Spring Clean is Seattle’s premier clean-up event designed to foster neighborhood pride and ownership through coordinated clean ups, street and alley sweeping, graffiti removal and neighborhood beautification activities sponsored by Seattle Public Utilities. On April 30th, join your neighbors for West Woodland’s annual Spring Clean on NW 65th Street. Meet at Cafe Bambino, 405 NW 65th Street, […]
via NW 65th Street ‘Spring Clean’ Event on April 30th — West Woodland Neighbors
The Happy Ballard Windermere Family
A big thank-you to Windermere Ballard for saving up Ballard Market receipts for the EBCA! That big envelope of receipts you delivered to us the other day will result in a $245 donation from the Ballard Market as part of their 1% giving back to the community program!
Collecting receipts where you work is a great example of how you can make a really big impact on the East Ballard Community! These funds will help us pay for upcoming community events, pay for watering/weeding of the median planters along 14th Ave NW and amenities for the future park.
So, keep those Ballard market receipts coming in!
Here’s how you can participate:
It’s that easy! Start saving today to make a difference tomorrow!
Happy Birthday Ballard Market!
The Friends of Ballard Corners Park invite you to a work party!
Ballard Corners Park Work Party
Saturday April 9 9AM-3PM
17th Ave NW and NW 63rd
rain or shine!
Join your neighbors in weeding, spreading wood chip mulch and cleaning up debris at Ballard Corners park this Saturday. If you have your own gloves and tools please bring them. Any questions, please contact Gabriella: gabriella@seanet.com or (206) 782-3238.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Do you have an idea for a transportation project in your community?
The Neighborhood Street Fund (NSF) program pays for transportation projects identified and prioritized by the community. Projects range from crossing improvements to creating unique public spaces. Learn about past projects.
What kinds of projects can be submitted?
Projects qualify if they meet the following criteria:
Projects that change the number of lanes on a roadway or propose a change to traffic control (stop signs or traffic signals) must also be evaluated by SDOT for feasibility.
How can I learn more?
Please visit our Frequently Asked Questions page for more details about the application process. SDOT staff will be attending District Council meetings in March to discuss the program. We encourage potential applicants to attend one of these meetings and to work with members of their District Council to develop their proposals. Once we confirm these and additional meetings, we’ll add them to our Upcoming Meetings page.
How are projects funded?
In November 2015, Seattle voters passed the Levy to Move Seattle. The 9-year, $930 million levy provides funding to improve safety for all travelers, maintain our streets and bridges, and invest in reliable, affordable travel options for a growing city.
The levy includes $24M to continue the Neighborhood Street Fund program over the next 9 years. Before 2016, funds for this program came from the Bridging the Gap (BTG) transportation levy, passed by voters in November 2006.
What’s the timeline from start to finish?
The NSF program will have three 3 year cycles to select, design, and build projects. The schedule for the first of these cycles is as follows:
| February 23, 2016 | Neighborhood Street Fund (NSF) call for applications |
| March 2016 | Briefings for Neighborhood District Councils on NSF Program |
| April 17, 2016 | Deadline for submitting NSF Proposals to SDOT |
| May 2016 | Screening of proposals by SDOT and selection of 5 projects by each of the 13 Neighborhood District Councils for further evaluation |
| June – August 2016 | SDOT conducts a high level design & cost estimate of the 65 projects selected by the neighborhood District Councils. |
| September 2016 | Each Neighborhood District Council prioritizes its own list of projects. |
| September – October 2016 | The Move Seattle Citizen Oversight Committee evaluates all proposed projects and makes funding recommendations to the Mayor & City Council. |
| November 2016 | 2017 Budget adopted |
| 2017 | SDOT designs projects |
| 2018 | SDOT builds projects |
Questions?
If you have questions, additional translated material, or need help with accessing the application, please contact us at NSF@seattle.gov or 206-733-9361.
We are encouraged to share the following email message from Jesús Aguirre, our new Superintendent of Seattle Parks and Recreation, that was sent to a few members of the EBCA who had written to him and City Council asking for their support in ensuring that the 14th Ave NW Park doesn’t suffer from any more setbacks. Councilmembers Mike O’Brien and Debora Juarez have also pledged their support for the park. We appreciate the support and are looking forward to working more with the City as this project moves toward completion. If you’re interested in seeing the latest engineering drawings, click here.
From: Aguirre, Jesús
Sent: Thursday, March 24, 2016 7:42 AM
Subject: Re: 14th Ave NW Park – Where’s the green?
An update from our Planning and Development Division:
Plans for the new Park are currently going through the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) Street Use Street Improvement Permit, or SIP process, for approval since the new Park is in Street Right of Way. We have resubmitted corrections to our 90% plans on March 11 and are now waiting for SDOT to complete its normal review correction cycle. They have indicated to us that internal comments will be due by 3/31/16 and are planning to turn them around for correction consideration as soon as possible after the due date.
Once this review cycle is completed we make any necessary corrections required to obtain the SIP permit. We will then proceed directly to preparing the final bid documents for review by City Contracting, then advertisement for bid, bid opening, award contract, preconstruction meeting and notice to proceed . Once the SIP permit is received we expect the remaining tasks to take approximately five months before construction actually begins. We expect to receive the SIP permit in April which would result in a construction start in early September 2016.
Seattle Parks and Recreation is committed to this project and is very excited about adding open space in the Ballard neighborhood.
Thank you!
Jesús Aguirre
Superintendent
Seattle Parks and Recreation
206-684-8022
www.seattle.gov/parks
Thank you neighbors for your thoughtful contributions for naming the 14th Ave NW park. We’ve put together a word cloud above that shows the combined suggestions collected from last September’s Ballard Summer Parkways event and from your recent recommendations via our Facebook page and email. The larger names in the graphic reflect repeated suggestions (or likes). Here’s a complete list of the suggested names as originally submitted.
According to the criteria set by the City, naming the park should take into consideration geographical location, historical or cultural significance, distinctive natural or geological features, and should not be named after someone still living. Looking through the list, there seem to be a few themes that bubble up based on the criteria:
Suggestions that are historically and geographically significant for East Ballard
The Trolley Line , Trolley Park, Trolley 27 Park or The Park @ Trolley 27
Naming the park after the #27 Trolley that used to run along 14th Ave NW from Salmon Bay up to NW 70th would be historically and geographically significant. The tracks used to run up the middle of the street, where the medians are today. The long term vision for this park is to run the full mile from Ballard High School to Salmon Bay, like the Trolley Line did. Check out Vintage West Woodland’s recent article about the #27 Trolley here.
Augusta Gay Boulevard Park
There used to be a majestic red farmhouse that stood on the SE corner of NW 60th and 14th Ave NW for 98 years. It was the home and office of former real-estate and insurance agent, Augusta Gay. In 2002, this home was moved to a location further east on NW 60th and replaced with the town homes that are there today. Many people in the neighborhood refer to this home by the women’s name (The Augusta Gay House). Naming the park after Augusta Gay would be historically and geographically significant, and named after someone significant to the neighborhood who is no longer living. Here’s a link to a 2002 article about moving the house, a pic of the house today and what the neighborhood map looked like in 1904 (14th was Railroad Ave and NW 60th was E. Baker St).
Suggestions that are historically and culturally significant to Ballard, but maybe not to East Ballard
Edith Macefield Park
Edith Macefield was a real estate holdout when the Ballard Blocks were developed along 14th Ave NW south of Leary. She was a very strong lady who gathered the support of her community and brought people together by the common goal of doing what was right. They built around her but didn’t break her spirit.
Charles Treat Park
Charles Treat was the first Mayor of Ballard before the city became a part of Seattle (due to the need for fresh water). It seems a “treat” to have a new park in Ballard.
Shilshole Park
Named in honor the first settlers of this area, The Duwamish Tribe, who lived off the plentiful salmon and clams in the region. Shilshole is Duwamish for “Threading the Needle”.
Leaf-Air-N-Sun Park
A play on Leif Erikson, an Icelandic explorer considered by some as the first European to land in North America. Leif is a very well known historical figure in Ballard and a symbol of the strong Nordic Heritage in this community.
Hyggelig Park
In keeping with Ballard’s Norwegian heritage, hygge or hyggelig means the good feeling of spending time with family and friends. Shared time that warms the soul. This suggestion was submitted by a neighbor who lives close to the new park whose family is from Norway and she’s lived in Ballard for over 45 years.
It’s been fun learning more about the history of our neighborhood and to see some excitement growing about the park. We will be sharing this information with the Parks Department this week and will continue to report back as we learn more!
photo courtesy of Seattle Times
In response to the explosion at 85th and Greenwood yesterday, the Phinney Neighborhood Association and the PNA Business Advisory Group have come together to create an action plan. They are in contact with the City and various community members and are consolidating information as they know more. We are grateful to be part of a community that quickly steps up to help.
You can make a tax-deductible donation to the fund for those affected by the explosion here. 100% of the money raised by the PNA will go directly to relief efforts.
Checks can be made out to Phinney Neighborhood Association with “Greenwood disaster relief” in the memo and sent to:
PNA – Greenwood Relief Fund
6532 Phinney Ave N.
Seattle, WA 98103
There are also several fundraising events starting today and through the next week that we invite you to participate to show your support for our neighbors. A complete list of activities and opportunities to volunteer are being kept up to date on the Phinney Neighborhood Center site, here. Some of these activities are right here in Ballard:
Lucky Envelope Brewing will be donating $1 from all full pours and $2 of all growler fills to the fund on Thursday, March 10 (3-9 pm), and will be accepting monetary donations for the fund for the next week.
Populuxe Brewing and Stoup Brewing will be donating $1 per pint to support relief efforts.
Domanico Cellars will be donating $1 for each glass and bottle they sell to help out the business that were affected.
It’s been quiet again on the 14th Ave NW Park front, but we did get some encouraging updates from the Parks Dept. this week that the Street Improvement Process (SIP) has started moving forward again and submittal for final approval to Seattle Dept. of Transportation should happen in 3-4 weeks. It will most likely be another 4 months after that before SDOT approves the design and allows permitting, which by this phase, should go more smoothly than in the past. At this pace, we’re looking at hopefully breaking ground near the end of this year (fingers crossed). In the meantime, the Parks Dept. feels confident enough that this Park is going to happen, that they’re ready to start taking names…for the Park that is!
What should we name the the Park?
Late last week, the Parks Dept issued a news release providing the opportunity for the public to submit a name for the 14th Ave NW Park. The EBCA plans to formally submit name suggestions before the March 31 deadline and would like to hear directly from you, our neighbors, what you’d like to name the Park. We encourage you to share your name suggestion on the EBCA Facebook page comments for this post with a short description of why you think it should have that name. If you like a name someone else suggests, than indicate that by ‘liking’ the comment. You can also email us and we’ll post the suggestion for you. We’ll keep you updated on the naming progress throughout the month!
Need some inspiration?
We asked at Ballard Summer Parkways in September what you’d like to name the Park and below is what we collected to help you get the ideas flowing. Please note that the City’s selection committee will be following some specific naming criteria which includes names referencing geographical location, historical or cultural significance, and natural or geological features. A park may be named for a person no longer living (deceased a minimum of three years) who made a significant contribution to parks and/or recreation.
We’ll keep you posted on the results and if you’d prefer to send your name suggestion directly to the City, here’s the contact info:
Paula Hoff
paula.hoff@seattle.gov or by mail to:
Seattle Parks and Recreation
Parks Naming Committee
100 Dexter Ave N
Seattle, WA, 98109
