Construction doesn’t start for another three years, but later this month several local agencies will hold a meeting to ask what you think a community around the Northgate Light Rail Station should look like. More information is available here.
We are exploring opportunities related to:
• Pedestrian and bicycle connections to the station, including a bridge crossing of Interstate 5.
• Public spaces in the vicinity – parks, sidewalks.
• How to create an active neighborhood near the light rail station.
• Connecting bus and rail service.
• Creating a healthy and sustainable community.
Possibilities include zoning changes and “exploring a variety of options for future development at the Transit Center property that is west of Thornton Place and south of the Northgate Mall.”
The meeting is set for 6-9 p.m. on Tuesday, July 26, at Aljoya Thornton Place, 450 N.E. 100th St. There will be brief presentation at 6:30 p.m. (Aljoya is a senior living community that also invites the public to dine at its restaurant, Lily’s, and to attend many of its programs. Enter at Aljoya’s front door at the corner of 5th Avenue Northeast and 100th Street. Off-street parking is available at Group Health just south of 100th St.)
The meeting is being set up by the city, King County (buses) and Sound Transit (light rail).
The opportunities for transit-oriented community development are tremendous, and they will help continue the transformation of Northgate into a vital urban center that has already begun with library, community center, park and Thornton Place development in recent years.
A ped bridge over I-5 would have large benefits, but a ped/bike/transit bridge would be even better. It shaves the 1.11 miles a 5 or 75 travels from 100th @ College Way to the NGTC down to .36 miles. Lopping 3/4 mi. off every trip will save some operational money, which is what we are lacking. The added capital expense could be worth it. Maybe if it’s open to HOV’s we can use gas tax revenue. It would certainly help alleviate traffic at Northgate Way.
Really, I think this is a place it would make sense to put a lid and development over I-5 to increase the density in the walkshed of LRT, and stitch together the neighborhoods on either side, but I’m not sure the road elevation profile would allow that and it would be way expensive. Plus DOT would likely freak at granting air rights to anything other than a park. I’d like to show them a pic of the old post office in Chicago – driving under it was always my 2nd favorite part of entering the city on the Eisenhower expressway. (1st was the bend when you finally see the skyline on the horizon).
To spend many billions of dollars to enable a 13 minute train trip from Northgate to downtown Seattle and then ignore the opportunity to connect NSCC and the neighborhoods west of I-5 with that system for mere millions would be insane.
We should find a way to construct the pedestrian bridge years before the Northgate light rail station opens. The existing transit center is reason enough.
Meanwhile, is there a good reason we aren’t zoning at least some of the land in the area of the Northgate Link station that is already slated for development for serious high-rises, e.g. 400 feet? That’s what Vancouver BC would do. I think there will be an enormous market for transit-oriented high rise apartments (without a lot of car parking) that are 13 minutes from downtown by 2020 when the Northgate Link station opens.
No matter what scale of development occurs at Northgate, what happens at street level is critical and deserves a lot more thoughtful attention than it is likely to get. The existing auto-orientation in that area tends to constrain everyone’s thought process on redevelopment.
A pedestrian bridge over I-5 would shorten the walk from the light rail station to NSCC from about 15 minutes to about 5, which could make a huge difference. Generally, a transit station’s “walkshed” is considered to be everything within a quarter-mile walk of the station, and this would bring NSCC into that. Considering that Northgate Transit Center is a huge transfer point and will the site of a major regional rapid transit station, and NSCC is a college of over 10,000 students, the pedestrian bridge over I-5 sounds like a great idea.
There’s a great pedestrian bridge and road across I-5 at 92nd leading to North Seattle Community College already that gets a lot of use. Rather than an expensive new overpass just a few blocks North of the existing one, why not make a cheaper wide bike path/pedestrian streetpath or sidewalk running up to the 92nd st. overpass from the transit station?
@Susan
The Northgate transit center already has the largest park-and-ride in Seattle. I take the bus there daily and have never encountered a parking issue.
A pedistrian bridge would be great if folks on the west side of I5 could utilize parking at NSCC & so it benefits more than just students. We should expect the light rail will lead to more people driving/parking in the northgate area, which is already quite busy!
There are about 10 blocks between pedestrian crossings under I-5 at NSCC (Northgate Way and 92nd) and the college is right between the two. No one is going to skip an overpass to use either of those.
Further, Northgate way is a nightmare to walk down with all the blind entrances, bizarre traffic, poor signaling, etc. People walking from North of the mall would all benefit from an overpass.
A bridge over I-5 would be extemely expensive, most pedestrian bridges are ignored in favor of the surface street crossings anyway. Let them utilize 92nd unless NSCC wants to add the cost onto Tuition.
I think an over pass is a great idea to get students from NSCC to the transit center.
I kind of like the idea of a link across I5. If you’re shooting direct, you could conceivably hit the north end of NSCC, which would be extremely handy, given the coming Metro cuts. Granted, walking up 1st and crossing on 92nd isn’t that hard (and would save a lot of construction and money), though I know anyone hoping to walk to something north of NSCC would deal with the mess that is Northgate Way & I-5.