A neighborhood “greenway” is coming to Greenwood and Phinney Ridge, and you can help make it happen. The next meeting of our neighborhood greenway group is from 6-7:45 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 9, at the Greenwood Library, 8016 Greenwood Ave. N.

The City of Seattle is creating 11 miles of greenways through seven neighborhoods this year as part of a pilot program. Greenwood-Phinney’s greenway will be along 1st Avenue NW from NW 85th Street to NW 58th Street.

“Greenways connect parks and schools, community centers and neighborhood business districts. Neighborhood Greenways help with transportation, and they help with getting people where they want to go within their own communities,” City Councilmember Sally Bagshaw said in a recent press release.

The Neighborhood Greenways under SDOT review total 11 miles: seven miles in Ballard, Beacon Hill, Greenwood, North Delridge, Wallingford, and the University District and an additional four miles in Laurelhurst (funded by Seattle Children’s Hospital). These projects are intended to form the backbone of a new network of Greenways that effectively connect people to the places they want to go by giving them a choice to travel on quieter, safer streets around the city.

Neighborhood Greenways are slow-speed, low-traffic residential streets made even more pleasant for the people who live, walk, and bike on them. By adding new park-like amenities and limiting cut-through traffic, Greenways are naturally attractive both for families, and for anyone seeking a safer, more connected community experience. By placing Greenways a block or two away from major arterials, Neighborhood Greenways create a great option for people who prefer to walk or bike away from congested streets. While many new dedicated walking and bicycling trails are beyond the reach of our City’s budget, 10 miles of Greenways can be built for the cost of a single mile of new trail, offering the potential to bring a high-quality network to all Seattle neighborhoods at a comparatively low cost. Greenways have the potential to serve neighborhoods where many people cannot afford a car. Neighborhood access by emergency service vehicles and freight delivery vehicles — and parking — is preserved along Greenways.

Motivated by concerns for public safety and a grassroots movement of citizens across Seattle demanding greater community connection, SDOT staff has been studying how other cities link people with their desired neighborhood destinations. By 2015 in Portland, for example, 85% of all residents will live within a half-mile of a Greenway. Portland’s safe streets policies have made streets safer for everyone whether they choose to walk, ride a bicycle, or drive. Portland’s traffic fatality rate is falling six times faster than the rest of the United States. Infrastructure that makes it safer for walking and bicycling automatically benefits drivers through improved safety and saved lives.

The Seattle Pedestrian Advisory Board is accepting applications for new members.

The volunteer board, which was created by Seattle City Council in 1993, plays an influential role in implementing Seattle’s Pedestrian Master Plan. The board advises the Mayor and City Council, participates in planning and project development, evaluates policies and makes recommendations to all city departments including the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT).

Board members serve a two‐year term, with an opportunity to serve a second term. They are frequent walkers of a variety of ages, levels of mobility, and walks of life, and from areas throughout the city. Members must be Seattle residents, and may not be city employees. The group meets the second Wednesday of each month from 6 to 8 p.m. at City Hall on Fifth Avenue between James and Cherry.

Interested persons should submit a resume and cover letter explaining their interest via email by January 20, 2012 to Brian Dougherty at brian.dougherty@seattle.gov.

For more information, call Brian Dougherty at (206) 684‐5124, or send e‐mail to the address above.

The city wants to know how you feel about the safety of Seattle streets. You can tell them from 6-8 p.m. tonight at the Northgate Community Center, 10510 5th Ave. NE, as part of its Road Safety Summit. This is the second of three public forums on road safety.

The City of Seattle envisions a transportation system with no traffic fatalities or serious injuries, where all users share responsibility for their safety and that of others they encounter in their travels.

The Road Safety Summit, through…public forums, an online survey, and in-person outreach, is providing a chance for the public to give their input on three questions:

1. What do you think are the highest priority safety problems to solve on Seattle roads?
2. What do you think are the most important things to do to make Seattle roads safer?
3. We often talk about what government can do to promote safety. What are the ways that non-governmental groups and individuals can promote safety?

We have asked a broad cross section of stakeholders — elected officials, experts, roadway users, major employers, advocates, business leaders, and community leaders—to listen to the public and to come up with action items that will address the public’s top road safety concerns.

Working together, we will develop a shared citywide commitment to safety and an action plan that will help us work toward our goal of no traffic fatalities or serious injuries.

The third public forum is next Monday at the Southwest Community Center, and a final Road Safety Summit Meeting is on Dec. 12 at City Hall.

Seattle City Light has begun installing 12,000 LED streetlights from North 65th Street to the northern border of City Light’s service area. According to City Light, the LED lights are brighter and increase public safety, while reducing energy costs.

Last year City Light installed 6,000 LED streetlights between the Ship Canal and North 65th Street.

According to Seattle City Councilman Bruce Harrell, the new LED lights installed last year saved the city about $300,000. Savings are expected to reach $2.4 million each year once all streetlights are converted.

A side-by-side comparison of old high-pressure sodium streetlights (on the left), and new LED streetlights (photos courtesy of City of Seattle):

The national Night Out block party extravaganza is set for Aug. 2, and neighborhoods all across the country will participate by blocking off their streets to cars, hauling out the barbecues and getting to know their neighbors a little better. The Seattle Police Department’s Crime Prevention unit is the local sponsor of the event, which is designed to bring neighbors together to help prevent crime.

A Night Out 2010 block party at North 89th St. and Linden Avenue North in Greenwood.

Register your block party with SPD, and then, on Aug. 2, put up some kind of barricades (those large green recycling bins work pretty well). You can even print off block party invitations or Night Out logos to create your own.

In addition to registering your block, you can also add your event to a city-wide calendar, so everyone can see where their nearest block party is.

SPD is providing updated information on Night Out on a Facebook page. It’s also a good place to ask questions and get answers about the event.

Night Out is always the first Tuesday of August.

Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) is improving several traffic signals in the neighborhood this year.

At the intersection of Greenwood Avenue North and North 80th Street, SDOT will install left turn signals onto Greenwood Avenue from both the eastbound and westbound lanes.

The intersection of Aurora Avenue North and Winona Avenue North, near the Green Lake PCC, will get a northbound left turn signal installed.

And the intersection of Greenwood Avenue North and North 73rd Street, by Ken’s Market and Fire Station 21, will be upgraded to a full traffic signal in all directions. (There is currently a stop sign only for eastbound and westbound, meaning those cars usually must wait for someone to hit the crosswalk light for the north and south lanes to stop.) That signal will have a preemptor installed for when fire trucks pull out for an emergency call.

At its monthly meeting last week, the NW District Council chose three projects from a list of nine community-submitted ideas as priorities for city funding.

Every year, each of the city’s 13 district councils selects three projects they consider to be priorities in their district. Projects are submitted by community members and groups, and are for small-scale safety improvements to streets or parks. The Neighborhood Projects Fund (NPF) provides about $90,000 per district per year for the priority projects.

The projects that the NW District Council selected are:

• Improve safety for vehicles and pedestrians at the five-way intersection where North 66th Street intersects with Woodland Place North and Linden Ave North on the far east side of Phinney Ridge by Green Lake.
• Pave and make necessary repairs and adjustments to existing walkway along the southern edge of the Woodland park Zoo; north of North 50th Street from Fremont to Phinney avenues.
• Paint, or otherwise establish a better separation on the Inner Green Lake Loop and sign with stenciled “heels vs. wheels.”

The NW District Council has also asked Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) to evaluate cost and feasibility for an additional two projects:

• Install two radar speed display signs on 8th Avenue NW from NW 85th Street to NW 100th Street.
• Construct textured crosswalks along NW 85th Street for at least one intersection; to be incorporated into SDOT’s major repaving project of 85th Street from I-5 to 15th Avenue NW, set to begin this fall. Textured crosswalks provide better visibility for motorists and pedestrians.

SDOT and Seattle Parks and Recreation will submit their analysis of the five projects by late June.

Note: This post is from our sister site Queen Anne View.

Beginning at approximately 7 a.m. and running through the rest of the day on Thursday, April 14, Seattle Police Department and Washington State Patrol officers conducted a major safe driving enforcement patrol along Aurora Ave N.

Over the course of the day patrol officers tracked a total of 677 violations, wrote up 509 citations, clocked 331 speeders and doled out 198 warnings to drivers, according to the SPD Blotter. These numbers include 62 people caught driving while talking on their cell phones, 80 driving without insurance, 23 without a license, and a total of six who were arrested and charged with DUIs. Here’s the breakdown of violations, and subsequent tickets, for the day:

Tickets issued for the following violations:

Aggressive driving – 19

DUI Arrest – 6

Negligent Driving – 2

High speed – 66 in a 40 MPH zone

Cell phone – 62

No insurance – 80

No Operators License – 23

FTY to Pedestrians – 1

FTY Right of Way – 2

Unsafe Lane Change – 21

Follow to close – 2

School zone – 8

School zone (speed van) – 42

Bicycle – 2

Inattention – 2

Defective Equipment – 8

Illegal turns – 16

Signs Obey – 15

No seatbelt – 30

Vehicle License – 5

While SPD did dish out quite a lot of tickets along Aurora yesterday, officers say the primary aim of the patrol was safety. “The overall goal of the Aurora Avenue emphasis patrol is to promote safe driving behavior, not necessarily to write tickets. Tickets are however, a product of traffic law enforcement,” SPD said in a statement.

What do you think? Did the patrol help remind the public to drive safely along Aurora, which has an extremely high collision incident rate, or was it just an excuse for officers to hand out more tickets in a shorter amount of time? What do you think SPD and the city could do to make Aurora safer?

The NW District Council is meeting Wednesday night at the Greenwood Senior Center, 525 N. 85^th St., to discuss Seattle’s Transit Master Plan and to go over proposals to the Neighborhood Projects Fund (NPF).

Each of the city’s 13 District Councils is charged with considering proposals submitted by organizations or individuals in their district. The proposals are for small-scale transportation or parks improvements.

Each district submits its three priority projects, then the appropriate city department analyzes its costs and feasibility, sending it back to each council for a final decision on which projects to fund. Each district receives about $90,000 from the city.

 Nine proposals have been submitted to the NW District Council:

• Adding a crosswalk at 50th and Midvale near the tennis courts in Upper Woodland Park.
• Paving the path at the southwest edge of Woodland Park Zoo and adding curb cuts to the zoo parking lot exit to make it safer to runners and walkers.
• Making the intersection of North 66th Street at Linden Avenue North/Woodland Place North safer by adding a curb bulb, four ADA ramps, and landscaping improvement to turn the five-way intersection into two separate intersections.
• Pedestrian safety improvements on 115th Street NE, 5th Avenue NE and 15th Ave NE in the Haller Lake neighborhood.
• Painting the Green Lake loop with a stencil that makes it clearer which side is for wheels and which for feet.
• Installing a sidewalk and street trees on North 90th Street between Phinney and Fremont avenues.
• Improve safety at the crosswalk on Greenwood Avenue North and North 80^th Street by the Greenwood Library by adding curb bulbs, a raised median and bicycle oasis at the library.
• Adding speed bumps and “local access only” signs to the eight blocks bounded by Greenwood Avenue North, Fremont Avenue North, North 125th Street and North 130th Street, and the block bounded by Fremont Avenue North, Northpark Avenue North, North 125th Street and North  127^th Street.
• Traffic calming measures on NW 8^th Avenue between North 85^th Street and North 105^th Street, including a one-way climbing bike lane to reduce road size to help slow traffic, and the purchase of two radar speed signs for both ends of the 20-block segment.

For more information on District Council projects and issues, contact Northwest District Council staff Rob Mattson at 206-684-4051 or rob.mattson@seattle.gov, or NWDC Chair Steve Deters at 206-437-4940 or sldeters@qwest.net.

The Seattle Times published a story today about the huge increase in potholes in Seattle, due to the winter weather. According to the story, many of the worst roads are in Greenwood and Crown Hill. Seattle Department of Transportation says it will increase its number of “Pothole Rangers” crews from the usual two or three to nine to deal with the backlog.

In the last couple of weeks, we’ve heard from PhinneyWood readers about huge potholes on their street, and their frustration with the city for not fixing them sooner. The Times story online includes a page where you can add to a map of potholes across the city.

According to that map, readers reported huge potholes in the 6800 block and 7200 block of Linden Avenue, and in several places along 85th Street, including at Midvale Avenue at 6th Avenue NW.

PhinneyWood has long had its own map where readers can report potholes, graffiti and other infrastructure issues, and we’ve received several additions in the last couple of days. Please add your potholes to the map, and also report them to the city.

And please send us your photos of street craters, and let us know how long it took the city to fix them after you reported it.

The City of Seattle has begun a holiday pedestrian safety campaign to try to eliminate crashes between cars and pedestrians during dark, rainy months, as well as the holidays, when everyone is distracted. The campaign is called “See You in the Crosswalk.”

The city suggests following these rules:

Motorists should:

• Never pass a vehicle stopped at a crosswalk
• Put away their cell phones
• Yield to pedestrians
• Make eye contact with pedestrians before proceeding through a crosswalk or intersection

Pedestrians should:

• Use the sidewalk and marked crosswalks
• Wear bright clothing
• Turn off headphones
• Make eye contact with drivers who are approaching

Neighbors working together to bring sidewalks to Evanston Avenue North between North 90th and North 92nd streets will have their second Greenwood Streetscapes workshop on Sunday. The meeting is from 4:30-6 p.m. Sunday at Liz Sullivan & Helene Bourget’s house, 9053 Evanston Ave. N.

We had our first workshop on this block on October 21st…In case you missed that last one, another introductory Greenwood Streetscapes workshop is coming up on Nov 21st. Your opinion is essential to this effort. Please mark your calendar and join us to learn about your street right of way and give your input to this Block Study.

Together we can look at a block map, discuss a typical street configuration and receive your comments so that the Block Plan (to be developed in January) responds to all neighbors’ interests and concerns about pedestrian safety, parking, drainage and more.

If you have any questions, please contact your neighbor:
Crystal Perry, 9042 Evanston Ave N, c_perry@msn.com, 781-9727