Can you guess who is who and which one has been away from home? More in this week’s post on:
Larry
Cutter and Bay
A message from SDOT: 23rd Ave E Vision Zero Project
| Thank you to everyone who attended our presentation at the Montlake Community Club board meeting on June 11. We presented the proposed design for Segment 2 and gathered feedback. Based on community interest, we are planning site visits with community representatives to the four intersections included in the design to better understand concerns. (Editors note: SDOT has not yet shown up for the planned site visits with our community representatives). We heard interest in the following design elements: A protected left-turn for southbound traffic on 23rd Ave E for vehicles turning left onto eastbound E John St. Enhanced safety and access for people crossing at 23rd Ave E and E Aloha St. Fixed, hard barriers instead of “tough posts” (the flexible white posts) at 23rd Ave E/E Ward St and 23rd Ave E/E Louisa St. Enhanced safety and access for people crossing 23rd Ave E and E Lynn St. We will continue to work with our project team to review design and incorporate community feedback where possible. Project Overview We are now in Segment 2 design which includes crossing and transit stop improvements to enhance safety, calm traffic, and reduce speeds. This is part of our Vision Zero program, which aims to end traffic deaths and serious injury by 2030. The current design includes: |
24th Ave E/E Lynn St:
24th Ave E/E Louisa St:
23rd Ave E/E Ward St:
23rd Ave E/E John St:
| Over the next few months, we will continue to refine design and make updates where possible. We are also working with our partners at King County to identify and confirm transit stop improvements throughout the corridor. We expect to hit our 60% design milestone as soon as early September. We will share design updates through our project webpage. Here are some ways to get more information about the project: Email the project team at 23rdAveCorridor3@seattle.gov Leave a voicemail at (206) 900-8717. A project representative will return your call. Visit the project webpage: http://www.seattle.gov/visionzero/projects/23rd-ave-ePlease share with your neighbors and sign up for our project listserv to receive project updates and learn about future public involvement opportunities. |
The Mystery in the Marsh
This week’s post is all about the Marsh Wren and its most mysterious marking. Take a look and please leave a comment if you think of a solution to the mystery.
Have a great day on Union Bay…where nature lives in the city!
Larry
Aquatic weed management in Portage Bay
South Portage Bay will be treated with aquatic herbicide on or between July 24th and 25th, and August 8th and 14th, 2019. Signs will be posted in the affected areas no more than 48 hours prior to treatment.
Traffic calming measures
In 2017, the city and the Washington State Department of Transportation developed the Montlake Neighborhood Traffic Management Plan. A process to request traffic calming measures is in place. To ask questions or to request traffic calming measures email Montlake.traffic@seattle.gov. Below are the investments being made this summer and fall as a result of community requests. A third request cycle will happen late 2019/early 2020.
Rama – The Young Osprey
This week’s post features two osprey with broken branches. The first is just a few weeks old and the other may be its grandfather. Read the story at:
Also, consider this a personal invitation to attend the Monday meeting with Friends of Arboretum Creek. Come, speak up and help restore our local stream.
Larry
Hope’s Challenge
Will Hope and Stewart be able to defend their young from our local Bald Eagles? My best answers in this week’s post on:
By the way, do not overlook the invitation to attend the first Friends of Arboretum Creek community meeting (toward the end of the post). Your help could make all the difference for our local habitat!
Have a great day on Union Bay...where nature lives in the city!
Larry
Montlake 4th of July Annual Family Parade
The Montlake Family Co-op annual Fourth of July Montlake Parade is this week!
Date: Thursday, July 4th
Time: 10:00am
Location: Montlake Community Center
Details:
10:00 am – Come to the Montlake Community Center to decorate your bike, trike, stroller, or simply yourself!
10:30 am – Join the parade! We’ll march around the block!
11:00 am – Fire truck visit (pending no emergencies)
Immediately following the parade, join your neighbors for a popsicle and a pack-your-own picnic.
We still need volunteer support for the parade, specifically:
- Set-up of the decorations area (9:45-10:30)
- Parade route guides and Statue of Liberty volunteer (10-10:45)
Please contact Jessica Atlakson at jatlakson@gmail.com if you’re interested in volunteering.
We look forward to seeing you there!
The Challenges of Youth
Is this an adult American Crow or a young bird? Parents sometimes defend their young so it might be helpful to know which is which. Learn more on:
Have a great day on Union Bay…where nature lives in the city!
Larry
Montlake Has a New Mural
A 4th and 5th grade teacher at Montlake Elementary has livened up the school with a mural that showcases neighborhood landmarks like the Montlake Bridge and Café Lago.
When she toured Montlake after accepting a teaching position for fall 2017, Emily Gussin noticed a big blank wall in the school’s covered outdoor playcourt near Calhoun Street. “I immediately asked if the school had ever thought about putting art there, and asked if I could do it,” Ms. Gussin told the Montlake Flyer.
Ms. Gussin, who has a history of making positive graffiti art, was the right person to enhance the space. Before she began teaching, Ms. Gussin travelled worldwide with Few and Far, a group of female artists creating graffiti art for productive, not destructive uses. With this artist’s collective, Ms. Gussin traveled to Israel, among other places, to create a graffiti mural in a 6’ x 6’ bomb shelter at a daycare.
Ms. Gussin is a Seattle native and Ballard High School alum, and her time with Few and Far led her to teach in the district she graduated from. Her father, Hamilton Middle School math teacher Jordan Gussin, suggested she help teach after school graffiti art classes at his school. Ms. Gussin eventually led the classes and got hooked on teaching. After getting her master’s degree in teaching, Ms. Gussin was hired at Montlake, where she is loved by her students for her creativity and enthusiasm.
A special outcome of the mural, Ms. Gussin noted, is that her students have come to see her as a whole person with creative interests that go beyond teaching. “The kids had no idea that I had this interest before,” she said. Two students at the school have since become passionate creators of positive graffiti-style artwork.
Montlake is a historically landmarked building. For the mural’s creation, school principal Julie Pearson secured permission from the school district’s department of self-help. Although in her first year at the school, Ms. Pearson eagerly took on the challenge. “It was obvious to me when I first arrived that something needed to happen with that blank wall and it was fun to collaborate with Emily to make it work.”
Jennifer Lundgren, Montlake’s art teacher and past recipient of the Washington Art Education Association Elementary Education of the Year Award, plans to work with students to add designs at the bottom of the mural.
The mural now memorializes a piece of Montlake history: it features the “Hop-In” alongside other neighborhood landmarks. The Hop-In, now called the Montlake Boulevard Market, is slated for destruction by the Washington State Department of Transportation.
