Interlaken
Blvd plank road across 26th E, Jan. 4,1913. Seattle
Municipal archives, Frank H. Nowell, Parks History Collection
School Selection Confusion?
By Scott Coughlin
Claudia
Allan informs the Flyer that area parents who select Montlake as their first
choice for incoming students, and who don’t make the cut, do NOT lessen their
chances of being assigned to their second choice school. Exact language from a School District document reads: “If a
student is not assigned to a first choice school, the subsequent choices are
considered and weighed against tiebreaker priorities of other students
selecting the school as a higher choice.” And those tiebreaker priorities, in
order, are: Sibling; Reference Area; Integration Positive; Distance; Lottery.
Questions? Call 720-3533.
The Montlake Informant
By Ed Whistler
Let’s keep those cards
and letters rolling in, people…The Flyer is delivered to 1,200 households thru
wind, rain, sleet, rain, hail, rain, etc., and we’ve only received six or seven
entries for the neighborhood slogan contest! True, those entries are brilliant,
but hey, come on. See email address below….Somebody
give that man a cape…We’re going to check with Jonathan Dubman on this, but
rumors of a cross-Cut ferry route to run between Foster Island and Husky
Stadium appear to be baseless. Might speed things up, though. If you see a guy
riding a buzzing, high-tech bicycle that seems unusually quick, that’s JD
himself, Montlake’s resident transportation-issue superhero. So flag him down
for a (quick and buzzing) briefing. The guy is awesome …Give it up for the Talking Man!…You’ve seen him around. About 5’
11”, black hair, backpack, colorfully dressed, talking loudly. Anybody know
anything about this ubiquitous Montlaker? Inquiring minds want to know….The Montlake Informant Submissions Dept.
Report…Celebrity sightings: None.
Cute personalized license plates: None. Let’s keep it that way, folks! All
other appropriate submissions welcome, esp. those dealing with crows, but the
Informant reserves the right to file circularly or forward to the editor….Say, speaking of crows…did we mention
that John Withey, well-known Corvus brachyrhynchos scholar, once spent a
morning counting how many of our dark and raucous friends left the Foster
Island rookery on appointed rounds?
9,000 that day….Draw lightbulb
over head…So, let’s see, if there are 1,200 households in Montlake, and
we’ll say 2.5 persons per, then our slogan could be: “Montlake – Three crows
for every human!” Damn, that’s good. Right? Don’t delay…Send your submissions (gift certificates, trial
balloons, rare stamps) to informant@montlake.net.
Nine for a Neighbor
By Shane Doran
This month we continue our column in which we
introduce a real, living and breathing fellow Montlaker through the posing of Nine Questions. Our guest this month is
Sean Schmidt, a Steilacoom, Washington
native who has been a Boyer Avenue
resident for the past seven years. A few years after graduating from the UW
with Psychology and Environmental Studies degrees, Sean bought the Montlake
home he currently shares with two roommates. He works for the Nordstrom
Corporate office as the Sustainable Business and Development Coordinator, a
position in which he coordinates many of the company’s social and environmental
affairs. Sean has recently taken over a Montlake Flyer delivery route,
so if you see him approaching your house at a rapid pace with the Flyer in one
hand and a small caliber pistol in the other, no need to assume that you’re
under attack (or that he’ll force you to read the Flyer from cover to
cover at gunpoint). No worries, Mate. Sean is in training for the Modern
Pentathlon in the 2004 Olympics to be held in Athens,
Greece.
1.
SD: What is the Modern Day Pentathlon?
SS: Like the marathon, Modern Pentathlon has a
story. In the Ancient Games, the pentathlon was the pinnacle event, even over
decathlon since the variety of sports (wrestling, javelin, discuss, running and
long jump) was considered a true test of the warrior-athlete. When Baron Pierre
de Coubertin revived the Games, he formed a “modern pentathlon” from the major
athletic disciplines of the modern Olympics that told a story of the strength,
speed, skill and strategy of a Napoleonic courier taking a message off the
battlefield. Thus, the “modern pentathlon” consists of shooting (10m air
pistol), fencing (one minute, one-touch bouts against all competitors),
swimming (200m freestyle), horsejumping (stadium course on an unfamiliar horse)
and running (a 3k, cross-country handicap run based on your points from the
first four events).
2.
SD: Break down a typical day in your life, sunrise to sundown, including your
personal, professional and training responsibilities.
SS: I generally do two or three practices a day. I
start with a swim in the morning at the Meredith Mathews YMCA, go off to a full
day of work at work and then do a run in the late afternoon followed by one
other sport in the evenings. I fence at Salle Auriol in downtown Seattle
and take lessons at Rain City Fencing in Bellevue.
I do my horsejumping at Hilltop Stables in Woodinville. For shooting I either
go to Kenmore
Ranges
or Wade’s Range in Bellevue.
Amazingly, on weekends I can sometimes fit in practices for all five sports.
3. SD: What separates
you from all other pentathlon athletes with Olympic aspirations?
SS: Most pentathletes come from a competitive
swimming and/or running background. My background is rowing so even though I’ve
dabbled in the individual pentathlon sports in the past, I had never competed
in any of them prior to this adventure.
4. SD: In your mind,
how big is a bread box ?
SS: 10” high x 10” wide x 20” long.
5. SD: Name a hero or
someone you admire who is of a party or political mindset with which you don’t
typically agree.
SS: Bill
Ruckelshaus who served as EPA Administrator under Nixon and Reagan. He’s a
Republican, I’m a Democrat, but his leadership on issues of sustainability has
always really impressed me.
6. SD: Who should play
your father in a made-for-for-TV movie about your life ?
SS: Sean
Connery, because he looks just like my dad.
7. SD: If men are
from Mars and women are from Venus, where do babies come from?
SS: Someplace much more neutral.
8. SD: Name a
Pentathlon event in which you would prefer not to include an audience and one
in which you would prefer an audience (and why in both cases?)
SS: No audience for the horsejumping because when
you mess up, its no fun for you but very entertaining for the audience.
Audience for the running. Its generally the last event, so its always great to
have a lot of people cheering you on.
9. SD: Name an
athlete (living or dead) for whom you have the most respect.
SS: Sally Ride. I’m a firm believer in developing
one’s mind, body and spirit to its fullest extent, whatever that may be.
Besides being the first woman in space, Sally Ride is an athlete (she was going
to be a professional tennis player at one time), a professor at UCSD and writes
children’s books. She’s a business woman and volunteers in the community. She
does it all.
SD:
Thanks Sean and good luck!! You can find out more about Sean and
other northwest pentathletes at www.nwmpa.org.
Have a neighbor you’d like us to interview?
Email your suggestion to shanedoran@attbi.com.
Montlake Library Increases Hours
The
Montlake Library, 2300 24th
Avenue East, will be
open 58½ hours a week, starting Wednesday, January 2, 2002. The library’s new hours will be—
Monday to Thursday: 10:00am
to 9:00pm
Friday: 11:30am
to 6:00pm
Saturday: 10:00am
to 6:00pm
Sunday: Closed
The
library added 12 open hours a week to help patrons who previously used the
Henry Library, 425
Harvard Avenue East.
The Henry Library closed Saturday, November 3, 2001, so construction could begin on an exciting new library planned
on the site.
”The new
Capitol Hill Library will be wonderful, but we recognize that Henry patrons
will need to use other branches until it opens,” said Deborah L. Jacobs, city
librarian. “We’re committed to giving the public superior service. Increasing
the hours at Montlake is another example of that commitment.”
Henry
patrons also can use the nearby Temporary Central Library, 800 Pike Street. The Washington State Convention and Trade Center’s
two garages offer short-term parking at discounted rates for people using the
Temporary Central Library. Library patrons can park for up to two hours for
only $1 an hour under the program.
Construction
began in December on the new $4.8 million Capitol Hill Library, which will
feature a capacity for 40,200 books and materials, more seats, a meeting room,
a 400-square-foot neighborhood service center and parking. The
11,900-square-foot library was designed by Johnston Architects and Cutler
Architects. The contractor is Summit Central Construction Inc.
The new
library is part of the $196.4 million “Libraries for All” bond measure that Seattle
voters passed in 1998. The plan calls for improving or replacing all 22 branch
libraries, building five new branches and building a new central library.
The Seattle Public Library
Foundation is in the midst of a “Campaign for Seattle’s
Public Libraries” with the goal of raising $75 million from private sources to
enhance the public bond commitment. Every dollar raised will ensure the library
system reflects our community’s needs in buildings, books, technology and
people, long into the future. For more information about “Libraries for All” or
the Foundation, visit www.spl.org. For more information, call
Caroline Young Ullmann, communications assistant, at 206-615-1627.
More Library Updates
By Ellen Judson
The Montlake Library
has a new Branch Manager, Miriam Driss, who will be splitting her time between
the Montlake and Madrona branches. She can be reached at miriam.driss@spl.org.
Various other staff
have been added, some from the Henry Library, to cover the longer hours and
increased patronage in light of the temporary closing of the Henry branch. Lynn
Lorenz joins the new staff as the Childrens’ Librarian, with hours on Monday
evenings and varying hours on Tuesdays.
The staff is
particularly excited about the introduction of story times for preschoolers. These
will be held at 10:30am,
Tuesday mornings beginning February 12. Stop by to meet these enthusiastic new
additions to our community!
Justine Kim is now the
Library’s Project Architect for the new Montlake Library, replacing Sue
Partridge (and Alex Harris in the interim) who resigned for health reasons last
year. She can be reached at justine.kim@spl.org.
The architect
selection process for the various new libraries, including Montlake, will begin
later this month. Justine will be coordinating this, and is writing an article
for the February issue of The Montlake Flyer. Updates on the new
programs and staff at the Montlake Library are intended to be included in the
February or March issues of The Montlake Flyer.
Both Miriam and
Justine will be attending the February MCC general meeting to discuss these
developments.
All very exciting!
NOTICES & ANNOUNCEMENTS
Preschool Storytimes at the Montlake Library
By Miriam Driss
Tuesdays at 10:30 am, beginning February
12, join children’s Librarian Lynn Lorenz to hear great stories and to
participate in fun activities. If you have any questions, please call the
library at 684-4720
Neighborhood Appreciation Day
By Christa Dumpys
On Saturday
February 9, 2002, Montlake
Community Center
is hosting a Neighborhood Appreciation Day. Join us in the Tudor building for
our Winter Program Workshop from 1:00
to 5:00pm.
There will be food and opportunities to try out some of Montlake’s Winter
classes. Representatives from our classes such as Hip Hop, Pottery, Karate, and
Yoga will be present. Come and see what we’re doing at Montlake and try out a
new activity for fun! Or just come and munch on some food and see your
neighbors! Montlake
Community Center
is located at 1618 E. Calhoun. Call 684-4736 for information.
Interlaken
Park
Work Party
Cynthia Putnam
Dear Friends of
Interlaken Park, please welcome Kari Olson as the new volunteer coordinator for
Friends of Interlaken Park. Kari lives in the Montlake neighborhood and has
many years of experience in landscape restoration. Her backyard is a designated
wildlife sanctuary and abuts the north side of Interlaken
Park.
We’re delighted to have her expertise and organizational skills to help us with
restoring Interlaken’s
native forest. I will continue to participate in work parties, and take the
lead on working with Earthcorps (our contractor) on a soil amendment and
planting project this winter.
Come Visit Us Online
at montlake.net
Be sure and visit your community home page on
the Web, http://montlake.net, which I dare say is one of
Seattle’s best neighborhood web sites, just as the Flyer you have in your hand
is among the best in its class. The web site has been slightly redesigned with
direct and easy access to the latest Flyer, online forum, and new community
calendar. There are archives of Montlake Flyers for the past two years,
historical articles and photographs, a new aerial view of the neighborhood, and
all sorts of useful regional links, with even more new content coming soon.
Click
on the “Forum” button to join our neighborhood mailing list or browse the
archives. The online Forum provides a way to disseminate important information
on short notice when there isn’t adequate lead time to get it into the Flyer.
It also is a good way to participate in discussing important community issues
especially for the many who don’t have time to show up for all these meetings.
Just click on the bright red button marked “Forum” on the home page and you’re
there. Jonathan Dubman, webmaster, Montlake.net
MCC Letter to Trans-Lake Project
To: Members of the Trans Lake Washington
Advisory Committee, and supporting staff members
From: Jean Leed, Seattle Representative for
Montlake
Date: January
6, 2002
Due to business travel out of town, I am unable
to attend our final meeting on January 9 and am therefore conveying my thoughts
and recommendations by letter. It is my understanding that the questions we
will be asked to comment on are the same ones developed for the Technical
Committee at its final meeting on December 12, 2001, so responses
to them compose the bulk of my letter.
I have served as the
Montlake liaison to the Trans Lake Committee since June 1997. I joined because
I believe this is our region’s last chance for significant changes in the SR
520 corridor (which passes directly through the Montlake neighborhood), and I
want to encourage a long-term view. We won’t have another chance for
significant change in the corridor during our lifetimes.
Based on the resolutions passed by the Community
Club and the comments I have received from Montlake community members during
that period, I can attest that there is a high level of support here for
developing other modes of travel in the SR 520 corridor besides single
occupancy vehicles (SOV’s). Most residents favor reducing dependence on cars,
while recognizing that the long-term economic vitality and mobility in this
region require public investment in alternative modes of travel: transit,
buses, carpooling, bike paths, pedestrian paths, etc.
We are equally
concerned that any such changes preserve (and even improve) the quality of life
we value: enhancing safety and reliability, reducing noise and air pollution,
preserving environmentally sensitive areas, and reunifying communities (such as
our own) which are bifurcated by busy freeways and arterials. Thus, here are my
comments on the options under consideration for the next phase of the Trans
Lake Study.
Transportation Demand Management (TDM):
Reducing demand for roads (through both incentives and penalties) is in the
long run the cheapest and most effective way to address our transportation
needs. The EIS should examine the impact of aggressive Transportation Demand
Management, and also Transportation System Management to make travel safer,
more reliable, and shorter.
High Capacity Transit
(HCT) options:
·
HOV/Bus Rapid Transit lanes: Dedicated
bus and HOV lanes are the next most cost-effective way to move large numbers of
people throughout the region. Currently SR 520 and sections of I-5 through Seattle
are the only two major throughways without continuous dedicated HOV lanes.
However, it is essential that such lanes cannot be converted to general purpose
lanes in response to political pressure (cf. current efforts to strip
I-90 of its dedicated transit lanes). Buses also will congest Seattle
arterials once they exit the freeways. I am therefore doubtful that Bus Rapid
Transit is a long-term “solution”, but it can help in the immediate future.
·
Fixed guideway transit on the 520
corridor or on I-90? I-90 still seems the better corridor for rail transit
through about 2020 (if that right-of-way can be preserved for transit). By
then, however, transit will be needed and viable on both corridors. I am
therefore concerned that the upcoming EIS take into consideration the need to
preserve right-of-way for future transit (probably exiting from the 520
corridor before it reaches Montlake and going toward the University District).
How many lanes of
traffic on SR 520? The current four-lane configuration
would have the least impact on the Montlake area. In any case, there should be
no more than six road lanes on SR 520, two of which should be dedicated to
HOV/bus travel. Any roadway larger than this through residential areas on both
sides of the lake would require more land than is available and would do
irreparable damage to wetlands and other sensitive areas. It would also
increase noise, air pollution, and traffic on streets and arterials beyond the
level they can sustain.
Lids: Lidding could
provide mitigation for past and potential future impacts of SR 520 in Montlake.
There should be further exploration of the possibilities and advantages of
lidding in the land-based areas of the corridor. The lids should be short
enough not to require ventilation tubes, and long enough to allow for
reconnecting neighborhoods through amenities like parks and safe open space.
In sum, these criteria suggest that Options 1
(no change), 2 (four GP lanes, plus bike/ped access), and 3 (four GP and two
HOV lanes, plus bike/ped access) should be carried forward in the EIS. Option 7
(adding an HOV/BRT lane and connections to the current four GP lanes) also
deserves further study, but only if it could be done
within the existing right-of-way. While fixed guideway in the SR 520 corridor
(as contemplated in Option 5) is not needed now (assuming transit is built on
I-90), I encourage further exploration of providing for the future
right-of-way, so that decisions made now do not preclude that possibility
later.
The Montlake Community Club has voted against
further study of a second crossing of the Montlake Cut,
due primarily to environmental concerns and other impacts
on local residents. MCC also supports confining any new facility to the
existing right-of-way. Traffic impacts on Montlake
Boulevard are already beyond
capacity, due largely to traffic bound for or
exiting from SR 520. Therefore we urge further exploration in the EIS of every
possible way to contain and/or mitigate any increase of vehicles on Montlake
Boulevard due to changes in the
SR 520 corridor.
The Montlake community remains deeply interested
in the Trans
Lake
process and will continue to be highly involved throughout the EIS process and
beyond, since any changes in the SR 520 corridor will inevitably impact our
community. We do want to thank the TLW consultants for meeting with our
community on several occasions to discuss our concerns, and hope for continued
cooperation.
MCC TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE
Meeting report
By Jonathan Dubman
Next
meeting: Wednesday, Feb. 20 at 7:30pm, west modular building,
Montlake community center. This is not a formal committee but more of a round
table discussion, and all are most welcome.
The Trans-Lake Washington Project, which hopes
to have settled on a set of alternatives for further study by Jan. 30, plans to
send representatives to the general meeting of the club on Feb. 13. They will
discuss ramp metering, next steps, the EIS process, and upcoming community workshops
in the February-March timeframe, which are expected to focus on interchange
options.
Many in the
neighborhood have been actively lobbying members of the Trans-Lake Executive
Committee with the following objectives: (1) to drop the 8 lane alternatives
from further consideration, (2) to study an alternative that adds HOV lanes but
does not include a tunnel under (or bridge over) the Montlake cut, and (3) to
stay as close as possible to the existing right of way. At the most recent
Transportation Committee meeting on Jan. 16, several people asked what is
objectionable about the notion of this tunnel, which at first glance might be a
good way to solve some the congestion problems on the Montlake
Bridge.
One key concern about a tunnel under the Montlake cut near where MOHAI stands
today has been the fact that the freeway would possibly have to be raised by as
much as 24 feet above its current level in that vicinity in order for this
tunnel to fit underneath. Everything in the tunnel’s path, from the MOHAI
parking lot through where the totem pole stands today, to the tall trees on the
far side of the cut, would have to be dug up and reconstructed. Another,
less-favored alternative, a fixed bridge across the Montlake cut basically
obliterating Marsh Island, would have to be as high as the West Seattle Bridge.
Montlakers have not been arguing that the tunnel should not be studied, but
many feel it is important that the project study at least one alternative for
adding HOV lanes to SR-520 that does not include a “second crossing” of the
Montlake cut. Meetings were scheduled with a number of city councilmembers and
other officials, whom we are hoping will speak out in favor of this reasonable
and constructive stance. See the online Montlake Forum for the latest developments
in this area.
Sound Transit is
currently studying ways to extend the planned Link light rail system from
downtown through the University District to Northgate. (For a link to the
scoping report about this, see the Montlake.net home page.) The Sound Transit
board will select a set of alternatives for further study on February 14. One
of the leading candidates is a bored tunnel under Capitol Hill and Montlake,
with an underground station in the vicinity of the Triangle Parking Garage on
the UW campus. This “South Campus” station would directly serve Husky Stadium
and the medical center, and would be within walking distance to SR-520 and
Montlake. In contrast with the “cut and cover” tunnel proposed by Trans-Lake,
Sound Transit is only considering a bored tunnel under Montlake which is not
expected to require any surface disruption except at the station location on
campus. The EIS will study any environmental effects there may be, as well as
the cost-effectiveness of this route versus other potential tunnels or bridges
closer to I-5.
The project, headed by
Ron Endlich, is interested in establishing a constructive dialogue with
Montlake. The project will send representatives to the MCC Board meeting in the
west modular building at the Montlake Community Center on Feb. 6 at 7:30pm.
Those who are interested in learning more about this project are encouraged to
attend. Sound Transit will return for the general meetings and transportation
committee meetings as appropriate later on.
On a more mundane, but no less important note, I
have heard from many Montlake residents who are concerned about pedestrian
safety and traffic speeding through the neighborhood. There are some city
resources available to deal with this issue, though not a lot. I will be
focusing on speeding and safety more intently in the near future. The least we
can do for now is to set a good example for all by obeying our own speed
limits. The speed limit is only 30 mph on 23rd Avenue but traffic is
regularly doing over 35-40 mph and sometimes much more. Please also pay
attention to your speeds on Lynn and Boyer, watch for bicyclists and remember
we have many young children, a very popular playfield and community center, and
an elementary school in our neighborhood.
NEDC Meeting Report
By Paul Gibson
January 2002: The
Northeast District Council heard a presentation on the expansion of the
Northeast (Wedgewood) Branch of the Seattle public Library. The branch is expected to close in the 4th
quarter of this year and reopen in the 3rd quarter of 2003.
The NEDC decided to
support an appeal by the Wedgewood community to restrain as much as possible
the playfield lighting for new facilities at Sand Point Magnuson Park.
The times they are achanging
Architect Selection Process Begins