If you HAVE to drive in snowy Northeast Seattle, here’s how (UPDATE)

January 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Whether you’re putting your trust in the National Weather Service or UW Professor of Atmospheric Sciences Cliff Mass, there’s no denyin’ that there’s gonna be more snow in the next couple days.

In case you need to travel to and/or from Northeast Seattle during the snow, you’ll want to know which roads are being kept clear by Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) crews, and which are not.

NE portion of SDOT's snow route service map - click to enlarge

To the right is a portion of SDOT’s snow map, focused on Northeast Seattle (full map here; 810 KB PDF). There are three different street service levels assigned to those arterial streets which are the busiest, connect neighborhoods with downtown, are used by transit and public safety agencies (police, fire), and reach schools and hospitals.

These different levels are to let users know which routes are being serviced and what conditions to expect. They are not prioritized — road servicing is ongoing at all levels as needed.

The different levels as shown on the map are:

Level 1 (yellow) -ALL lanes bare and wet
Level 2 (blue) – ONE lane each direction bare and wet
Level 3 (green) – Curves, hills and stopping zones treated

You can find Seattle’s Winter Weather Readiness and Response Plan here, which includes road treatment descriptions, facility and fleet information, links to city communication tools, and more.

As for tips on how to drive in the snow, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) has a few to read, or watch on YouTube.

Take Winter By Storm’s website has lots of checklists you can use to be fully prepared both on the road and at home.

And then there’s PEMCO Insurance’s “The right way to abandon your car in a snowstorm.” You may want to print that one out to stick in your glove compartment, just in case.

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UPDATE (Wednesday, 9:43 AM): City Councilmember Sally Bagshaw just tweeted out a great link for those us us curious about road conditions in Northeast Seattle AND citywide.

SDOT's Winter Weather map page (static screengrab taken Wednesday morning) -- click to go to the site

SDOT’s Winter Weather map shows which streets have been treated and/or plowed, and how long ago they were last serviced.

Different parts of the city can be selected from a dropdown menu at the top-right of the page (“Select Neighborhood”). Different road service levels are shown in different colors, as well as the different types of service (liquid de-icer vs. plows with and without salt spreaders).

Nifty map aside, we recommend drivers check out road conditions locally for themselves before heading out.

Filed Under: Northeast Seattle, Traffic, Updates Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Room & Board to open in newly vacated U-Village Barnes & Noble space (UPDATE)

January 12, 2012 By 1 Comment


The Seattle Times announced today that Minnesota-based modern furnishings maker Room & Board would be moving in to the recently vacated Barnes & Noble space at University Village (2623 NE University Village St).

Room & Board will take up just over half of the building’s available space, and will be located on the second floor. The opening is slated for this fall, says the Seattle Times.

No word yet on what the leftover 19,000-square-feet will be occupied by, but the decision to split the space up comes as no surprise — this plan was revealed as a possibility back in October when the bookstore’s closure was first announced.

The University Village Barnes & Noble opened in 1995 after the Lamonts department store’s lease expired in 1994 — in a manner baring a slight resemblance to Barnes & Noble’s own issues-about-leases exit from the upscale outdoor mall. Lamonts had operated in the U-Village for 26 years, replacing the Rhodes Department Store before it.

What do you think, folks? Room & Board a good fit for the old space, or were you secretly hoping for The Return of Lamonts?

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UPDATE (Friday, January 13): The print edition of today’s Seattle Times had an artist’s rendering of what the Room & Board might look like (provided by Room & Board), as well as a picture of the same corner of the building (taken by Seattle Times photographer Ken Lambert) while it was occupied by Barnes & Noble.

Filed Under: Businesses, Construction, Northeast Seattle, University Village, Updates Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Man and woman seriously injured in Ravenna Park attack (UPDATES)

January 12, 2012 By 1 Comment

A man and a woman were both beaten with a baseball bat early this morning in Ravenna Park. Police have not yet located the two suspects, and the investigation is ongoing.

We heard the news first from a resident of the area (via twitter direct message sent at 3:50 AM; kept anonymous due to privacy concerns), who said:

…police and medics congregated at 55th and Ravenna PL after a fight broke out. In the park. As officers arrived, two men emerged from the south end of the park saying that someone had beaten one or both of them with a bat.


View Ravenna Park in a larger map
View Larger Map

Just before 9 AM, Detective Mark Jamieson with the North Precinct of the Seattle Police Department, posted the following on the SPD Blotter:

On January 12th, at approximately 3:30 am, a citizen called 911 after hearing yelling and someone crying for help inside the southeast corner of Ravenna Park (approximately NE 55th Street and west of 25th Avenue NE). As officers arrived in the area, two victims, a 41 year old male and a 54 year old female, emerged from the wooded area. They had been beaten with a baseball bat multiple times. Both victims had head injuries as well as other injuries to their bodies. According to the victims, the suspect is a known male who they had a dispute with earlier. The suspect, described as a black male armed with the baseball bat, was accompanied by a white male. There is no further description of the white male. It appears that the suspect with the bat did the attack.

The Seattle Fire Department transported the couple to Harborview Medical Center with serious, but not life-threatening, injuries.

A K9 team attempted to locate the suspects within the large wooded park, but was unable to find them. The investigation is open and ongoing at this time.

We will update this story here when more information becomes available.

UPDATE (11:24 AM): Talked briefly on the phone and via email with Terrie Johnston, Crime Prevention Coordinator for the North Precinct. The first suspect is a regular denizen of the park, described as a black man in his late 30s-early 40s, wearing a black trench coat, a black backpack, black boots, and carrying a baseball bat. The second suspect is a white male adult. There was a fast response by multiple SPD units who established containment of the area quickly. Unfortunately, the K9 track produced neegtive results.

When I asked about the current state of Ravenna Park and if there were any additional concerns for park users and residents of the area, Johnston said this event wouldn’t stop her from using the park. She advised that users keep up their usual level of alertness though the park. Via the email:

As always, be aware of your surroundings, carry a cell phone to call 911 should you see anything suspicious.  Trust your gut feelings, if someone gives you a bad feeling, avoid them, leave and report them if appropriate.

UPDATE (12:58 PM): Kirotv.com has video of their report from their mornings newscast, as well as a slideshow of photos taken while police and fire crews were in the area.

Filed Under: 911, Crime, Ravenna, Ravenna Park, Updates Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Grinches steal Grinch, vandalize parts of Candy Cane Lane (UPDATES)

December 12, 2011 By 2 Comments

UPDATE (4:47 PM): The Candy Cane Lane community found themselves a new Grinch on eBay this afternoon. And KING5′s Allen Schauffler will be reporting on the vandalism tonight at 5 PM. We’ll link to the footage here when it becomes available.

UPDATE (7:49 PM): Here’s the segment on the Candy Cane Lane vandalism from tonight’s KING 5 News at 5:



Candy Cane Lane was visited by real life Grinches late Saturday night. At least two of the decorated homes’ had decorations destroyed, among them inflatable Grinch at the entrance to the annual neighborhood light show.

[ABOVE] The Gross family’s Candy Cane Lane display, featured in last year’s Seattle Times piece on the neighborhood’s annual light display, is now missing its centerpiece.

We talked with Candy Cane Lane resident Tracey Sconyers on Sunday night about the vandalism. Her “Toy Shop” home has often been the target for some late night redecorating shenanigans — names added to the “Naughty List,” the reindeer placed in compromising positions — but never theft and destruction.

“This was a very different level of vandalism that happened,” she said. “They were out to destroy things.”

Sconyers herself happened to be up late Saturday night, as her daughters were having a sleepover with some of their friends. Around midnight, after the light show had been turned off, she heard some “unusually mean” talk about the street coming from outside her house.

Looking out the window in her front door, she could see three or four people, older than high school age, walking by, “trash talking the street.” These individuals even walked onto the porch of a neighbor’s house before getting into a white stretch SUV-style limo that had been seen driving down the lane during the light show a couple hours before.

No vandalism had occurred at that time. But Sunday morning, many of the Sconyer’s home’s decorations had been destroyed or stolen. And the inflatable Grinch, a local holiday icon for many local kids and their families, was missing. All that was left of him in the Gross family yard near the entrance to Candy Cane Lane where some shredded pieces of fabric and bare wires.

It is not known whether the white limo’s occupants are to blame for the incident, but the coincidence is a tough one for Sconyers to ignore.

The show must go on

After a successful community sale earlier in the year, the neighborhood has enough money to replace missing or destroyed decorations; however, the Grinch was around 10 years old, and came with the house.

If anyone happens to own a festive inflatable Grinch, the neighborhood is very interested in replacing the one that was destroyed. Otherwise help in the form of donations to Northwest Harvest are greatly appreciated.

Candy Cane Lane (NE Park Rd) is open now through New Years Eve. Hours for the lights are 4-11 PM, and until midnight on Christmas Eve and New Years.

This year, the area elementary school-aged girls have created the “Candy Cane Club” and will be passing out candy canes on the weekends. Warm drinks can be purchased at the nearby neighborhood grocery store, Boulevard Grocery, at Ravenna Blvd and 20th Avenue NE.

Donations for Northwest Harvest are collected at the exit of the lane.

Filed Under: Crime, Ravenna, Updates Tagged With: , , , , ,

A lost white cat appears! Is he yours? (update)

December 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment

UPDATE (Tuesday, December 13): We’ve just heard the good news from Anthony (via email): “Just an update, we got in touch with the owners of the white cat last night! He is from a home around 56th and 12th. Thank you again so much for posting that on the blog!”

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Readers Anthony and Julia may have found your lost kitty (via email, emphasis ours):


We were just opening the door to leave the apartment and the crafty little guy just snuck inside! We’re on the 1300 block of NE Ravenna [Blvd], so just across from Cowen Park. He’s an all-white adult male, extremely curious and friendly to humans, which leads us to believe he might belong to someone (no collar or microchip, however). We think he may have been missing for a while because he was a bit dirty and had a minor infection around one of his eyes. I have attached a photo that we took. We had to take him into the Seattle Animal Shelter, because our lease doesn’t allow for pets, but we really want to find his owners who must miss him very much!


Anthony and Julia live in the neighborhood nexus of the Ravenna, Roosevelt, and University District neighborhoods, so Lost White Kitty could be from any one of those.

Filed Under: Everything counts in large amounts, Updates Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

15th Ave NE and the Scramble – Local Road Work for 2011

August 30, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The NE 45th Avenue viaduct project is almost done. Huzzah! Construction is due to be completed on September 10th, just in time for the first Husky football game the next day.

There are a few more viaduct projects to finish in October and November — lighting installation, finalizing the line striping and pedestrian markings, and replanting the surrounding area — but the detour will be no more, and life will return to normal…

…until January of next year, when two new construction projects are headed our way.

The Big One: 15th Avenue NE Reconstruction – NE Pacific Street to NE 55th Street

I’m sure we can all agree that the surface of 15th Avenue NE is a pothole-riddled disaster, and the increased traffic from the viaduct detour route isn’t doing it any favors.

Happily for us, the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) has plans in the works to reconstruct most of 15th Avenue between NE Pacific Street and NE 55th Street between January and October of 2011.

Project area for the 15th Ave NE reconstruction, courtesy SDOT

This popular arterial will be FULLY RECONSTRUCTED between NE Pacific Street and NE 50th Street between January and September, while the stretch between NE 50th Street and NE 55th Street will just get a repaving. Intersections at NE Pacific Street, NE 45th Street, and NE 50th Street will not be repaved as this was done more recently.

And there’s more!  From the SDOT’s 15th Avenue Reconstruction Project website:

Other improvements include:

  • New curb ramps and curb bulbs to improve pedestrian mobility
  • Sidewalk widening at bus zones (bus bulbs)
  • Drainage upgrades
  • Installation of a new marked crosswalk at NE 41st St
  • New northbound left turn lane at NE 42nd St
  • Upgraded street lighting system
  • New electrical infrastructure for future transit improvements
  • Transit improvements including
    • North to west turn restriction from 15th NE to NE 45th during some or all of the day
    • Expanded bus stop waiting areas (bus bulbs) at two locations
    • Bus stop consolidation where stops are too close together

All great stuff. But the area is going to be a general mess during the construction. Trolley wires will be turned off on weekends to accommodate construction needs. This means diesel buses will be traveling through the area instead. There will always be access to residences and businesses for pedestrians, but rerouting and/or detours could spring up. Vehicles will definitely be affected: No street = no street parking, and access to parking lots and garages will be affected as well.

The Wee One: The 22nd/Ravenna Ave/Ravenna Pl/54th/55th “Scramble”

Just like with the viaduct and the 22nd avenue NE repaving project, it seems as though the SDOT can fund another, smaller, nearby project through the bidding process for the 15th Avenue NE project. And this one should make pedestrians breathe a sigh of relief.

Here’s what the area in question looks like now:

The "Scramble," with street names

Street names removed, pedestrian "no-man's land" highlighted

And here are the current construction plans for the area (click image to open a larger version in a separate window):

Current "Scramble" construction project plans, courtesy SDOT

Two items of particular note in this graphic:

  1. The BIG NEW CURB on the south side: To me, this piece is the key to the whole project. Pedestrians will now have a solid place to stand and be seen as they prepare to cross the intersection.  Cars will have a very distinct turn to and from Ravenna Pl NE. This is SO MUCH SAFER than the microscopic gravel no-man’s land that sits at that spot right now.
  2. The “Pending Funding” area on the north side: Project Manager Jessica Murphy did not have high hopes that the funding would come through on this part, unfortunately.

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I am very excited about both of these projects, but speaking both as a pedestrian and a driver, I really look forward to unscrambling the “Scramble.”

For More Information

For more information on these projects, visit the main 15th Avenue NE Reconstruction page and the accompanying FAQ page.

An open house thrown by the SDOT detailing these projects and their effects on the community will happen sometime this November or December.

Funding for these projects comes from the Bridging the Gap levy passed by Seattle voters in 2006.

You can see a specially-crafted Google Map of the “Scramble,” and scroll around all you please, right here.

Many thanks to Project Manager Jessica Murphy at the Seattle Department of Transportation and Kristine Edens from EnviroIssues for stopping by the August Ravenna-Bryant Community Association meeting and sharing this information.

UPDATE: Email update from the SDOT says that the projects will be advertised for competitive bids this month (September). Schedule remains unchanged.

Filed Under: Construction, Ravenna, Roosevelt, Traffic, University District, Updates Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Note from Councilmember Clark

August 3, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Received the following email from Councilmember Sally Clark not quite an hour ago. If you’ve been looking for a summary of all the City Council action on the RDG comp plan rezoning EIS COBE RNA ETC stuff, then read on:

Thank you for writing to me regarding the Roosevelt Development Group’s (RDG’s) proposed Comprehensive Plan amendment.  I’m sorry for the generic response, but this particular amendment generated a lot of emails. (Good job!)  This is the quickest way to respond to everyone.  Please email me back if I didn’t answer a question related to your particular comment.

Yesterday the Council voted to exclude RDG’s amendment for further consideration this cycle. This confirmed the proposal I made, and the Committee on the Built Environment approved, last week. Your near-unanimous community feedback and advocacy was instrumental in this decision.

As you know, the conversation regarding Roosevelt’s zoning future has become a bit complicated with 1) The zoning proposal from Roosevelt’s Neighborhood Plan Update  2) RDG’s Environmental Impact Statement work, and 3) RDG’s Comprehensive Plan amendment to adjust the Future Land Use Map (FLUM) and the Roosevelt Urban Village boundary.  Councilmembers have been able to engage in some of these conversations (1, 3), but have needed to exclude ourselves from others because of the “quasi-judicial” status (2).  It’s been frustrating to not be able to engage in a fuller discussion of zoning ideas. I appreciate your patience and understanding as we work through land use changes for Roosevelt.

To be clear, Monday afternoon’s vote isn’t meant to signify that the City Council isn’t interested in seeing zoning action taken in Roosevelt.  The new light rail station presents great opportunities for people to live near transit and for the broader community to enjoy benefits new development should be expected to bring.  Roosevelt has supported that vision by advocating for the best station location and for smart land use changes in the core around the station. The community’s neighborhood plan update, submitted in 2007, included rezone proposals working their way through review at the city’s Department of Planning & Development.  I’m eagerly awaiting delivery to Council. Concurrently, we have the environmental review of the RDG possibilities taking place and expected to wrap up next year. Ideally, full consideration of the neighborhood plan update zoning proposals and the finished EIS will shape a proposal for the RDG properties that meets the needs of all parties.

However, as chair of the Council’s land use committee, I know it won’t be that easy. Rising land values, housing affordability, demand for transit, demand for great parks, demand for safe, walkable, attractive business areas, and sustainability — Roosevelt, like every other neighborhood, struggles with all this and more.  I appreciate you taking the time to advocate.  Please feel welcome to write about this or any other city issue in the future.

Sincerely,

Sally

Filed Under: City Council, Updates

Uniformed Help on the Viaduct Detour Route

June 17, 2010 By 2 Comments

@ThomasField and I both spotted some SPD officers directing traffic today.  He was nice enough to tweet us a photo of his:

Traffic directing at Ravenna Blvd/22nd/54th/55th,    Courtesy Thomas Field

Snapped at a rather infamous intersection: Where Ravenna Blvd, NE 22nd Avenue, NE 54th Street AND NE 55th Street ALL swirl together like suds going down a drain, just south of the southeast part of Ravenna Park.

I suspect that most of the new traffic here is due to Official NE 45th Street Viaduct Detour Cheaters who are trying to sneak up and down the hill by using 54th/55th instead of 65th. Cheaters!

Yours truly found herself a traffic director where 15th Avenue NE, Cowen Pl NE and Ravenna Blvd all meet, on the west side of the park.  Northbound Cowen Pl NE traffic turning left has no light; I imagine that’s a reason for the extra help.

Both of these locations have been added to the NE 45th Street Viaduct Detour Issues Google Map.

Do YOU have any to share? Let us know!

Filed Under: Construction, Traffic, Updates

Low flyers in Bryant?

June 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Our plea for submissions netted an email relating a strange event in the Bryant neighborhood last night. And since they are our near and dear (and, as yet, unblogged) neighbors, we are more than happy to represent them here.

The confounding occurrence is as follows:

I wonder if anyone else has mentioned a small plane that seemed to be flying very low over Ravenna-Bryant last night. Not sure exactly what time it was, maybe 11:30 or thereabouts. I wasn’t asleep yet so know I wasn’t dreaming, but I didn’t see any mention of it in the Times today and am wondering what the heck it was doing! It wasn’t a helicopter on the way to/from the hospital, I know what those sound like. It was so weird – it kept circling and coming back, low enough to shake the windows. I was about to call the police when it stopped.

Sounds kinda crazy, huh? It was pretty freaky!

If you have any info, I’d love to find out what was going on and what to do if it happens again. It was actually quite scary.

Thanks,
Karen (Bryant neighbor)

My guess is a combination of low cloud cover and seaplanes. But those don’t usually circle.

Anyone have any better ideas? Or who she might call if it happens again?

The truth is out there.

UPDATE: I did a little online sleuthing, and found out how to report aircraft noise and/or low flying aircraft: Contact our local Flight Standards District Offices in Renton. Their contact information (phone, email, fax and flare [just kidding]) is all right here.

Filed Under: Updates

Restaurant Inspection Round-Up REDO

May 31, 2010 By 3 Comments

Sometimes, I will admit, I wonder if there’s anyone out there reading these posts.

And then, I screw something up. And find out that, yes, you are out there. And the teachable moments ensue.

Chris and Lisa over at We [Heart] Food blog about food. Specifically, their dinners. A typical post is a gorgeous picture full of tastiness, a witty conversation between them about the meal, and then *drumroll* the RECIPE. They also live around here.

Well, Chris left a comment on the Restaurant Inspections (RI) MEGA POST of the other day that made me bang my head on the desk and say, “DUH, of COURSE I’m wrong!”

Here’s the wrong-ness: For the first time on a RI post I decided to rank the restaurants, using the number of violations. I should have done it by using King County’s violation point system (emphasis mine):

Inspections are based on regulations to eliminate risk factors for food borne disease. Every violation of these regulations is color coded and has a numerical value based on the amount of risk they create.

Red critical violations: These are violations with the highest risk of causing food borne disease. One red critical violation equals an unsatisfactory inspection. Environmental Health Specialists work with operators to make sure that red critical violations are corrected before they leave the establishment.

Blue violations: These are violations related to the maintenance of the establishment and cleanliness.

  • 35 or more red critical violation points require a re-inspection within 14 days.
  • 90 or more red critical violation points require the establishment be closed.
  • 120 or more total (red & blue) points also requires the establishment be closed.

HOW THE MISTAKE HAPPENED: The online tool I was using to read the inspection reports (EveryBlock) does not differentiate between Blue (maintenance and cleanliness) and Red (highest risk for food borne illness). Argh!

Here’s how to do it RIGHT: Here is the list of restaurants again (most violation points to least) using the King County inspection results correctly:

The links in all the restaurant names now take you to their respective King County inspection histories, where you can see the evidence for yourselves.

In conclusion: Thanks for your help, Chris. And happy (and safe) eating, everyone.

Filed Under: Food, Updates
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