Madison Park
Over the last month, the biggest visual change to our community by far has come with the demolition of the former Museum of History & Industry building to make way for the dramatic widening of state Route 520. Many people think that all that was going to happen is the addition of one eastbound and one westbound lane to the freeway — maybe 12 feet each side of the present roadway. Despite the best efforts of the Madison Park Community Council (MPCC) and a united effort of all the other community councils near the bridge approach, what we will eventually need to endure will be a swath of concrete the equivalent of 13 lanes wide.
Much of the bridge approach was to have been covered by a lid, mostly east of the Montlake Bridge, some 1,200 feet in length, as promised to us and as detailed in the Environmental Impact Statement for the project. This was to have been the mitigation granted to our area, similar in concept to that bestowed on Medina for accepting its portion of the huge freeway expansion.
What we will now get, courtesy of the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), is a dramatically fore-shortened lid of only 400 feet.
The University District Community Council is fighting aggressively for the return of the land at the north end of the Washington Park Arboretum, known euphemistically as the WSDOT peninsula, to The Arboretum Foundation’s control as part of final project mitigation.
MPCC is now carefully monitoring other WSDOT promises of mitigation, especially as they concern the arboretum lands. One of these, which should certainly beautify our area, is the removal of the big, old, concrete pipe that runs on the surface northward from the intersection of Foster Island Road and Lake Washington Boulevard. The pipe has only recently become very visible with the cutting down of the brush in that low-lying area.
Removal of the pipe is part of the project to daylight Arboretum Creek. Other parts of the daylighting project include removal of a few culverts in the arboretum and their replacement by bridges.
The transportation project central to the heart of our community is MPCC’s effort to improve the safety of the Madison Street/McGilra Boulevard/Garfield Street six-way intersection. We are pleased to report that we have now been awarded our second $90,000 grant to complete the planning and design work and maybe start construction with any monies that might be left.
The preliminary design we now have in hand looks very good and will not only offset some of the side-road approaches to Madison — thus, effectively breaking up the intersection into two parts — but, because of the proposed curb bulbs and sidewalk widening, it will visually narrow Madison itself and thereby reduce speeds as traffic approaches the bottom of the long hill.
We are still looking at measures that could be added to make the intersection more visible after dark.
Our Extraordinary Neighbors program is back with us after the holiday recess. We are expecting to host global health expert Dr. King Holmes at Park Shore Retirement Community’s (1630 43rd Ave. E.) meeting room/chapel this month and famous local climber Chris Burroughs in April. Dates and times for these events will be posted in businesses throughout the Park. Thanks to Gene Brandzel for the arrangements.
The three, apparently dead — for the last 12 years at least, according to a series of photos — spruce trees immediately to the south of the bathhouse, which MPCC thought might be in danger of blowing down onto the building, have been given another reprieve by the city arborist.
We are still working on the street-end cleanup of East Prospect Street, where it meets the lake, next to and north of the Seattle Tennis Club; we will keep the community and definitely the neighbors in the loop.
Any action on speed mitigation for the traffic on Dorffel Drive has been put on indefinite hold, but in the same neighborhood, MPCC is partnering with the Madison Valley Community Council to come up with a better plan for safety on East Harrison Street in front of the Bush School.
Finally, MPCC is looking once more at emergency preparedness. With extended power outages in our history, plus earthquakes, it behooves us to do something. Many years ago, we established a shipping container with emergency supplies on the grounds of McGilvra Elementary School. The container has been put to more immediate use for the last several years, so we are looking to reestablish something similar, readily accessible, but vandal-proof. This would be in conjunction with a network “hub” maintained by folks with CB radios.
— Maurice Cooper, president
Madison Valley
At the Feb. 18 meeting of the Madison Valley Community Council (MVCC), it was discussed that the council raised $6,110 of the $12,000 total cost of the holiday lights from merchants and six neighborhood residents.
The council applied for a $20,000 grant but was denied because it didn’t have a business model that showed income sustainability and because the neighborhood isn’t considered a low-income community.
As for the crosswalk outside Luc at the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Way East and East Madison Street, the tree will remain because of an Urban Forestry decision; a redesign of the Triangle project is needed, pending funding from matching grants. A new sidewalk has been installed, but drivers ignoring the “no right turn on red” sign are still a danger to pedestrians.
The city will begin enforcing regulations regarding A-board business signs on the sidewalks and signs on telephone poles. (See KING-5 story: tinyurl.com/ly4w23n.)
Spring work on the Harrison Greenbelt begins Feb. 25, with an Urban Forestry class from The Bush School working for five weeks. Plants installed in the fall are doing very well.
Smoking at the bus stop outside of Bailey-Boushay House continues to be a problem. Cathy Nunneley will contact administrators there to discuss possible solutions.
For information about the Bus Rapid Transit and the 2014 crime report, visit madisonvalley.org.
The Madison Valley Merchants Association reported that Harbour Point Coffeehouse has closed; an occupational therapist specializing in shoulders and hands is expected to open in its place. Lavender is also closing.
Cathy Nunnelly is organizing a Sip and Dine event for March. The Bush School and McGilvra Elementary School will have spring clean-up parties on a Saturday in May.
The Bastille Bash street festival has been canceled; instead, a dinner and auction fundraiser will take place on July 14, with funds benefiting the Triangle project.
Community residents are working for safer streets through the Greenways group. To sign up for the Madison Greenways Google group, go to tinyurl.com/n8tzwsc. For more information about a group forming to redesign the intersection of Lake Washington Boulevard, East Harrison Street and Dorffel Drive, visit seattlegreenways.org/neighborhoods/madison-park.
Regarding District 3 candidates for City Council, it was suggested that residents consider affordability, public safety, neighborhood funding, state Route 520 bridge, transportation and taxes when selecting whom to vote.
The council has proposed one change to its bylaws: one annual meeting, with additional meetings as warranted. Community members may suggest projects or register concern for action at madisonvalley.org.
The purpose of the Madison Valley Community Council is to serve you. If you have news, concerns or questions about the neighborhood, share them at a meeting or send them to MVCC president Lindy Wishard: lindy@lindywishard.com.
— Cathy Nunnelly, secretary