Dispatches from Ravenna, a neighborhood in Northeast Seattle
Mayor Ed Murray is starting his rounds through Seattle’s many neighborhoods with a visit to Vios Cafe inside Ravenna Third Place Books (6504 20th Ave NE) this Saturday, May 17.
e-Flyer for Mayor Ed Murray’s visit to Vios Cafe at Ravenna Third Place Books on Saturday, May 17. Click to enlarge.
The event runs from 11 AM until noon.
On Monday, August 12, from 6:45-8 PM, Mayor Mike McGinn and the Seattle Department of Transportation will hold a town hall-style meeting at the Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center (6535 Ravenna Ave NE).
City officials will be on hand to to address residents’ and area business owners’ concerns about the Bicycle Master Plan Draft Update and the potential role NE 65th Street may play in it.
Our live coverage of the meeting will begin below, around 6:45 PM.
UPDATE (Thursday, August 15): The Seattle Channel has posted their video of the event, and you can watch it right here (Flash required):
The time to comment on the Bicycle Master Plan Draft update is over.
Or is it?
According to the Cascade Bicycle Club’s blog, the Seattle Department of Transportation “received more comments on the NE 65th Street protected bike lane than any other project proposed in the draft Bicycle Master Plan Update.”
Not a surprising observation to hear, especially after a less-than-stellar open house on the BMP Draft on June 13 at Roosevelt High School, and a “small business owners/residents meeting” held on June 23 at the Varsity Restaurant on NE 65th St.
We think it is a fair point to make, for all sides of the issue of NE 65th Street’s place in the BMP Update, that there is a lot of confusion around the issue.
Which is why we are grateful to see that a neighborhood town hall regarding NE 65th St and the Bicycle Master Plan Update is being held at the Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center (6353 Ravenna Ave NE) on Monday, August 12, from 6:45-8 PM.
Click the image above to view the Neighborhood Town Hall invitation in full.
If you yourself are not able to attend this meeting, and/or would like to read about it after the fact, the Ravenna Blog will be providing live coverage of the events. We’ll post the link here on Monday the 12th.
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If we may be so bold: If you are planning on attending the meeting, please consider taking an alternate mode of transportation than your usual. The journey might give you some insight into the concerns of others in the area.
Ahead of the Bicycle Master Plan Update public comment deadline of Friday, July 26, a group of business owners and residents near NE 65th Street are meeting to discuss the BMP’s proposed cycle track for the Ravenna thoroughfare.
Ravenna Bicycle Path Small Business Owners/Residents’ Work Group
Next Meeting Tuesday, July 23, 7 p.m.
Varsity Restaurant, 2300 N.E. 65th St.
Flyer about the meeting up just outside the Ravenna Varsity Restaurant. Click the image to see the full version (6.4 MB file).
Concerns about NE 65th St and the BMP listed on the flyer include:
For more information about this meeting, residents are asked to contact Mark Briant at mcbriant@seanet.com.
Public comment on the City of Seattle’s 2013 Bicycle Master Plan Update can be sent to bmpupdate@seattle.gov. For a guide on making comments, you can use this form (Microsoft Word or PDF), supplied by the BMP Project Library page.
[UPDATE (Friday, July 19): We’ve added a poll! Read about the design options below, vote for your preferred design, and then discuss in the comments.
And one more thing: Tom Fucoloro over at Seattle Bike Blog showed us this nifty online tool that lets you play around at redesigning a road for yourself: Streetmix. Choose a road width of 40 feet for NE 75th St, and give it a shot!]
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At a press conference this morning at 33rd Avenue NE and NE 75th Street, Mayor Mike McGinn and the City Traffic Engineer Dongho Chang announced four different design proposals for a safer NE 75th St for all users.
[More information about this morning’s press conference to come — check back here later.]
ALL four proposed designs include marking the lanes off distinctly (“defining channelization”). Speaking prior to the press conference this morning, Chang said that this feature of a future NE 75th St was very strongly desired by residents, according to the community feedback the Seattle Department of Transportation had collected prior to the design phase.
Here is the full NE 75th ST design proposal (500 KB PDF) for you to read. But we’ve also taken the liberty to talk about the changes below ourselves.
Existing conditions on NE 75th Street (between 15th Ave NE and 35th Ave NE)
The above graphic shows existing conditions along NE 75th ST, between 15th Ave NE and 35th Ave NE: Two undefined lanes in each direction, with off-peak parking in the outside lanes.
And now, the four different proposals, combining various new roadway configurations to reduce speeds and improve safety, and in order of increasing changes and safety features.
Proposal 1 for NE 75th Street (between 15th Ave NE and 35th Ave NE)
Proposal 1 is exactly what we have now, but with the painted white lines clearly indicating travel/parking lanes (“defining channelization”). Parking along both sides of NE 75th St would not be affected.
Some of the safety limitations SDOT sees in this design are that roadway crossing distances for pedestrians are not reduced, the efficiency of the roadway is not improved, cyclists are still mixed in with motor vehicle traffic, and little to no change to vehicle speed is expected.
Proposal 2 for NE 75th Street (between 15th Ave NE and 35th Ave NE)
Proposal 2 sees one lane only in each direction of NE 75th St, but in wider travel lanes. Parking on both sides of the street would have no restrictions, and would be well marked with white lines (again, “defining channelization”).
Pluses for safety with Proposal 2 includes a reduced crossing distance for pedestrians and a likely reduction in vehicle speed.
Limitations with this proposal include no separation between cyclists and motor vehicles, again, and no designated left turn lanes (decreasing the efficiency of the roadway).
Proposal 3 for NE 75th Street (between 15th Ave NE and 35th Ave NE)
Proposal 3 continues the defining channelization theme, and includes separated lanes for cyclists. As in Proposal one, there is one travel lane in each direction (again, slightly wider than lanes are currently), with permanent parking on one side of NE 75th St only*.
Safety improvements in Proposal 3 include reduced crossing distance for pedestrians, separated cycling lanes, and a likely reduction in vehicle speed.
Left turns are once again going to decrease the efficiency of the street.
Proposal 4 for NE 75th Street (between 15th Ave NE and 35th Ave NE)
Proposal 4 combines all of the safety improvements we’ve seen so far — defining channelization, one lane travel each way (reducing pedestrian crossing distance), separate lanes for cyclists, a likely reduction in vehicle speed — and adds a designated left turn lane down the center. Roadway efficiency is said to be improved as left turning vehicles are removed from moving traffic.
Downside? Well, what is missing from the graphic above?
Parking.
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The goal for the NE 75th Street Road Safety Corridor Project is, yes, safety. But what vehicular amenities will Northest Seattle residents be willing to surrender in the name of safety? Find out by attending one of the two community meetings next week to discuss these proposed changes to NE 75th St. If you are unable to attend either of those meetings, Ravenna Blog will have live coverage of the meeting on Wednesday, July 24 (available here the day of the meeting).
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UPDATES: Of course, we weren’t the only ones at the press conference this morning.
9:03 PM: Here’s Q13FOX’s coverage which, of the evening newscasts below, was the most on message about the proposed changes to NE 75th St. [Video removed for now, due to auto play.]
6:58 PM: Here’s KOMO 4’s coverage, which included some thoughts from Marilyn Schulte, daughter of Judy and Dennis Schulte:
Here’s KIRO 7’s evening coverage of the Mayor/SDOT press conference this morning:
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*The SDOT PDF lists the south side of NE 75th St as the side of this proposed all day parking; however, it is our feeling that with Eckstein Middle School’s location also on the south side of NE 75th St, this may be in error. We will attempt to clarify this point prior to the meeting on July 27 (or bring it up there).
Primary ballots start appearing in mailboxes soon — Do you know who your Seattle mayor candidate-of-choice is?
If not, you can catch most of them at a Mayoral Candidates Forum put on by the Northeast District Council on Wednesday, July 17.
Your 2013 Northeast District Council Mayoral Candidate Forum participants (and their respective candidate homepages, if I could find them) are:
Meet and greet the candidates at 6:30 PM, with a forum from 7-9 PM.
The event is being held at the Seattle Musical Theatre in Magnuson Park. You are warned, however, that there is a paving project happening along Sand Point Way NE and NE 125th St. If you’re coming from the north, head south on 35th Ave NE, then east on NE 70th St. If you’re coming from the south, you’re likely to encounter slow traffic on Sand Point Way NE.
If you’re walking to the event, or riding a bike, watch out for cars using neighborhood streets as detours.
What follows is a compilation of the ways that neighbors and local businesses have helped the Schulte family since Monday, March 25.
We do not claim to know every story of giving surrounding the days and weeks after the tragedy, but this post is our attempt to list as many as we can.
If we’ve left anything out, feel free to leave your stories of kindnesses and thanks in the comments below.
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During the last week of March, in the first days after the tragedy, local businesses stepped in and donated food to the family:
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After the first few days of meals were covered by local businesses, Wedgwood resident Jess Creach set up a site for the Schultes at Take Them a Meal. People interested in helping the family with food can sign up for a specific date and meal (lunch, snack, dinner), which can be delivered in advance to the Sand Point Community United Methodist Church for pick up.
At the time of this writing, the meal calendar for the Schultes was full through April 27. So far, 61 different people have signed up.
You can still sign up, too, if you’d like.
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By the time we contacted the manager of Sand Point Metropolitan Market (5250 40th Ave NE), Mark Marsh, on Thursday, March 28, his store had already contributed flowers to the memorial site and food for after the prayer vigil.
On Friday, March 29, his store began taking donations at their checkstands from community members. Marsh told us on the morning of Friday, April 6 that the total amount donated by community members at their checkout stands so far is $7,434.00. This total does not yet include the $1,000 that Metropolitan Market will also be donating on top of that.
With the hope of reaching $10,000, the store will continue taking donations at the registers for one more week, until Friday, April 12.
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Thank you to Seattle Neighborhood Greenways, Car Free Days, Eckstein Bikes, the Wedgwood Community Council, the Ravenna-Bryant Community Association, and anyone else who helped organize the Memorial Walk on Monday, April 1.
Thank you to the Seattle Police Department for closing off roads and providing an escort during the walk. And thank you, Mayor Michael McGinn, for attending.
Thank you to the Wedgwood Top Pot Doughnuts location for supplying participants of the Memorial Walk with doughnuts and coffee. And thank you for the use of your property as a gathering, starting, and ending point for that walk.
Furthermore, Top Pot, thank you for walking, too.
Wedgwood Top Pot manager Jennifer Surbaugh and one of the owners of Top Pot, Mark Klebeck, on the walk.
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Other local fundraising:
UPDATE (11:12 AM): We’ve been told by Per Johnson that the online amounts for the funds at HomeStreet Bank are only the online totals. “There have been a ton of people who have donated in-person to the tune of $5000,” Johnson says.
We’d also like to thank the staff of the Wedgwood Branch of HomeStreet Bank for all of their assistance.
UPDATE (1:38 PM): We’ve learned that the Wedgwood Drama Studio also donated money to the Schulte family. You can read about the studio’s mission here.
Police closed down 35th Ave NE for the annual Spring Bike to Bryant Elementary ride. Photo by Car Free Days (carfreedays.com), used with permission.
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Thank you to National Barricade (6518 Ravenna Ave NE) for donating use of some of your street signs (a pair of SLOW DOWN and yellow pedestrian signs) at both the east and west ends of NE 75th Street (at approximately 27th and 34th Avenues NE).
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Thank you also to the staff of the Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center, the respective board members of the Ravenna-Bryant Community Association and Wedgwood Community Council, and Jenny Frankl with the Department of Neighborhoods for help making the meeting happen.
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Thank you to the two women on 33rd Avenue NE who, very late on the night of Tuesday, March 26, worked together to scrub NE 75th Street clean with soap and water, and their own loving hands.
Thank you to the three neighbors on 33rd Avenue NE who made the two white crosses for Judy and Dennis Schulte at the memorial site, added on Friday, March 29.
Thank you to the sixth grade class in one of Seattle’s middle schools who wrote a card for the family.
Thank you to Lacia Lynne Bailey for taking on the role of caretaker for the memorial on the corner of 33rd Avenue NE and NE 75th Street. Thank you for respecting every last flower petal, slip of paper, and stuffed animal left at the site, in honor of the victims.
Blow drying wet bear before gets bag rain gear & back to growing memorial for #DUIseattle tragedy http://t.co/3JySngOTrH
— Lacia Lynne Bailey (@GoatGuild) March 28, 2013
Thank you to Judy’s Truffle, for being such a comforting (and fuzzy) presence at the memorial site, hugged and cried upon by countless people.
Sweet little Truffle seems to be bringing love to #DUIseattle memorial site while I clean it up a bit http://t.co/WIgrJq2Y8j
— Lacia Lynne Bailey (@GoatGuild) March 28, 2013
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And finally, some thank-yous from the Schulte family, conveyed through Lisa Schulte (wife of Mike Schulte, a cousin of Dan).
Here are some thank you’s the family would like mentioned locally!!
Addy and Brett Bergman (set up the donation site)
Pastor Cathy and Sand Point Community United Methodist Church
The awesome neighbors and dear friends of the family including Daniel and Jennifer, Trevor, Felipe and Indre
Seattle Fire Department and EMTs
Seattle Neighborhood Greenways walk coordinator
EMI
Wedgwood/Ravenna Community, Jess Creach, Per Johnson (Wedgwood Community Council) & Rebecca Nelson (Ravenna Blog)
Harborview doctors and nurses
Seattle Children’s Hospital (Karina’s work)
Colehour and Cohen (Dan’s work)
Sand Point Metropolitan Market
All the incredible people who have donated time, money, food etc.
Lisa has acted as the main point of contact with the family during the last two weeks, and we (and other community members and organizations) are very, very thankful for her and the role she has played.
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More on this story on Ravenna Blog:
Memorial service in Indiana for Judy and Dennis Schulte (last updated on Thursday, April 11)
Arraignment of NE 75th Street DUI homicides suspect on Thursday (last updated on Thursday, April 11)
Hundreds walk to remember, honor the Schulte family (PHOTOS) (last updated on Monday, April 1)
Prayer Vigil for mother and child this Thursday night (PHOTOS) (last updated on Friday, March 29)
Memorial to the family at NE 75th St grows (PHOTOS) (last updated on Sunday, March 31)
Memorial and medical funds set up for victims of Monday’s traffic tragedy (last updated on Thursday, March 28)
Suspect in Monday’s traffic fatalities no stranger to DUIs (last updated on Sunday, March 31)
Multiple casualty incident on NE 75th St near Eckstein Middle School (PHOTOS) (last updated on Wednesday, March 27)
Our live coverage of the Ravenna-Bryant Community Association Spring Community Meeting will be posted below starting around 6:30 PM on Tuesday, April 2.
You may download the agenda here (62 KB Microsoft Word document). Or refer to the abridged version posted below:
7:00 PM: Moment of silence (Lead by Virginia Gunby, RBCA Board Member, Transportation Committee Chair)
7:05: Welcome (Sarah Swanberg, Outgoing RBCA President)
March 25 vehicle/pedestrian double fatality collision on NE 75th Street
7:10: Traffic & pedestrian safety, DUI enforcement & prosecution
- Seattle Police Department
- Captain Robin Clark, North Precinct
- Sergeant Don Smith and Officer Eric Michl
- Seattle City Attorney’s Office
- John Schochet, Deputy Chief of Staff
- Rachel Cormier Anderson, Criminal Division Attorney
- Jana Jorgensen, North Precinct Liaison
7:30: Report from Harborview
- Eileen Whalen, Executive Director, Harborview Medical Center
- Dr. Beth Ebel, Director, Harborview Injury Prevention & Research Center
7:50: NE 75th Street improvements
- Dongho Chang, Chief Traffic Engineer, Seattle Department of Transportation
- Peter Hahn, Director of Transportation
8:20: RBCA business
- Sub-committees to address traffic, safety, DUI issues in Ravenna-Bryant
- Election of RBCA officers
8:40: Q and A with local leaders
City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen
Rebecca Deehr, Mayor’s Office
Senator David Frockt
In the early afternoon of Monday, April 1, before the Memorial Walk for the Schulte family, neighborhood groups, pedestrian/bicycle safety advocates, and staff from Eckstein Middle School, gathered at Eckstein (3003 NE 75th St). They met with representatives from the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT), the Mayor’s Office, and the Seattle Police Department and discussed plans to improve the safety of NE 75th Street.
The Mayor’s Office met with SDOT several times throughout the last week, and developed a list of planned improvements and actions for NE 75th Street (4 KB PDF; presented to the assembled groups that afternoon), including:
• Installing a flashing school zone beacon on Northeast 75th Street in front of the school
• SDOT will begin the process of evaluating and potentially installing a school zone speed camera on Northeast 75th Street
• The crosswalk at Northeast 68th Street and 25th Avenue Northeast will be remarked with fresh and highly visible paint
• The intersection of Northeast 68th Street and 25th Ave Northeast will be evaluated for a traffic signal
• SDOT will install new pedestrian countdown heads [crosswalk signs with timers] at 75th Street Northeast and Northeast 31st Street
• SDOT has already installed pedestrian countdown heads at 75th Street Northeast and Northeast 35th Street
The timeline for these improvements shows a tentative completion date of August 2013 (just before Seattle Public Schools are back in session for the 2013-1014 school year).
Read more about the planned street safety improvements on the Mayor’s blog, here.
Walkers gathered under the swaying palms of the Wedgwood Top Pot before setting out.
Seattle Police Department officers and their rides wait to escort everyone down local streets. Local traffic was blocked as the group walked to and the memorial site.
Pedestrian and cyclists, young and old, the sighted and the blind all participated, and fueled up with coffee and doughnuts beforehand, provided by Top Pot.
This walker in orange was one of three I noticed walking with a white cane. She is pictured with her ASL interpreter (the woman in orange is Deaf-Blind).
The walkers spread out to cover 35th Avenue NE on the way to the memorial site (1 of 6).
The walkers spread out to cover 35th Avenue NE on the way to the memorial site (2 of 6).
The walkers spread out to cover 35th Avenue NE on the way to the memorial site (3 of 6).
The walkers spread out to cover 35th Avenue NE on the way to the memorial site (4 of 6).
The walkers spread out to cover 35th Avenue NE on the way to the memorial site (5 of 6).
The walkers spread out to cover 35th Avenue NE on the way to the memorial site (6 of 6).
A cameraman films the start of the walk on 35th Avenue NE.
The group walks west on NE 73rd Street, after turning off 35th Avenue NE.
Seattle Mayor Michael McGinn (center, light blue shirt) walks with Schulte family members down NE 73rd Street.
More walkers heading down NE 73rd Street.
Here the group is shown walking north on 33rd Avenue NE, taking the approximate route the family took on Monday, March 25. On the left side, Lacia Lynne Bailey, Judy’s Truffle (the baby goat), and some Schulte family members and friends stand where Bailey chatted with the Schultes one week ago. She was the last person to speak to the family before they attempted to cross NE 75th Street.
More walkers heading up 33rd Avenue NE, to the memorial site.
33rd Avenue NE and NE 75th Street. Some family members stand together on the right, behind the main crowd.
Bailey talks to Dan Schulte, husband of Karina and father to Elias, who are both still at Harborview Medical Center. They are flanked by a female neighbor from the immediate area and two of Dan’s cousins.
Members of the Schulte family, gathered in front of the memorial. Hundreds of neighbors and complete strangers have stopped by throughout the week to pay their respects, Bailey told us. She has been tending the site daily ever since people started leaving flowers, notes, or other tokens after the tragedy.
One of the Seattle Police Department officers who escorted the walkers to and from the memorial site looks on.
“Look out for pedestrians.”
After spending some time at the memorial, the walk heads back to the starting point, heading east on NE 75th Street, before heading south down 35th Avenue NE.
Mayor McGinn talks with Dongho Chang,(Chief Traffic Engineer for the Seattle Department of Transportation) at 33rd Avenue NE and NE 75th Street.
Before starting down NE 75th Street with his family, this dad said to his small son, “This is the one time we’re walking in the street, buddy.”
Mayor McGinn with Bailey, and Judy’s Truffle. Bailey has added to the baby goat’s original name in remembrance of Judy Schulte.
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My thoughts, from Sunday, March 31:
Tonight I met 2 of the 3 makers of the Schultes’ white crosses at #75th. One made them, one painted them white, one did the calligraphy.
— Ravenna Blog (@RavennaBlog) April 1, 2013
All three cross makers, neighbors of the young Schulte family.
“Neighbors are our geographic (not genetic) family.” – Lacia (@goatguild)— Ravenna Blog (@RavennaBlog) April 1, 2013
The cross painter, husband of the calligrapher, still has white paint on his fingernails…
— Ravenna Blog (@RavennaBlog) April 1, 2013
…like I think many of us carry the tragedy on our hearts.
Because this happened to our neighbors. Our family.— Ravenna Blog (@RavennaBlog) April 1, 2013
Thoughts from a run through Wedgwood,View Ridge, past Sand Point Comm UMC, to the memorial on 75th. (We’re all much closer than we think.)
— Ravenna Blog (@RavennaBlog) April 1, 2013
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More on this story on Ravenna Blog:
Memorial service in Indiana for Judy and Dennis Schulte (last updated on Thursday, April 11)
Arraignment of NE 75th Street DUI homicides suspect on Thursday (last updated on Thursday, April 11)
Timeout to say THANK YOU, on behalf of the Schulte family (last updated on Sunday, April 7)
Prayer Vigil for mother and child this Thursday night (PHOTOS) (last updated on Friday, March 29)
Memorial to the family at NE 75th St grows (PHOTOS) (last updated on Sunday, March 31)
Memorial and medical funds set up for victims of Monday’s traffic tragedy (last updated on Thursday, March 28)
Suspect in Monday’s traffic fatalities no stranger to DUIs (last updated on Sunday, March 31)
Multiple casualty incident on NE 75th St near Eckstein Middle School (PHOTOS) (last updated on Wednesday, March 27)
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