needed: volunteer to do CAD drawings for block plans

[Kate Martin]

Hi.

 

We’ve been through a lot of block meetings and workshops over the last 2 months and we’d ready to keep the momentum going.

 

To do that, we need to generate some CAD drawings for each block plan which neighbors and other project volunteers can use to move their blocks from sketches to reality.  We’ll use these drawings for meetings with agency folks at SDOT and SPU and also they’ll help us get rough order of magnitude prices from contractors to put real dollar signs on project costs.  These drawings are not the construction drawings, but they are a step toward that. 

 

The plans need to be 20 scale like the maps we’re working off and we’ll be able to use the layers from SPU GIS to help generate a base map for the drawings.

 

It’s basically taking the standard plan for right of way improvements and drawing a plan for a block that shows the standard plan on that block along with all proposed driveway curb cuts and any customization that’s happening on that block shown over a screened base of information from SDOT, City Light, and SPU – utilities, contours, street edges.

 

I’d like to see us prepare these for the 3 blocks we have the most momentum for which are:

 

            Evanston Ave N, N 90^th to N 92^nd

            N 102^nd St, Greenwood Ave N to Dayton Ave N

            NW 87^th St, 3^rd NW to 6^th NW

 

We also need to generate typical sections to represent the various conditions along the block (these actually repeat all over the study areas, so the sections are something we can put labels on and re-use over and over for each block.  The sections will help to illustrate what happens grade-wise at the interface of the right of way to the property lines and how the private property side will get tied into the new grades of the sidewalks, driveways, etc. 

 

It’s likely the plans will change over the course of our discussions, so it’s just a real basic start.  Modifying the CAD drawing will make it easier for us to quickly make changes that come up in reviews.  Having folks from amongst us to create this first round of CAD drawings and revisions will really expedite things.  We’d like to get to solutions with do-able costs on these blocks and solutions that we can permit.   

 

Creating these drawings needs to be cost effective in the long run so we can continue to use this kind of tool for each block that moves forward (though we’re not asking volunteers to do this right now).   I’m hoping though that for these first block plans we can use the resources we have in our volunteer bank because we need professional match dollars for this DON Matching Fund Project and this would be an excellent way to get it.  At the same time, I’d like to get an idea of how many hours it takes to create them in order to know what future blocks may have to pay to get their block plans. 

 

So, is there anyone with the skills and access to equipment amongst us who can take this on?  We have a pretty good idea of what the blocks look like at this point and we have some hand drawn sketches to guide us.  It’s more of a drafting project than a design project but it’s an essential part of our process and we could really use someone to do this work. 

 

Let us know if you have the time and technology to help us with this or if you have a neighbor / friend / co-worker / boss who can help.  We’re ready, so if you’re available, please step up.   

 

Thank you. 

 

Kate Martin, Greenwood Streetscapes Volunteer, 206-579-3703, katem...@comcast.net