December 19

Sidewalk construction on Lake City Way

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By Mwiza Kalisa

In most of Maple Leaf sidewalks end around Northeast 85th Street, but a new stretch of sidewalk going in on Lake City Way this spring proves there is still hope that the North End will someday become more pedestrian-friendly.

The new sidewalk, bridging a span of Lake City Way from the staircase at Northeast 95th Street, is connected to a six-unit housing development being built at Northeast 95h between Lake City Way and 20th Avenue Northeast.

The Maple Leaf Community Council and neighbors have been actively supporting the sidewalk addition, which will provide safer access to nearby Sacajawea Elementary School, among other schools and bus stops.

Initially the developer had no plans to construct a sidewalk, arguing that since the houses wouldn’t have access to Lake City Way, a sidewalk didn’t have to be built. But with plans to convert the staircase just west of Northeast 95th into a driveway for a development, the Maple Leaf Community Council ensured that the city require the sidewalk.

“Because sidewalk funds are so limited in the city, as neighborhood advocates you resign  yourselves to the fact that you take what you can get,” said David Miller, a member of the council’s executive board. “We didn’t get everything that we wanted, but you never do. We get a sidewalk on Lake City Way, which never would have happened any other way.”

Many community members, especially parents, are concerned about the impacts of the construction site. Parents are worried about the safety of their children at Sacajawea, located on 20th Avenue Northeast.

Scott Kemp, a city senior land use planner at the Department of Planning and Development, said that the school district has expressed similar concerns. To protect schoolchildren during construction, the developer has proposed to improve the intersection of 20th Avenue and 95th street.

Environmental impacts

The construction site will have some effects on the environment, as the six houses will be located on a critical slope. The three-story homes range between 2,000 and 3, 000 square feet and some neighbors fear that storm water from the site may enter Thornton Creek.

“That’s another reason why we should be spending more time on sidewalks,” Miller said. “When we do get a sidewalk and we get the drainage taken care of, then it will improve the health of Thornton Creek.”

Community members are also concerned about the trees that surround the area. There are currently maple, cherry, alder and hemlock trees across the site. The trees that are on the northern half of the site will be removed, but new trees will be planted.

The new trees and shrubs will include 27 western red cedars, eight commemoration sugar maples, five flame amur maples and 10 large shrubs.

“We know there’s going to be development in our neighborhood and that’s a good thing,” Miller said. “We just ask that it’s as sensitive as it can be.”

‘We need sidewalks’

Although the development has drawn concern from neighbors, in the long run the community will have safer walking routes and better transportation options.

“Seattle needs to build streets that enable people to move throughout the city in different ways,” said Joshua Newman, president of the Maple Leaf Community Council. “We can’t sit and be car-dependent. We need sidewalks.

“The sidewalks along Lake City way are not complete; it’s not a pedestrian-friendly location whatsoever.”

Last year about 15 sidewalks were built in the city, and an average of 18 sidewalks are built each year, according to Miller. The cost for installing a sidewalk is a half-million dollars; most of the expenses are for the drainage underneath the sidewalks.

“Every politician who comes into the North End neighborhood promises to get sidewalks done,” he said. “We elect them and then they say it’s too much.”

— Mwiza Kalisa is the current intern for all of Next Door Media, the umbrella news group that includes Maple Leaf Life.

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  1. I think this site is PERFECT for an east-west pedestrian/bicycle bridge crossing over Lake City Way. Since LCW is far below, the bridge could simply span the chasm, more or less level on the east and west sides. Stairs on the east side not needed, stairs on the west side are already in place.

  2. Concerned neighbors, supported by the MLCC, to the east of this project did a great job of organizing and working with the developer to get a list of items that will help stabilize the entire slope east of the project.

    It should be said DPD did a good job on this project. Scott Kemp, who some of you will remember as being DPD’s point person on the Waldo Woods project, did a good job of listening to our concerns and approving the project with conditions that make this a better project all around.

    Kudos also to the property owner for wanting to work with neighbors. This really made a difference, too. Just goes to show there are good developers and bad ones out there.

    David

  3. Nice report. It appears to be a project that oversees the interests of both sides, the developer and the local residents, in a mutually beneficial way. This is not the first instance of such an arrangement. Between NE 90th and NE 91st along Lake City Way, the convalescent home builders were sufficiently sensitive and improved the infrastructure of homes abutting the development on its west boundary.

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