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Transportation

Lake City Way Northbound Closed This Weekend

Get ready for a traffic snarl this weekend in North Seattle – Lake City Way is going to be closed starting Friday, November 18 at 7pm and will not reopen until Monday, November 21 at 5am.

This is a part of an ongoing project by SDOT to increase pedestrian accessibility in the notoriously devoid of sidewalks North Seattle.

Source: SDOT

Here’s the blurb from SDOT (Source):

Both Northbound lanes of Lake City Way NE will be closed for weekend work starting November 18 at 7 PM, and will reopen by 5 AM on November 21. Uniformed peace officers will be on site for the duration of the closures to facilitate the detour onto westbound NE 125th St for northbound traffic on Lake City Way NE. Pedestrian detours will be located at the north crosswalk of the intersection of 125th and Lake City Way. Follow detour signage on site. This work is weather dependent and could be postponed if the forecast isn’t favorable.

Buses will be rerouted, for details on bus information please visit King County Metro website at: https://kingcounty.gov/depts/transportation/metro/alerts-updates

Here are the details of the project, also on the same page:

In 2018, the southbound bus stop on Lake City Way at NE 125th was expanded to give access to two buses at the same time. Now, SDOT will improve the bus stops along the route for better transit and pedestrian accessibility. Here are the planned changes:

  • New sidewalks will be constructed on both sides of Lake City Way between 30th Ave NE and NE 125th St
  • Widened sidewalks will make a better pedestrian environment for customers
  • Moving the bus stop closer to 125th St will make it easier to transfer to or from westbound and eastbound buses
  • New bus loading is important since a bus comes to this stop every 3 minutes during the PM peak
  • Improved traffic circulation by allowing two buses to load and unload simultaneously. The new stop will be able to fit two buses at a time, so that buses don’t have to wait and slow down traffic for everyone
  • Adding new pedestrian lighting for safer and easier access
  • Expanding the bus stop requires removing 6-8 one-hour parking spots along the east side of Lake City Way, but loading zones for businesses will remain.
  • Removing 6-8 one-hour parking spots along the east side of Lake City Way NE
Politics

Darya Farivar increases lead for LD 46 State Rep Position

While not all the votes are counted yet, it seems that disability rights activist Darya Farivar has opened up a significant lead over Pediatrician Dr. Lelach Rave in the competitive LD 46 of just under 5,300 votes as of this writing according to the WA Secretary of State.

Current Results (Source: WA Secretary of State)

This lead would be hard to overcome especially since the latest drop of votes increased Farivar’s lead over Rave, however nothing is out of the realm of possibility in elections.

Farivar has claimed victory on Twitter, but Rave has not conceded as far as we can tell. We’ll see how things continue to go as the votes are counted.

Breaking News

Power Outage Affecting Morning Traffic in Lake City and Northgate

A large power outage affected Lake City and Northgate traffic and residents this morning, most likely due to the heavy winds that are sweeping through the region. Seattle City Light is aware of the problem and is Investigating, according to their website.

Traffic is backed up on Lake City Way between about 145th and Northgate Way and parts of Northgate Way are also backed up.

Here’s a map of the outage:

Lake City Power Outage

Breaking News

Mayor Murray Releases Lake City Urban Design Framework Today

Today, Mayor Ed Murray and District 5 Councilwoman Debora Juarez released a new Urban Design Framework for the Lake City corridor.  There is already one in existence for Northgate, so this doesn’t come as much of a surprise.

However, this is a welcome change for people living in the Lake City community.  This corridor renewal has long been fought for by some active community members (some of whom I have already had the chance to digitally meet since launching this blog).

The following is directly from the City of Seattle’s site on the new Urban Design Framework, specifically regarding key outcomes:

Strengthen Community Partnerships

  • New integrated approach to community development
  • Coordinated community outreach
  • Only in Seattle grant for Lake City Future First (LCFF)
  • LCFF business district support
  • LCFF design and planning committee
  • Green Seattle Partnership

Build a Healthy Community

  • 33rd Ave NE park design
  • Virgil Flaim skatepark
  • Thornton Creek restoration
  • Little Brook Park public restroom open all year
  • Improve connections to Meadowbrook Community Center
  • New recreation programming
  • Access to healthy food
  • Fred Meyer Community Garden
  • Natural Drainage Systems
  • NE 130th Street beach access

Enhance Community Safety

  • Intersection improvements around the Lake City Civic Core
  • Sidewalk installation
  • LCW Traffic Safety Corridor project
  • Public safety

Building for the Future

  • Workforce Housing for Families
  • Lake City preschool
  • Human services
  • New development standards
  • 28th Ave NE festival street plan

This is a huge step forward for our community and a big congratulations is in order for the people who have fought for this tirelessly for years.

Read the full press release here.

Local Business

Is Hellbent the New De Facto Lake City Hangout?

Hellbent Brewing Company (@HellbentB) is the newest Brewery on Lake City Way, and let me tell you – from anecdotal evidence it seems to be the new De Facto meeting place for all things Lake City.  Since opening just a little bit ago, this place seems to be the Lake City Hangout.

Since starting this blog, I’ve been scheduling times to meet with several local leaders and businesspeople to talk about what they do – and almost all of them end up being at Hellbent Brewing.  I also go there with my friends and it is always packed, even on weeknights.

But I can see why – it’s got great beer, is committed to the local community, is dog-friendly, and has a great atmosphere.  What’s not to love?

With Lake City being one of Seattle’s “up and coming” neighborhoods, though, this seems to be about right.  Here’s a place that can be looked to as a great community highlight as we’re showing the rest of Seattle that this is a great place to live.

Anyone else seeing a community shift to meeting/hanging out at Hellbent?