The Queen Anne Community Council Transportation Committee met Feb. 28 at the Queen Anne Community Center to hear Rob Johnson from the Transportation Choices Coalition review the legislation and state planning for state Route 99 (Au and the highway and urban-design alternatives that are in play.
Johnson spoke about the legislative actions in Olympia which have set out the parameters for how central waterfront elements of SR99 are to be considered. He explained the efforts at Seattle's city hall to ensure that the elevated structure endorsed by the governor and some legislators is not the project that will be constructed.
Johnson described the Regional Transportation Investment District's (RTID) three-county deliberations that have set the list of transportation projects that would be funded if the RTID and Sound Transit II ballot item are successful in the November election. He discussed the current funding for the lowered Aurora segment of the SR99 Project.
The mission and support structure of Transportation Choices, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting transportation alternatives, also was discussed.
Transportation Committee chair John Coney listed SR99 items of importance to Queen Anne/Uptown:
* retain access to SR99 at Western and Elliott;
* create direct westbound route to Queen Anne and beyond via two-way Mercer;
* reestablish the block system to bridge Aurora at Harrison and Thomas streets for Seattle Center access, bike/pedestrian routes and mass transit;
* reduce traffic congestion on Mercer in South Lake Union and along Denny Way;
* improve transit, bike and pedestrian access to Seattle Center;
* improve access to Seattle Center parking;
* improve access to/from Aurora from Queen Anne;
* link Denny/Broad/Aurora Triangle to Queen Anne/Uptown and to South Lake Union.
STREET DESIGN
The committee heard several local traffic improvement proposals. The consensus was to submit a letter with several points for the consideration of the board. An edited version of that draft letter - to Grace Crunican, director of Seattle Department of Transportation - is reproduced here:
A number of traffic issues within our planning area have come before the Queen Anne Community Council....
WEST MCGRAW STREET/THIRD AVENUE WEST/WEST MCGRAW PLACE INTERSECTION
Condition: Westbound vehicles approaching this three-way intersection weave from lane to lane seeking the appropriate lane from which to access West McGraw Place, the entry to which is flanked on the northeast corner by a curb bulb.
Proposal: Define a right-turn lane westbound on West McGraw Street between Second Avenue West and Third Avenue West to guide vehicles into either Third Avenue West or West McGraw Place.
Consideration: The westbound electric bus on McGraw Street makes a right turn onto West McGraw Place, but cannot make the turn from the right lane of McGraw Street. Any right-turn lane would need to exempt transit vehicles.
FIRST AVENUE NORTH BETWEEN GARFIELD AND BOSTON STREETS
Condition: As vehicular traffic on Queen Anne Avenue North becomes calmer due to congestion and traffic-calming measures, vehicular traffic on First Avenue North becomes heavier and faster. This faster traffic is a concern to parents of young children and is a hazard on what should be safe routes to schools.
Proposal: Study need for traffic calming on these blocks of First Avenue North and study appropriate traffic calming solutions for those blocks.
Condition: Queen Anne Community Council has considered traffic circles on a case-by-case basis, but has opposed those that would simply move fast traffic over a block or two to another sector of Queen Anne Hill.
WEST DRAVUS STREET BETWEEN 15TH AND 14TH AVENUES WEST
Condition: Vehicles eastbound, uphill, on West Dravus Street between the 15th Avenue West northbound access road and 14th Avenue West are sometimes unclear as to the center line of West Dravus. There is a threat of head-on collision on dark, rainy nights in this heavily traveled block.
Proposal: Create a double yellow centerline with reflectors on West Dravus between 15th Avenue West and 14th Avenue West. Improve street lighting level.
CROSSWALK ON NICKERSON BETWEEN 13TH AND 14TH AVENUES WEST
Condition: Where Nickerson Street divides at the entry to the Emerson Street Bridge and the Ballard Bridge, the crosswalk is faded, but the bus stop remains on a curve. Bus riders still cross here.
Proposal: Either renew the crosswalk, adding a yellow flashing light or pedestrian signs, or provide bus riders with an indication of where the appropriate crosswalk is located.
FATAL ACCIDENT LOCATION: WEST BLAINE STREET/SIXTH AVENUE WEST
Condition: A fatal accident occurred at this intersection in winter of 2006. The Queen Anne Community Council's letter to SDOT on that topic has not been answered. We await SDOT's recommendations for safer entry points onto the arterial, Sixth Avenue West.
The next meeting of the Queen Anne Community Council Transportation Committee will be March 28 at 7 p.m. at the community center. Meetings are open to all stakeholders in the Queen Anne Planning Area.
For further details, contact John Coney, 283-2049.[[In-content Ad]]
