After receiving $15,000 from the Neighborhood Matching Fund Grant in 2006, residents of 14th Avenue Northwest were able to create a vision of a safer, more beautified street with green space, but there is no mechanism for financing the upgrade.

However, they've teamed up with the Seattle Department of Transportation and are in the process of looking for opportunities to implement smaller portions of their concept.

Residents found the 100-foot wide, mile long street that runs from the ship canal to Ballard High School an unsightly, unsafe and unkempt street for drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists.

With a graveled median used also as a parking strip, it splits traffic going north and south along 14th Avenue. Drivers traveling from east or west are then asked to yield when making a left turn or crossing the street. Unfortunately residents said large vehicles parked idly on the median have been found to obstruct the view and making drivers unaware of yield signs.

Residents, with the assistance of Carlson Architects, came up with a plan that would have moved the north-south street to the west side of the road, where the median now splits the lanes. North of Market Street the roadway would be about 26-feet wide with back-in, diagonal parking. A narrower street and diagonal parking would assist in slowing speeding traffic along that street.

They also were hoping to create a separate bike path and walkway from the street and most of the open space, about 42-feet, would be consolidated on the east side of the street, Carlson said earlier.

"We're trying to turn this Avenue more into a Boulevard," said Dawn Hemminger, a steering committee member. "We have a lot of new people who've moved into the neighborhood and we've realized there are no parks that we can safely walk to. By bringing the median over to the east side it will provide a larger walk area and opportunities to put in a pea patch, feedings areas and gathering places."

Luke Korpi, senior civil engineer for the Seattle Department of Transportation's Traffic Management Division said they are working with the 14th Avenue Northwest residents and the committee in refining the plan, hoping to get the plan costs under control.

"We all recognize the plan had a lot of great elements but that, as a whole, we just did not have enough funding to make it all happen," said Korpi. "So what we are doing is adapting or recognizing what the realistic available funding is out there. We are looking for alternative ways of meeting the same objectives of the plan, which includes streetscape, pedestrian safety and traffic calming."

Korpi said typically neighborhood street projects are applied for by specific community members or neighborhood associations. Sometimes there are projects that communities have been working with Seattle Transportation throughout the program cycle to make sure it is a valid, achievable and implementable project.

"That's more consistent with what we're trying to do with 14th Avenue," said Korpi. "We're keeping in mind what kinds of projects they (14th Avenue residents and project steering committee) are interested in applying for before they make the application."

Hemminger said the group was awarded $40,000 last year and there will hopefully be another $20,000 this year approved by the city council or the Seattle transportation department.

"What we are now doing are small demonstration projects," Hemminger said. "It's more of building relationships between our neighborhood and (the transportation department). It's an intermediate project that we're trying to get more engaged with, get our name out there and find support from the community and let them see that there are things going on."

When the project for an upgraded 14th Avenue began, the inactive East Ballard Community Association decided to hand over their association to the 14th Avenue residents in support of their vision, giving them a seat on the Ballard District Council.

"We're trying to get the East Ballard Community Association more formalized so that we have a larger pool of people that can focus on this project," said Hemminger. "We're trying to bring all things together because there are many organizations who want the same thing. We're fairly in an in-organic process. We're neighborhood members with full-time jobs and we're definitely a grass roots organization. But we're getting to a tipping point where things are getting more aligned and groups are finding out more about this project and we want to take advantage of that momentum."

By setting goals, pushing ahead and establishing the association they feel it will give them a certain validity that will help them in garnishing more support.

This fall at 14th Avenue and Northwest 58th, a natural irrigation curb extension will be installed. Also known as rain gardens, the purpose for them is to capture storm water runoff and to prevent the water to stream into Salmon Bay. This will allow the water to re-circulate back into the garden's soil.

The extension of the curb is also a preventative way to promote safer driving and to give awareness of children, pedestrians and bicyclists who may be along that street.

Korpi said this intersection project is only the beginning of the smaller ways they will be improving 14th Avenue in a way that lies within the vision and concept plan that was originally planned.

Allison Espiritu may be reached at 783-1244 or allisone@robinsonnews.com.