:
The construction of the Fauntleroy Boulevard Project was put on hold in January 2018. SDOT is exploring the construction of near-term improvements to help improve predictability for people who walk, drive, and bike on Fauntleroy Way while Sound Transit considers the preferred alignment. Based on the final alignment decision, SDOT will seek community feedback on next steps.
The Sound Transit decisionmaking process is still on track to decide next spring on a “preferred alignment” for environmental studies.
Meantime, the new work plan is by no means a complete list of SDOT’s WS plans for the years ahead – there are smaller projects, as well as work funded outside the nine-year levy approved by voters in 2015.
Summit Atlas in Arbor Heights is one of only 10 charter schools that were operating in the state as of last school year, six years after voters approved the concept. It opened last year at 9601 35th SW with one middle-school and one high-school grade, and added one more of each this year. In our update report just before the school year started, we were short a few stats because school administrators didn’t have them handy. Now we have some stats courtesy of a newly released state audit of charter-school accountability.
The audit looked at the 2017-2018 school year. It didn’t cover all aspects of charter-school operation but did look at statistics that could show whether the schools are fulfilling a major mission, to serve at-risk students. In some categories, it compared what the charter schools did with what neighboring public schools, and the local public school district did. Examples: Summit Atlas was reported to have had a 46 percent free-and-reduced-lunch student population last year, compared to 60 percent for “neighboring” public schools and 34 percent for the Seattle Public Schools district at large.
Its public funding, meantime, was listed as $12,900 per student, 300 dollars less than the allocation for local public-school students. Summit Atlas served a slightly higher percentage of special-education students than “neighboring” schools – 17 percent compared to 15 percent – and a slightly lower percentage of English language learners, 11 percent compared to 16 percent.
The “profile” included in the audit (page 58) said that Summit Atlas had 167 students in its first year, and included its demographic breakdown:
White 39%
Black 28%
Hispanic 17%
Two or more races 13%
Asian 3%
American Indian or Alaska Native 0%
Pacific Islander 0%
That translated to a “diversity index” of .72, slightly lower than the .78 cited for neighboring schools. The audit did not address academic achievement or assessment; here are its overall conclusions:
The purpose of the audit was to examine whether Washington’s charter schools have the foundations in place to help ensure they are accountable to the public. We looked at whether charter schools have enrolled the types of students identified in their charters, whether they have complied with certain state and federal requirements, and whether their charter agreements include appropriate performance frameworks. We also examined the extent to which the charter schools and traditional schools work together. The results were mixed, which is not surprising given newness of the entire charter school system in Washington.
It is worth noting that during the course of the audit, charter schools made efforts to address some of the deficiencies found as a result of this audit.
Unfortunately, the newness of the system also keeps us from addressing another question about Washington’s charter schools—how effective are these schools at teaching students? As the system matures and more years of data accumulate, this is a logical question that should be addressed.
P.S. We’ll know soon whether any new charter school operators are applying to the state – tomorrow is the deadline for filing “notices of intent to apply” for the next annual cycle.
That’s Israel‘s car, stolen last night in Westwood:
It is a maroon 1999 Subaru Legacy and was stolen from the 9300 block of 30th SW (off Barton) the night of 11/28. The plate starts with “AOL” and it has a roof rack. SPD incident #18-445245.
Call 911 if you see it.
(WSB photo)
Two months have passed since Roxbury Auto Parts closed, its building “red-tagged” by a King County Department of Permitting and Environmental Review inspector as unsafe to occupy. A reader e-mailed wondering what’s happened since our previous report. We checked with the owners and they say they’re still in “a holding pattern” – waiting for another structural engineer’s report, via one of the insurance companies involved, so there’s no timeline yet for repairs or reopening. The county inspector primarily focused on damage to the building’s back wall; store owners believe that was caused when the county was using the back of the lot for storage during sidewalk construction out front, but identification of the cause and blame is pending completion of evaluation reports.
(Hermit Thrush with beautyberry, photographed by Mark Ahlness, shared via the WSB Flickr group)
Events of note from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:
FAMILY DEMENTIA ROUNDTABLE: Noon at Quail Park Memory Care Residences of West Seattle (WSB sponsor) – details in our calendar listing. (4515 41st SW)
EFFECTIVE RESUME & JOB INTERVIEWING TECHNIQUES: Looking for work? This free event at High Point Library at 1 pm can help. Free but registration’s required – call to see if there’s room. (3411 SW Raymond)
LEVY TO MOVE SEATTLE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE: 5:30 pm meeting downtown, open to the public. This includes review of the third-quarter progress report, which includes brief mentions of a few West Seattle projects. City Hall room L280. (600 4th Ave.)
WEST SEATTLE HS 8TH GRADE INFO NIGHT: Got an 8th grader in the family? Tonight West Seattle High School invites you to learn about the school, 6:30 pm. (3000 California SW)
WEST SEATTLE TRANSPORTATION COALITION: 6:30 pm at Neighborhood House High Point, discussing downtown changes and getting around, including guests from Commute Seattle and Imagine Greater Downtown. All welcome. (6400 Sylvan Way SW)
GENESEE SCHMITZ NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL: Vote for new GSNC leadership – details here – and get an update on the future 48th/Charlestown park, 7 pm at Great American Diner and Bar. (4752 California SW)
‘JANE EYRE’: The ArtsWest (WSB sponsor) musical continues! 7:30 pm curtain. Check here to see if tickets are available. (4711 California SW)
For ongoing holiday events, check the WSB West Seattle Holiday Guide! And send us info on anything you are planning, now through New Year’s, that’s not listed yet.
(WSB file photo)
Two days away from one of the busiest days of the holiday season – and you can start it by supporting a local service club while enjoying a festive fresh-cooked breakfast! This is the 72nd year the Kiwanis Club of West Seattle is presenting its holiday-season pancake breakfast, 7 am to 11 am Saturday (December 1st) at the Masonic Center in The Junction. Buy your ticket online in advance (go here) and save $2 – it’s $8 online, $10 at the door. Kids under 10 are free with paying adults, and Santa is there for photos too! If you can, bring a new unwrapped toy for Toys for Tots. The Masonic Center is at 4736 40th SW; WSB is among the breakfast’s community co-sponsors.
(SDOT MAP with travel times/ Is the ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE/ West Seattle-relevant traffic cams HERE)
7:11 AM: Good morning. No incidents or traffic alerts in/from West Seattle so far.
| Comments Off on How Commute Seattle can ease the squeeze, plus downtown’s ‘big ideas,’ @ West Seattle Transportation Coalition