Brainstorming - Burke Gilman Access Improvements and Lake City Greenway

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percjohnson11

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Jan 19, 2022, 1:55:42 AM1/19/22
to Lake City Greenways
Hi fellow Lake City Greenways enthusiasts! 

I've been thinking a lot about the Burke Gilman Trail which is obviously a huge resource for those who can access it.  However, north of 94th Street, the BGT effectively becomes inaccessible to those in Meadowbrook and Lake City and effectively only serves neighborhoods with higher affluence in NE Seattle.  On top of this, NE 95th Street and Sand Point Way really lacks any safe pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure and creates a further barrier to the BGT and poor access for peds to Matthews Beach.  I'd like to explore ideas with those interested, including neighbors, to brainstorm:
  • How to improve access to the BGT, including perhaps providing bike/ped access directly onto NE 95th Street or Sand Point Way.  
  • How to improve bike and ped safety on NE 95th Street, including perhaps a prioritize crossing for peds and bikes to a future greenway.
  • How to site a future greenway to provide improved access for bikes and people to/from the BGT up to Lake City and connecting community resources like Meadowbrook CC, Nathan Hale/Jane Adams, Lake City CC, Lake City Library, and other community assets.  To my knowledge, there are no plans for a future greenway connecting Lake City to the BGT.
  • Opportunities to integrate stormwater treatment and habitat restoration to improve Thornton Creek.  
For background, this past year I have spent trying to find opportunities to provide safer ped/bike access from Wedgwood to the BGT and Matthews Beach via a new stairway.  Unfortunately, this had some challenges that made this concept unrealistic.  However, in doing this, I have found some shared concerns among neighborhoods in Wedgwood, Inverness, and Matthews Beach.  

This certainly wouldn't be a near-term project and it would be expensive.  But, there seems to be some real potential to bring communities together, address some major safety and equity issues, and find opportunities to help Thornton Creek.  

If you are interested in being involved, please reach out (email below)!

I'm the current Wedgwood Community Council president, but we recongnize that this is not a project entirely in Wedgwood.  Therefore, a major aspect of this will be reaching out to neighbors and communities.  If you at all involved in neighborhood 'leadship' of sorts, please reach out as well (email below)!  I'd love to be respectful of communities outside of Wedgwood which I am less familiar.  

Thanks for reading through this way-to-long message.  Cheers!

Per Johnson

Clara Cantor

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Jan 31, 2022, 11:31:37 AM1/31/22
to percjohnson11, Tim, Lake City Greenways
Hi Per,

Connecting down to the Burke is a real challenge. Here's some thoughts that Tim Fliss had shared as we were thinking about this last year:

The current Bicycle Master Plan lists 123rd, but it's incredibly steep.

Have you been in touch with folks within NE Seattle Greenways yet? <neseattle...@googlegroups.com>

Be well,
Clara

Tim t.f...@gmail.com

May 25, 2021, 8:25 PM
to me
Hi Clara,

123rd is incredibly steep.
There's this kind of hidden route that shows up on Strava. It's slightly shallower.

I prefer 112th via 113th/Exeter,  97th, or 93rd/94th (small entrance, but well used).
If nothing else they could be excuses to improve crossings of Sand Point Way at 106th, 97th and/or 95th at 45th
I can send specific routes if any of these sound interesting.  I'm pretty sure my wife's preference is 97th.

Connecting Roosevelt to Northgate (5th Ave) is difficult because of the steepness.
Cutting through the parking lots at 108th is shallow, but I'm guessing that won't happen b/c private property.

105th is a one-lane road with a brief steep part that could work if completely closed to cars,
but it also feels somewhat sketchy like you're riding between a blank wall and the beaver pond.

103rd is very steep up/down, but it goes by a nice P-Patch, makes a direct connection to the transit center.
The curb ramps at 103rd/5th corner should be redone if nothing else.  I think 103rd is also 2-way but "do not enter",
so if the budget is like $10 it's one of the places an 'except bikes' would help if only for advanced or ebikes (and a wayfinding sign at 103/Roosevelt).

I haven't seen what's happening w/ 8th, but that may have more potential for AAA access to Northgate.
I'm assuming a PBL on 5th isn't on the table unless there's a super wide-sidewalk in the plans, but a short one could help w/ this route.
https://goo.gl/maps/UYKMaLY5vMCJrZbK7
115th or 117th are both already pretty calm (I prefer 117)  There's a steep ridge in Victory Heights that you can see if you turn terrain on,
but this route avoids the worst of it and only uses a block of 125th.  Of course there are variations of this route that use Pinehurst Way and 125th,
but this would be an excuse to make 8th (which has a lot of apartments) a slower street w/ speed cushions and to slow 115th or 117th more,

Were you thinking of PBL's on 130th from Aurora and 5th for access to the 130th station (if that's happening?)
Both of those would be huge wins and very useful.

Access from my direction to the 148th street station seems rather bleak, but is this project still happening from the other direction?
https://www.shorelinewa.gov/home/showdocument?id=39073

Hope some of this helpful.
-Tim

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Clara Cantor
she/her/hers

Community Organizer
Seattle Neighborhood Greenways


Chris Burke

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Jan 31, 2022, 2:27:47 PM1/31/22
to Clara Cantor, percjohnson11, Tim, Lake City Greenways
Hi, I'm not sure what the original question is in this email thread, nor is it clear if any feedback is desired, but despite this lack of clarity, I'm going to chip in anyway!

It is true that access to the Burke-Gilman between NE 97th St in Seattle and NE 165th St in Lake Forest Park is difficult, not because of any "higher affluence neighborhoods" in the way but simply because of steep terrain.  I have variously used Lakeside Pl, NE 125th, 42nd Pl, 40th Ave NE, and 151st St to climb up from the lake.  There is always a point where I dismount from my bicycle and walk it uphill.  That's just the way it is, at my age!  Like others I often use the connection at NE 93rd/94th St to go to and from the trail.  I will also point out the shortest route up to Sand Point Way is NE 125th St--it's very steep, and part is not actually a street, but the whole way is a public right of way that could be reclaimed for pedestrians.  A quick route from Wedgwood to the trail is down the "secret back way" of NE 88th St and42nd Ave NE--these could really use some pedestrian-oriented improvements!

There is a thread here about how difficult it is traveling by bike from the Northgate area to the B-G.  I used to make this trip back and forth daily, from my condo on 5th Ave NE to my work at NOAA.  I tried every sort of route.  In general the gentlest gradient follows Thornton Creek as closely as possible.  In the uphill direction this involved exiting the trail at 93rd/94th, traveling on 45th Ave NE north as it curves around and becomes NE 105th St, going through the Meadowbrook/Nathan Hale complex on a series of paved paths, heading SW on Ravenna Ave NE, crossing Lake City way on NE 98th St, then zigzagging up through Victory Heights to 15th Ave and beyond.  To get to 5th Ave I often biked a brief stretch of sidewalk along Northgate Way.  This route had the distinct advantage of avoiding both the Wedgwood hill and the Maple Leaf hill, but there are still a few short, steep bits.

Though this route was adequate, I always wondered about the practicality of building a bike trail along Thornton Creek itself.  Much of the route between 5th Ave and Ravenna Ave is already public property.  Ravenna Ave itself is an excellent low-gradient bike route, dating as it does from pre-Seattle, pre-street grid days when horsepower was provided by actual horses.  The paved paths through Meadowbrook/Nathan Hale could easily be upgraded.  NE 105th St and 45th Ave NE are perfectly fine bike routes.  Seattle DPR also owns a number of parcels that would allow a low-elevation route connecting 45th Ave to the Burke-Gilman, starting at the south end of the 46th Ave stub.  You can see what I'm talking about on the King County parcel viewer.

There are plenty of precedents for building bike trails through sensitive areas, including the recent trail built through the Arboretum.  I know a lot of people worked very hard to preserve Thornton Creek over the years.  I also know it is one of the places recently taken over by homeless encampments, with all the associated crime, trash, and environmental degradation that comes with that.  Perhaps building a bike trail would go some way toward making the series of small Thornton Creek parks into a well-loved public amenity.  

Chris Burke
Olympic Hills



To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/LakeCityGreenways/CAGZbed2B-7xut3tmwXrVQqzW5TCikZrePmMiRyHiLoxD2Fq9LA%40mail.gmail.com.

Per Johnson

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Jan 31, 2022, 2:44:50 PM1/31/22
to Chris Burke, Clara Cantor, Tim, Lake City Greenways
Hi Clara, Tim, and Chris!  And thanks for all your fantastic feedback!  

As to your last question, Clara, I've not been formally in contact with NE Greenways on this.  I've only tried to connect to Lake City Way greenways in part because that is the Google Group I have access to.  I don't have access to any NE Greenway Google Group, but was one of its founders and worked with Andre when he was heading it up.  Since I moved away and came back (2015-2019), I've lost track of who is in NE Greenways and would LOVE to reconnect.  If I can be in BOTH NE Greenways and Lake City Greenways, that'd be ideal.  Any chance you make that magic happen, Clara?

As for the existing connections, I completely agree with Tim and Chris that connecting to the BGT is difficult.  Apologies if my wording made it sound like the affluency of neighborhoods was to blame.  It's all topographic and street grid driven.  I don't blame any neighborhood or their economic conditions for this at all.  

There are a couple existing connections that provide some access as Tim points out.  Some of these may be workable into a future greenway and formal connection to Lake City Way, but they're tricky with grades as Tim/Chris point out.  My perspective is that anything in this location will require long-term planning and patience for a few reasons, but mainly funding.  But, here's my thought process and what I'm hoping to help facilitate interested neighbors and stakeholders in doing.
  • The baseline conditions that I hope can agree on are the following:
    • NE 95th Street and Sand Point Way provide unacceptable pedestrian/bike infrastructure and zero stormwater control draining into a salmon-bearing stream (Thornton Creek) with high pre-spawn mortality due to runoff from untreated tire rubble.  Due to this, NE 95th and part of Sand Point Way will likely be required to be significantly improved in the future (undetermined timeline).  This gives us a future project(s) that we can incorporate some new ideas around.  
    • The city owns several different properties in the 95th/Sand Point Way area as Chris points out, either via SDOT or Parks, which may provide an opportunity for us to think about a *new* access to the BGT directly from 95th/Sand Point Way when improved bike/ped infrastructure is constructed.  
  • Given these baseline conditions (future physical improvements to 95th needed and undeveloped city-owned property present) I think we can envision a future condition where the BGT may be able to connect to a rebuilt 95th via a more gradual greenway alignment through Meadowbrook and into Lake City Way via low-impact boardwalks and trails (e.g., not paved streets) connecting to the existing street grid.  As Chris points out (you're reading your mind), there is lots of precedent for this and can be done in a way that doesn't have adverse effects to salmonids, water quality, and actually (if coupled with restoration) improves the riparian habitat of Thornton Creek. I think some creative thinking about connections via undeveloped (vacated) city-owned property can provide new connections to the street grid that could make a logical, low-gradient greenway and provide benefits beyond just improved bike/ped connectivity.  
All of this would take a bit of creative funding, but I think a future outcome could be huge in terms of connecting communities to civic resources (parks, community centers, schools, libraries) and providing more equitable access to these civic resources and the BGT for less affluent communities.  This may seem impractical and unrealistic, and I would agree if we think this is a short- to mid-term project.  But, I think there are a number of things that would make this very attractive under various funding/political mechanisms and it could be achievable within the next 10-15 yrs.  It certainly wouldn't merit any prioritization over any current project.  But, I think tee-ing it up for success via a community visioning that brings neighbors and stakeholders together is the place that I would like to start.  

I have several community leaders and neighbors in the area who have mentioned they are interested in this idea conceptually.  I'm still reaching out to various community groups and stakeholders to identify those interested in participating (apologies if you're reading this and think I should already have reached out to you or the group you represent).  But, I intend to organize a kick-off meeting (likely virtual) in the coming months.

Cheers for your ideas and any additional feedback you have!

Per Johnson

Maria Sumner

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Jan 31, 2022, 2:59:41 PM1/31/22
to Per Johnson, Chris Burke, Clara Cantor, Lake City Greenways, Tim
I am interested in connecting for Lake City / NE Greenways in general and I know a few other folks in Lake City area who would likely be interested as well. So would love to be included if meetings / discussions happen

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Maria Sumner
Technical Program Manager in Language Understanding, Facebook
Lake City, WA
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