Community Leaders Meet with City Reps for Project Start Up

 Thursday, May 19th found four intrepid Montlakers “Ubering” downtown to City Hall’s 4^th floor for a high potential encounter of the third kind. The Montlake Community Club (MCC) Board members were heading for a first-time meeting with City department staff members who’ll provide support for Montlake’s exciting new business district improvement project.

Some Back Story. You first heard about this successful MCC proposal for Department of Neighborhood funds in the hand-delivered January 2016 issue of the Montlake Flyer. Remember that the one-year $25,000 grant will support the creation of a plan to re-imagine the business core—both Downtown (E.Boston to East McGraw) and Uptown (Hwy 520/bridge area)– and its connection to the neighborhood. That plan is the first step in creating a future Montlake that honors its history, while offering a vibrant, welcoming place to live and do business today.

Now Back to the Meeting. Karen Selander, our Department of Neighborhoods Project Manager, opened the May 19 meeting with introductions all around. At the table were, of course, those four intrepids, your MCC Board members who make up the project working team: Kathy Laughman (Project Lead), Bryan Haworth (MCC President), Juan Lopez (MCC Business Community Rep) and Bob DeLay (MCC V.P.). Also at the table, were project consultants from Studio KPG, Paul Fuesel and Elizabeth (Liz) Gibson. Joining to offer assistance on behalf of the City were: Jim Curtin, Community Traffic Safety Coordinator, SDOT; Erin Doherty, Landmarks Preservation Board Coordinator; Lyle Bicknell, Principal Urban Designer, Office of Planning & Development; and Michelle Marx, Urban Design & Complete Streets Strategic Advisor, SDOT.

KPG’s Paul Fuesel guided a lively exchange about challenges, hopes, and potential ideas for Montlake. Everyone recognized the timeliness of the MCC planning project to feed into the Greenways Construction for the 23^rd /24^th Ave corridor. (Montlake area construction on 24^th is part of Phase 3.) The MCC Reps recounted the struggles of our businesses and neighbors facing increased high speed traffic and accidents on 24th; the challenges for old and young pedestrians crossing 24^th Avenue while dodging the traffic and stumbling along deteriorating sidewalks; the continuing parking issues for residents and businesses.

Kathy Laughman and Bryan Haworth described some of the enhancements that seem desirable for Montlake. They mentioned wider sidewalks with trees appropriate to the location; clearly and attractively designated pedestrian crossings; traffic calming changes to the street to reduce the raceway driving mentality; beautification with public art and plantings, attractive signage; and preservation of the historical feel. Kathy Laughman noted, “We want Montlake to be recognized as a place, a real neighborhood where people live and work.”

The City Reps responded to the MCC team with expressions of understanding about the current struggles, and appreciation for the future envisioned. Lyle Bicknell commented on “lots of moving parts and changes” because of UW development plans, the new Link rail station, and continuing Highway 520 construction. The City reps nodded with interest at the improvement ideas the MCC team had in mind. Jim Curtin of SDOT pointed out immediately that the Greenway project was finding early phase success with similar elements. Consultant, Paul Fuesel showed how other neighborhoods in the City and beyond had used those approaches. Bryan Haworth of MCC added, “We don’t need to reinvent the wheel. We just want to roll it into our neighborhood.” The collected City reps were optimistic that a workable plan could be developed, and affirmed their readiness to work with the team to contribute to the success.

Next steps in the project include plenty of communication between the MCC project team and the City representatives through various channels including monthly reporting. Also early on the calendar will be “Robust Outreach” to the Montlake community–but, of course! So, here is what you can expect:

• You’ll be invited to Community meeting(s) in July/ August, planned jointly by the MCC team, KPG consultants, and Greenways project leads.
• You’ll get update articles like this one in the Montlake Flyer and Forum, and possibly some hand-delivered flyers too.
• And, you can always get information by contacting the MCC Project Lead, Kathy Laughman (kathleenlaughman@gmail.com) or the MCC Board President, Bryan Haworth (president@montlake.net).