This coming Wednesday, December 2nd, North District Council will be hearing sidewalk proposals from neighbors in Cedar Park, Jackson Park, Lake City, Maple Leaf, Meadowbrook, Olympic Hills, Pinehurst and Victory Heights. There are over 20 projects that neighbors have submitted for funding consideration. Each neighborhood has picked their top one to three projects. The council will choose the top three projects in all of North District and of those three, it is likely that one will be funded. The Pinehurst project that will be considered is a sidewalk on NE 115th between 5th Ave NE and 15th Ave NE.
This process is happening throughout Seattle at all of the 13 District Councils. Each council must make recommendations of the top three street improvement projects to be considered by Seattle Department of Transportation to fund under the Bridging the Gap Large Project Fund. Over the 9 years of Bridging the Gap Levy, each District Council will likely be able to have one project funded every three years. So, three projects in total will be funded per District Council.
The passion will likely be high at Wednesday’s meeting. In our area and in many other parts of Seattle, there is a very long list of needed pedestrian projects, especially sidewalks, while funding is almost non-existent. Over the past year and especially over the past six months, a core group of people (including me) have been advocating for increased funding for pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure. We hope to increase our advocacy over the next year and to ask Seattle City Council and the mayor’s office to commit to increased funding. Stay tuned for more details and please contact me if you have any questions.
North District Council meets Wednesday, December 2nd from 7 to 9 pm, at the Lake City Library. The meeting is open to everyone and those advocating for the 115th sidewalk could use your support at the meeting if you are able to attend.
Leave a Reply