Dec

12

Make Sure the Tunnel Process Protects Pioneer Square

Filed Under Cities, Environment, Transportation | 1 Comment

The following is a post from Cheryl dos Remedios,  an artist/advocate and member of the Great City Board. Any opinions expressed here are Cheryl’s, and do not represent Great City. As an organization, Great City has not taken a position on the tunnel, nor do we plan to since that space in our civic dialogue is already well represented. If anyone would like to post any commentary on the tunnel process–regardless of your position–we are happy to make this blog available to you as we believe that honest, fact-based dialogue is important to a strong city. If you would like to contact Cheryl directly, her email address is: cheryldosremedios@gmail.com.

Constructing a tunnel on Seattle’s waterfront will permanently alter the historic character of Pioneer Square. Whether you are pro-tunnel* or anti-tunnel, here is some information that might be new to you:

· The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) has identified 13 buildings with historic significance that may be damaged during construction, including several that have direct ties to the Seattle arts community (see list below). This project is incredibly risky. Why? Because this would be the biggest bored tunnel ever.

· Many Seattleites are dreaming of an open waterfront. Please know that the same 4-lane road is being planned along the waterfront with –or- without the tunnel. In fact, the tunnel generates more traffic on the waterfront than the surface street/ transit/I-5 option (that’s the option that the citizen advisory group recommended 2 years ago in consultation with WSDOT before Gregoire, Nickels and Sims pulled plans for a bored tunnel out of a back room)

· The tunnel will more than double traffic in Pioneer Square because there are no exits into downtown. The traffic numbers are 50,000 a day at the southern interchange without tolling, with an additional 40,000 autos once tolls kick in. Currently, autos can exit on and off the viaduct at Seneca, Columbia, Elliot and Western. But once the tunnel is built, Pioneer Square becomes the south portal in-and-out of downtown. Many people will drive through Pioneer Square just to avoid tolls.

· For over a year, WSDOT has been aware that the volume of traffic in Pioneer Square “would not be acceptable” but offers no alternatives. The amount of traffic – combined with the scale of the interchange itself – would permanently alter the character of this historic district. In addition to the giant portal, likely changes include constant streams of traffic on previously quiet streets, no street parking, elimination and damage to trees, damage to buildings from traffic vibration, etc.

· My favorite oxymoron is “value engineering.” This is what happens when the State runs out of money and all of the promises they made regarding aesthetics and other culturally important values get cut. All that’s left is the mega-engineering. This project has a high likelihood of being “value engineered.”

What to do?

There are a handful of historic preservationists who are diligently responding to the Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (S-DEIS), but your stories are equally important.

Why do you care about Pioneer Square?

WSDOT and the mayor, SDOT, and the City Council members** need to hear from you. Please write today. Your letter can be as short as “Protect Pioneer Square” or as long as you’d like. Both types of messages are needed.

If you can get your comments in during the public comment period for the SDEIS – that would be great. The deadline of Monday, December 13, 2010 is looming. If this date passes – yet this is the first time you’ve heard about the threat to Pioneer Square – just note that fact in your email.

Want to do more?
Please share this information with other artists, musicians, architects, landscape architects, gallery owners, club owners, theater people, film makers, historic preservationists, etc.

Thanks so very much for your help in getting the word out!
Cheryl dos Remedios
cheryldosremedios@gmail.com

Cheryl dos Remedios is an artist/advocate and member of the Great City Board. Great City has not taken a position on the tunnel.

____________________________________________
* If you are pro-tunnel, I’m betting that the tunnel WSDOT has designed is not what you have in mind. Please engage in this process so that we can get a better design at a lower risk.

** If the link doesn’t work, please cut-and-paste these addresses into your email:
awv2010SDEIScomments@wsdot.wa.gov, peter.hahn@seattle.gov, mike.mcginn@seattle.gov, richard.conlin@seattle.gov, sally.bagshaw@seattle.gov, tim.burgess@seattle.gov, sally.clark@seattle.gov, jean.godden@seattle.gov, nick.licata@seattle.gov, bruce.harrell@seattle.gov

Buildings at Risk:
At least twelve buildings that are located within the Pioneer Square Historic District or listed on the National Register for Historic Places may be damaged during tunnel construction:

1 Yesler Building — 1 Yesler Way
Maritime Building — 911 Western Ave
Federal Building — 900 First Ave
National Building — 1000 Western Ave
Alexis Hotel/ Globe Building — 1001 First Ave
Arlington South/ Beebe Building — 1015 First Ave
Arlington North/ Hotel Cecil — 1015 First Ave
Grand Pacific Hotel — 1115 First Ave
Colonial Hotel — 1123 First Ave
Two Bells Tavern — 2313 Fourth Ave
Fire Station #2 — 2334 Fourth Ave
Seattle Housing Authority — 120 Sixth Ave N.

One additional building that is a Seattle landmark but not listed in the NRHP:
Watermark / Colman Building — 1107 First Ave.

The 2 buildings most likely to experience damage (and be torn down):
Polson Building at 61 Columbia
Western Building at 619 Western

Here’s what the Western Building website has to say:
“The Art Building of Seattle – Celebrating 100 years! More than one hundred artists work from studios in this six story building. 619 Western is one of the largest artist studio enclaves on the west coast if not the world. It has been a workspace for artists since 1979.”

And what does the S-DEIS have to say about the Western Building? “Mitigation measures to protect the building may not prevent the need for demolition to avoid the possibility of collapse.”

Oct

18

Green Infrastructure: Hero of Budget and Earth

Filed Under Cities, Conservation, Design, Development, Environment, SDOT, Seattle, South Lake Union, Streets For People, Sustainability, Transportation, Utilities | Leave a Comment

Even though we won’t win a free trip to Portland for saying this, you should really be reading Sightline Daily. We like the regional round up of sustainability topics they find from all over the region, like this from the Tyee:

Road and stormwater infrastructure often destroys the ecological function of the land that supports it and burdens home buyers and taxpayers through its cost to install, maintain and replace. Since the end of the Second World War, the per dwelling unit cost for providing, maintaining and replacing infrastructure (defined here as the physical means for moving people, goods, energy and liquids through the city) has increased by nearly 400 per cent according to some estimates.

Most of this per capita increase has been the consequence of ever more demanding engineering standards for residential roads, coupled with the gradual increase in per capita land demand over the decades (or at least until the year 2000), a consequence of universally applied sprawl patterns throughout the United States and Canada.

The first costs of these ever more odious engineering standards and ever more exclusive zoning regulations were often invisible to the taxpayer, buried as they were within the costs of the original home purchase. More…

Jun

1

Capitol Hill Community Council’s Complete Streetcar Campaign

Filed Under Bicycling, Capitol Hill, Design, Environment, Gas prices, Parking, Pedestrians, SDOT, Seattle, Streets For People, Transit, Transportation, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Great City volunteers and sustainable transportation advocates on Capitol Hill have been conspiring and brainstorming together for years.  We’ve been thrilled to see the great traction our friends on the Capitol Hill Community Council (CHCC) are getting with their innovative “Complete Streetcar” concept.  Here’s an update from the CHCC’s Mike Kent:

On Tuesday, May 4th, more than 50 transit advocates and active community members joined the Capitol Hill Community Council’s Complete Streetcar Campaign at Capitol Hill’s Sole Repair lounge in celebrating the group’s recent successes.

Million Dollar Nile regaled Capitol Hill Complete Streetcar fans with the world premiere performance of "My Streetcar's on Broadway" -- a twist on the Sir Mix-a-Lot classic.

The day before, the Seattle City Council voted into law legislation that brought the proposed First Hill Streetcar closer to completion.

Complete Streetcar Campaign supporter Web Crowell created the animations which ran on a loop throughout the event on Sole Repair’s flatscreen monitors throughout the night


The party honored the group’s success in advocating for an alignment that would run in both directions along Broadway north of Union Street, instead of looping around Cal Anderson park.

The group’s next steps include calling for an extension of the proposed streetcar route beyond Denny Way to the northern end of Broadway near East Aloha Street, as was originally envisioned, and pushing for a streetscape plan that includes, among other things, a separated two-way cycle track.

If you are interested in becoming active with the Complete Streetcar Campaign, send an e-mail to chcc.streetcar@gmail.com.

Aug

20

This Weekend — aLIVe: a Low Impact Vehicle exhibit

Filed Under Bicycling, Environment, Gas prices, Great City, Neighborhoods, Public Art, Streets For People, Sustainability, Transit, Transportation | Leave a Comment

Saturday 10am-3:30pm
Seward Park, 5895 Lake Washington Blvd. S, Seattle, WA 98118

Attendees are encouraged to use less environmentally harmful transportation choices to arrive at the event such as transit, carpools, vanpools, bicycling and walking. Parking will be limited.

aLIVe

Please join us for a Great City event that promises to re-energize how we think about our transportation system. On Saturday, August 22nd a Low Impact Vehicle exhibition (aLIVe) will be at Seward Park from 10am – 3:30pm.

The term “low impact” has a dual meaning describing both the impact of a vehicle on a pedestrian, as well as the environmental impact. The implementation of low impact vehicles would generate a huge range of public benefits, including increased mobility for transit and freight.

A bicycle is a low impact vehicle, but what else can we imagine? Great City board member and artist Cheryl dos Remedios artists, inventors and community members to imagine a transportation system designed around the human body. Everything from poetry to prototypes will be on display!

Artists/Inventors:

Vaughn Bell, Susanna Bluhm, Clair Colquitt, Nicole Kistler, Joseph Kochanowski, Brian McAllister, meadow starts with p, Lucas Spivey, Peter Reiquam and Kristin Tollefson

Activities:

  • Sustainable Ballard’s Undriver Licensing Station
  • SvR Design’s DIY LIV table and Haiku Project
  • People’s Choice Awards

Performances:

  • Opening Ceremony by T’ilibshudub, 10:30am
  • Barefoot in the Park by Alex Martin, 1:00pm

Sponsors:

4Culture, Cascade Bicycle,greenmuseum.org, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, Seattle Parks & Recreation, Anne McDuffie and SvR Design, in conjunction with “Healthy Parks/Healthy You”

Brought to you by Great City
Organized by Cheryl dos Remédios

Participate at http://seattlegreatcitynetwork.ning.com/group/alive

Event Press
Event Podcast

Weekend of Eco-Art activities in Seattle

August 22 and 23 is a great weekend to vacation in Seattle. There are several exciting grass roots events that promise to be both fun and meaningful. Start with aLIVe on Saturday morning. Join the Rainier Valley Sustainable Garden Tour. Then hook-up with the Bicycle Music Festival in the late afternoon or evening. Attend Arts-In-Nature at Camp Long on Sunday.

Rainier Valley Sustainable Garden Tour

Saturday 10am-4pm
www.rainiervalleygardentour.org

Bicycle Music Festival / Seattle

Saturday 10am-11pm
Various Seattle locations, including:

  • 10am at Waterfront Park, 1300 Alaskan Way
  • 3pm at Denny Park, 100 Dexter Ave N.
  • 7pm at the Seattle Center Mural Amphitheater, Seattle Center, 305 Harrison Street

www.seattlebicyclemusicfestival.com

2009 Arts in Nature Festival

Saturday 11am-9pm and Sunday 11am-6pm
Camp Long, 5200 35th Ave. SW at SW Dawson St, Seattle, WA 98126
Suggested donation: $5 per person
www.naturec.org/festival

Transit: For Camp Long: Metro bus #21, Click here for a map of Camp Long and vicinity.

Questions?

Questions are welcomed! Please contact Cheryl dos Remédios, exhibition organizer atcheryldosremedios@gmail.com. This is a volunteer position, so please anticipate a response within 1-3 business days.

Jul

30

Want 600 miles of new bike facilities?

Filed Under Bicycling, Environment, Pedestrians, Politics, Streets For People, Sustainability, Transit, Transportation | 1 Comment

We have a tremendous opportunity to support a more bike-friendly future- please submit your comments by Friday to make the right choice for our region.

The Puget Sound Regional Council is updating the current regional transportation plan. Five alternatives have been analyzed, and the choice made will greatly impact how we plan our communities and get around. (You can read the draft environmental impact statement of Transportation 2040 here.)

Out of five alternatives:

- Only Alternative Five makes significant reductions in all harmful pollutants measured.

- Only Alternative Five comes close to meeting the goals established in state law for reducing vehicle miles traveled.

- Only Alternative Five makes significant investments in bicycling for transportation. It would use only one percent more of our transportation funding to build 600 more miles of bicycle trails and other facilities!  None of the other options focus on walking, biking or transit to solve congestion and health problems.

Click here and tell the Puget Sound Regional Council it’s time to change our transportation priorities.

Your voice will help create more sustainable communities.

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