Seattle Parks and Recreation has some funding to renovate two playgrounds in Ballard next year. One of them is Gilman Park (923 NW 54th St). The City is just beginning outreach and the EBCA and Groundswell NW have already reached out to see what we can do to help spread the word and ensure your voice is heard. The first outreach event will be at the Farmer’s Market Nov 15 from 11am-1pm at Bergen Place. If you can’t make it to this event, you can contact the Parks Planner, Karimah Edwards at karimah.edwards@seattle.gov, 206-233-0063 and complete this online survey.
Author Archives: Dawn
Thank-you for helping us clean up 14th Ave NW
It was blustery and wet the morning of October 24, but that didn’t keep away our 13 rough and tough volunteers who joined together to clean up 14th Ave NW.
Thank-you to our expert trash picker-uppers, Chris, Linda, Karne, Beth Anne, Leon, Peter, Mary, Casey, and Mary Pat!
Thank-you to Will and Lily for cleaning out the storm drains. Will got quite a workout from lifting those grates and Lily’s small hands and fearless attitude got all the leaves and grime cleared away!
And as the rains arrive, the grass has finally turned green and the weeds have gone wild. Thank-you to Shannon, Steph, Ulysses and Sue for getting the Meserole Memorial median and rain gardens under control!
Did you miss out on the all the fun? Be sure to stay tuned to the East Ballard Blog for our next cleanup event in April!
Give Ballard Corners Park some TLC Nov 14
The Friends of Ballard Corners Park invite you to a work party!
Ballard Corners Park Work Party
Saturday November 14 9AM-4PM
17th Ave NW and NW 63rd
rain or shine!
Join your neighbors in weeding, pruning, and cleaning up debris at Ballard Corners park. Some tools and refreshments will be provided. If you have your own gloves and tools please bring them. Any questions, please contact Gabriella: gabriella@seanet.com or (206) 782-3238.
Mapping Historic Ballard: Kick-Off Event on Nov 12
As we mentioned in an earlier post, The Ballard Historical Society is launching the Mapping Historic Ballard: Shingletown to Tomorrow project, thanks to a City of Seattle Department of Neighborhoods grant. The project will update and digitize previous historic resource surveys and conduct a contemporary survey, resulting in an accessible, living map of our neighborhood’s past.
Join the Party
Thursday Nov 12, 2015 at 6:30PM
Ballard Homestead, 6541 Jones Ave NW
Ballard Urban Design and Transportation Open House Nov 18
Over the past ten years, Ballard has seen significant changes from the “sleepy” neighborhood it once was. The area has become denser as it became attractive to younger people and to families with children. At the same time, the job market has changed, but job growth has not kept up with the population growth. The community has overwhelming appreciation for the ability to visit the great variety of shops and restaurants in a beautiful, walkable neighborhood. However, they is also concern that a number of recent high-density projects being built in the area do not contribute to Ballard’s character.
In response to this and Sound Transit’s planning for light rail to Ballard, a Ballard Urban Design and Transportation (UDAT) group was formed to work with the Department of Transportation (SDOT), neighborhood groups, and non-profits, to develop an Urban Design Framework (UDF) and a multimodal transportation plan (Move Ballard). Together they will articulate a shared vision, and strategies that will guide future development and transportation investment while ensuring Ballard’s people and places thrive.
The Ballard UDAT group will be holding an Open House on Nov 18 at Leif Erikson Lodge that the EBCA encourages you to attend to learn what the group has heard from the community and share your comments on draft transportation priorities for all modes in the Ballard Hub Urban Village. Find out about the draft design concepts and evaluation of station locations for potential future high capacity transit. Also, review the draft land use and urban design recommendations.
When: Wednesday, November 18, 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. Presentation at 6:00 p.m.
Where: Leif Erikson Lodge in Ballard. (2245 NW 57th St.).
What is it? A City and Community partnership to create a vision that will guide new development and transportation investments in Ballard. For more information visit the Ballard Urban Design website and SDOT’s Move Ballard website.
Unable to attend? Presentation materials will be available online at the Ballard Urban Design website following the Open House. Review information online and contact the project planners.
Contact Information:
Aditi Kambuj, Planner
(206) 615-1739
aditi.kambuj@seattle.gov
Chris Yake, Planner
(206) 727-8719
christopher.yake@seattle.gov
Mark your calendar for Adopt A Street Cleanup on Sat October 24
Join your neighbors on Saturday October 24 for EBCA’s biannual Adopt A Street Cleanup. We’ve been cleaning up 14th Ave NW since the Fall of 2005 thanks to your help and our incredible volunteers who organize this event. Picking up trash is a lot more fun than it sounds and is something the whole family can do together. This is a great opportunity to make our neighborhood a nicer place to live. Plus you get to wear a brightly colored EBCA logo vest!
Adopt A Street Cleanup along 14th Ave NW
Sat October 24, 10am-1pm
Meet over coffee & breakfast snack donated by The Ballard Market
at Blowing Sands Glass, 5805 14th Ave NW
Tidy up 14th Ave NW & median plantings
Come dressed for the weather
contact eastballard@gmail.com for more information
What should we name our Park?
During Ballard Summer Parkways a few weekends ago, one of our volunteers, Geoff, put out sheets of paper on the cafe’ tables with the simple statement: “NAME THIS PARK”. We got a lot of fun suggestions and thought we’d share. We’ll be continuing to ask you this question throughout the year as the Park on 14th gets closer to breaking ground. Here’s a word cloud of the names you’ve suggested so far.
Mapping Historic Ballard: Shingletown to Tomorrow
 The old trolley line that used to run down the center of 14th Avenue NW in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood. Photo: Seattle Municipal Archives The Ballard Historical Society is launching the Mapping Historic Ballard: Shingletown to Tomorrow project, thanks to a City of Seattle Department of Neighborhoods grant. The project will update and digitize previous historic resource surveys and conduct a contemporary survey, resulting in an accessible, living map of our neighborhood’s past. The public can learn more about the project by attending an event on November 12, 2015 (location to be determined). Also read Ballard News Tribune’s Mapping Historic Ballard To complete the project by June 2016, volunteers are needed to revisit remaining historic buildings. Volunteers will learn about periods and styles of architecture and have the opportunity to contribute to the final product through photography and research. For further information about the project and to learn about volunteer roles please contact archives@ballardhistory.org
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Sign up today to play in Ballard’s first ever Street Scrabble Tournament this Saturday
Come play or watch a life-size Scrabble game on Saturday Oct 10 in Ballard from 4pm-6pm at the intersection of 17th Ave NW and NW Dock Pl! This event will be hosted by Groundswell NW, Ballard Greenways and Seattle Department of Transportation. Learn more about the ‘Pavement to Parks’ project at 17th Ave NW and NW Dock Pl, and help choose a new street design for the space. We also want to hear from you about how this intersection works and how it could be improved.
Sign up today to be in the Scrabble player lottery by emailing streetscrabble@seattle.gov.
Scrabble participants will be determined by lottery. The night of the event, we will draw 16 participants and pair them up into teams. Each game will be 20 minutes. The tournament will have a referee and scorekeeper, and is a single elimination format.
Update on the 14th Ave NW Park
We’re happy to report that the 14th Ave NW Park has reached a new milestone! In City of Seattle terms, it has just reached 90% Complete Street Improvement Plan (SIP). Engineering drawings are now available on the City’s website. When these drawings are approved by Seattle Department of Transportation and once contractors are hired, construction could begin as early as Spring 2016. If all goes well, we may just have a new park by Fall of 2016!
If you’re not an engineering geek and your eyes just glaze over at the site of all those lines in the engineering drawings, then no worries, we sat down with our designers at Mithun and compiled the following overview to help you out…
What’s the park going to look like?
The 14th Ave NW Park is going to be a 2 block linear park that runs along the east side of 14th Ave NW from NW 59th St to NW 61st St. The current sidewalks on the east side (for these 2 blocks) will be replaced with brand new 12′ wide concrete sidewalks that will be wide enough for walking and wheeled activities. The park will include rain gardens that will not only filter stormwater before entering Salmon Bay, but will also provide a buffer between park users and vehicle traffic. Vehicle traffic will run side by side on the west side (no longer separated by a median) between NW 59th and NW 61st.
How are cars going to be diverted at NW 59th and NW 61st going north?
Speed limit on 14th Ave NW between Market and NW 65th will drop down to 20 mph (today, it’s 30 mph). This significant drop in speed will allow for vehicle transition to be done at stop signs. There will most likely be a 4-way stop at NW 59th and another at NW 61st. If you are traveling north, you will stop at NW 59th, transition diagonally to the west alongside south bound vehicles and then stop again at NW 61st where you’ll transition back to the east side with vehicles separated by a median again. If you’re traveling south, you’ll stay in the same lane along 14th and will stop at NW 61st and NW 59th.
What about lighting?
Pedestrian scale lighting, will be provided along the 2 block park that should provide adequate lighting of the walkway without affecting neighboring homes. The existing street-scale lighting will remain as well. It’s not clear what’s going to happen with the light between NW 59th and 60th that’s strung in the middle of the median. We’re pretty sure that’ll get replaced with pedestrian-scale lighting.
What’s going on at the NW 60th intersection?
The intersection at NW 60th will have a 4-way stop and will be raised to sidewalk level so that people driving across the intersection will encounter a bump up when approaching and a bump down when leaving. People walking or biking along the sidewalk through the intersection (north/south) will not experience an elevation change. There will also be bollards on the north and south sections of the intersection on the park side to provide a buffer from vehicles.
What about the trees?
Some existing trees will be removed and replaced with a mixture of larger and smaller trees where it makes sense. The significantly large tree near NW 59th on the east side will remain in place and accommodations will be made for its root system in the new sidewalk design.
Will there be play structures?
Not at this stage of the project. There will be a few grassy mounds to play/roll around on, plus the rain gardens will be accessible for learning and play. There will be grass space for lawn games as well. Once the park is complete and the community has played in it for a while AND there’s a strong interest for structured play equipment, this could be added at a later time.
What about an offleash dog park?
Sorry, no offleashing in this park. It’s really not big enough. You and your leashed dog will be more than welcome to enjoy the park!
What’s next?
The latest permit drawings have to get approved by Seattle Department of Transportation. When they get approved, we’ll be at 100% SIP and the Parks Department will have the authority to go out for bid to contractors, which will hopefully be this Spring. Construction could start as early as Spring 2016 and the park could be complete by end of Fall. We’ll keep you posted as we learn more!
Additional information about this park project and how to get in touch with our Parks Project manager can be found on the Parks Department website. You’re also welcome to contact us at the EBCA and we’ll do our best to get you the info you’re looking for.