The final Public meeting for the Arboretum’s planned multi-use trail will be held on February 27, from 6:30 to 7:45 p.m. at the Graham Visitors Center, and all Montlakers interested in street safety should attend.
Seattle Parks and Recreation will present details of the new multi-use trail, running parallel to Lake Washington Blvd from Madison all the way north to Foster Island Rd.
This is the final public meeting and it is important that Montlakers be present to offer comments directly to city officials.
Montlake Neighborhood Greenways is supportive of this trail, as it represents a positive effort to improve access to the Arboretum by people of all ages and abilities whether on foot, bicycle, wheel chair or stroller. Montlakers will benefit from its creation and we applaud the work done by the Parks and Recreation, the Arboretum Foundation and the UW.
However, we think that the city and WSDOT have not fully thought through the impact of the SR520 construction. In fact, while the Arboretum Multi-Use path is funded with SR520 mitigation funds from WSDOT, the city doesn’t seem to realize that Montlake needs other mitigations as well.
Safe access to parks is important to us as is reducing aggressive cut-through traffic on residential streets, but the current plans lead us to believe that it will in fact deteriorate. Since traffic will be redirected from the Arboretum ramp to 24th Ave E. and Montlake blvd, we should expect 24th Ave E. to become busier than it is today. In fact, WSDOT’s projections speak for themselves: 24th Ave E. southbound peak hour traffic will initially increase 7% after WBAN’s construction, to top out at a total increase of 76.5% once SR520 is rebuilt through Montlake, while the northbound traffic will increase a whopping 83%.The projections for evening peak hour traffic increase are not quite as dire but still top out at 47.6% southbound and 75.5% northbound. Anyone who witnesses the almost daily 5 to 6PM traffic jam stretching from E. Newton to SR520 can attest that something needs to be done. We could clearly use some SR520 funds to improve the crossing of 24th Ave E. to reach the Arboretum all through the Montlake Corridor.
SR520 mitigations have worked out well for the Arboretum and access within the Arboretum, but have clearly not helped with access to the Arboretum. We need Parks and Recreation to take this message to the city and work with us to improve our pedestrian crossings at several intersections. Here are three examples:
– 24th Ave E. and Interlaken Blvd: this is the main access point for cyclists, joggers and people enjoying a nature walk in the heart of the city. Yet, no plan exists to allow safer crossing of 24th Ave E. at Interlaken Blvd. In fact, one of the original boulevards’ intersection, designed for coaches, bicycles and pedestrian has been neglected for years.
– Boyer Ave and 24th Ave E.: the intersection is quite intimidating. There are no bulb-outs or other protection from traffic and while on a route to school and parks, it remains a very threatening place to wait for an eventual crossing.
– E. Lynn and 24th: Montlakers who live west of 24th Ave E. and south of E.McGraw prefer this access point to the Tot Lot and the Arboretum. But, it is not protected in any way.
We hope that the Feb 27 meeting will be well attended by Montlakers. It is important that our concerns be heard. We should also express our support for the Multi-Use trail as it is a welcomed improvement to the Arboretum.
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