March 2009

At a community forum last night at Ballard High School, Ballardites voiced their concerns about access to the northwest areas of the city if the bored-tunnel is built to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct.

A panel of seven representatives from the state, Seattle and King County departments of transportation managed the questions from the audience. Several maps were also shown to depict the numerous alternative routes of travel to and from the northwest area with the new bored tunnel.

Similar to last month’s open house at Adams Elementary, Bob Powers discussed the multiple ways resident here would be able to travel through northwest Seattle with the SR 99 Bored Tunnel and new Alaskan Way Boulevard.

Access to the tunnel will be from Aurora Avenue North, which will transition from a surface highway to the bored tunnel between Mercer Street and Denny Way, replacing the current route via the Battery Street Tunnel and the Alaskan Way Viaduct. At the Mercer Corridor, access to Aurora Avenue North and the bored tunnel will be provided in all directions.

On Sunday, April 8, starting at 7 p.m. the Madison Middle School Parent Teacher Student Association PTSA and Southwest Healthy Youth Partnership is hosting an event to provide tools for families to prevent underage drinking.

Alcohol is the number one drug of choice for America's youth and binge drinking is the biggest health problem on America's college campuses, according to the youth partnership group.

Prevention needs to start early, according to the group, and most adult alcoholics develop their drinking behaviors before age 15.

At the event will be nationally acclaimed authors and speakers, Toren and Chris Volkmann, who will share their stories and tips.

Madison Middle School is located at 3429 45th Ave. S.W.

For more information, contact Renaé Gaines, (206) 252-9189 or (206) 396-2945 or email rtgaines@seattleschools.org.

Funding for this event was provided by The Strategic Prevention Framework-State Incentive Grant, a grant funded by The Federal Center and the Department of Alcohol and Substance Abuse.

Help needed to organize Delridge Day

Delridge Day is May 30 and volunteers are needed to help plan the event happening at the Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, 4408 Delridge Way S.W.

People of all ages are invited to participate in the annual all-day celebration of the Delridge neighborhood and local community, the arts and an active lifestyle.

The event will feature live music and performances, cooking classes, a farmers market, creative workshops, art galleries, movies and more. The day is meant as a way to bring the community together and feature the talents, resources and work that the community does.

To be part of the planning committee, volunteer on the day of the event, be on the Street Team to get the word out, or offer your specific skills for workshops and activities of the day (cooking, dance, fitness, creative workshops and more), make the following contact:

E-mail Estrella de Leon at estrellad@dnda.org or Cristina Orbe ar cristinao@dnda.org. In the e-mail please include the following:

1.) A list of your name, e-mail, best number to reach you on, address, & t-shirt size

An ongoing audit of King County Metro Transit has been expanded by the King County Council to examine the agency’s management and operations, in order to find the most efficient way to keep the most buses on the street in the face of a projected $223 million budget shortfall.



“Every dollar of savings we find in Metro’s budget is another dollar’s worth of bus service we can keep available for King County citizens,” said Council member Larry Phillips, co-sponsor of the motion. “With Metro facing a $100 million shortfall next year, it’s critical that we get the results of this audit and make the recommended efficiencies prior to adopting the 2010 budget this fall.”

“In the face of budget shortfalls, we must run transit with the highest efficiency possible,” said Council member Reagan Dunn, chair of the council’s government accountability and oversight committee. “Tough decisions must be made if necessary to provide optimal transit services to the taxpayers who rely on it.”

The King County Council approved Monday, March 23 a plan for rollout later this spring of the ORCA regional fare coordination system. 

The new single-card method can be used to pay fares for the bus, ferry or light rail throughout the region.

“This system makes various forms of transit more accessible to all riders,” said Council member Jane Hague, sponsor of the ordinance and chair of the council’s physical environment committee that oversees transportation. “The new card will help riders have a more seamless and enjoyable transportation experience.”

The One Regional Card for All (ORCA) will be a non-touch smart card used for payment on seven transportation systems: Sound Transit, King County Metro Transit, Community Transit of Snohomish County, Pierce Transit, Everett Transit, Kitsap Transit and Washington State Ferries.

It uses an electronic smart card that automatically calculates any fare due. Passengers will “tap” their ORCA Card on target card readers. The card will register a valid pass or deduct the appropriate fare from a customer account.

Ellie is a 3 year old black and white house cat that has started coming outside in small doses.

She likes to watch the birds and have stare downs with the neighborhood squirrel that comes within an inch of her nose, always with a quick escape route.

"She sleeps on her back and she has a short fuse", says Keith Nesbitt, her owner.

She will warn you with a meow then get away or she will reach out to scratch. One night Keith woke up to a sound that he couldn't figure out. It sounded a little like a drip, but it was Ellie licking and licking the plastic grocery bag liner in the waste basket.

She loves to play with the plastic bags. Ellie came out to look at the snow and went back in the house, don't worry Ellie, spring is here!

How to nominate your pet:

Want to nominate your pet for Pet of the Week? Stop by the VCA West Seattle Veterinary Hospital at 5261 California Ave. S.W. and just ask for a form. A nomination is not a guarantee of appearance and your name and photo may appear in our newspaper and online.

The Seattle Department of Transportation reopened 14th Avenue South last week to two-way traffic due to the cold and rainy weather not being suitable for paving.

When the weather improves, the street will be closed and the detour will be set up again for final paving, expected to take about one week to
complete.

After the road is opened to traffic in both directions there will only be periodic delays due to pavement striping and traffic signal
revisions.

The work is to restore 14th Avenue South between South Cloverdale Street and South Director Street. The city expects the project to be completed sometime in April.

A contractor working for the Seattle Department of Transportation has one westbound, curb lane closed on North 85th Street between Greenwood Avenue North and First Avenue North, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, starting today, Monday, March 23.

The lane will remain closed until approximately April 3.

The contractor is working on Palatine Avenue North, installing new curbs, gutters, sidewalks, and new pavement in part of the roadway.

Palatine remains closed between North 87th Street and North 85th Street for this construction.

At its fourth time before the Northwest Design Review Board, the Market Street Landing development was somewhat reluctantly approved by the board with some conditions.

Though approval was granted, allowing developers Rhapsody Partners to move forward with obtaining a Master Use Permit from the city, board members never seemed quite satisfied with how the design treated an iconic corner in Ballard.

The tower element, designed with glass and brick vertical elements, is planned for the corner of the development on 15th Avenue Northwest. It would would be "softly" illuminated in the evenings and at night, to serve as a sort of "beacon" for Ballard, said Arthur Chang, the architect designing the building.

The look of the tower took up most of the discussion, with much back and forth about whether it looked too "commercial" or "corporate."

At one time, board member Mark Brands even joked, "Should we just design it?"

In the end, the board decided to approve the proposal if the developers would work on designing the tower more as a "separate" entity from the rest of the building, and with less vertical, more horizontal, expression.

Gov. Chris Gregoire forecasted growth in the Seattle shipping industry in response to the 2009 Marine Cago Forecast. She spoke at a press conference at Todd Shipyards, about one mile due east of Alki's Seacrest Park, on Harbor Island.

The forecast projects 20 years ahead, and shows growth from 2.9 million containers in 2007 to 9.7 million containers in 2030.

"The forecast gives hope to our economy to jobs that could come to Seattle," said Gregoire. "This is a message of opportunity. We will have a chance to provide waterfront and freight jobs which are good family wage jobs."

Gregoire pointed out that the state must keep up infrastructure to stay competitive with Canadian, California, and East Coast ports.

"The Panama Canal is being widened to accommodate ships twice the size that now enter," said the governor. "That means more Asian cargo ships will have a more direct route and may bypass Seattle, and instead pass through the canal and use harbors in the East Coast."

The Panama Canal project is scheduled to be finished in five years.