Checking in on the “Scramble” construction (so you don’t have to)

May 18, 2011 by Leave a Comment

You know that phrase, “It’s gonna get worse before it gets better?” Well, it describes the state of the “Scramble” (NE 55th St/Ravenna Blvd/22nd Ave NE) perfectly right now.

The top layer of most of the road in the area has been removed (part of the repaving project that began last year on 22nd Ave NE), detours are in place, and construction vehicles and workers are EVERYWHERE.

Yesterday night, after construction was over for the day, I dragged took the family on a tour of the area to share with you the current state of the project.

Here’s the final design again, to remind us where the project is ultimately headed:

Final design plan for the "Scramble," courtesy SDOT - click to view full size

There are two segments to the video, which I have illustrated on the Google Map below (starting points indicated by the markers; blue first, red second). The progress on the northern bioswale can be seen in the first segment, the southern in the second.


View Scramble Drive video routes in a larger map

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsXTemoWRI4

Like I said, the footage above was recorded AFTER construction was finished for the day. During the day, the area is very, very congested. I will even go so far as recommending that you stay out of the area until after construction is finished.

Here’s what’s on this week’s to-do list for the Scramble (courtesy the Seattle Department of Transportation):

  • Repair concrete base pavement on NE 55th St, and Ravenna Ave NE
  • Repair asphalt base pavement on Ravenna Ave NE (Note – Southbound Ravenna Ave NE will be detoured on Wednesday and Thursday May 18th and 19th to accommodate this work)
    Upcoming night work: May 23rd and 24th
  • The contractor is scheduled to do asphalt paving on NE 55th St between 25th Ave NE and 22nd Ave NE the nights of Monday and Tuesday, May 23rd and 24th. This paving work will be done between the hours of 7:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. (Note – this work is weather dependent and will be rescheduled in the case of rain.)

More information on this project (and the ongoing 15th Avenue NE Reconstruction Project) can always be found here.

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Grow your cake and eat it, too: The Ravenna Community Garden turns ONE this weekend

May 14, 2011 by Leave a Comment

20110514-085824.jpg

This weekend, the Ravenna Community Garden (NE 68th Street and 21st Avenue NE) is celebrating its first birthday.

Everyone is invited to the festivities, which start at 2PM today (Saturday, May 14).

Carrot cake will be served. Natch.

Should you be interested in bringing along a present or two to the party (or any other time), the garden organizers have a list of equipment they could use (used items are welcomed; wrapping is optional):

  • Tools: Shovels (large and small; pointed are best), Rakes (garden and leaf), Digging forks, Hand trowels, Pruners, Garden gloves (kids and adults), Wheelbarrow (1 large and 1 small), Hori Hori
  • Plants: Herbs (thyme, tarragon, lavender, sage), Perennial Flowers (Echinacea, Monarda), Rhubarb, Artichoke plants, Annual flower plants

If partying with plants is not your thing, no worries: There’s a WORK party on from 10AM to 4PM. Plants will be planted, a tool shed will be built, and a kiosk for garden and community center news will be constructed.

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Ravenna “Scramble” road work for this week (April 25-29)

April 25, 2011 by 3 Comments

Construction continues at the intersection known affectionately* as the “Scramble” (NE 55th St/Ravenna Blvd/22nd Ave NE).

Final design plan for the "Scramble," courtesy SDOT - click to view full size

Work slated for this week includes (via a Seattle Department of Transportation project update):

  • Dig bioretention swale in south bulb
  • Install rockery in south bulb
  • Install plants (approximately 600 units) in south bulb
  • Reconfigure roadway lanes in preparation for work on the north side of the intersection next week

No weekend work is planned.

Those of you looking for your bus stop in this area will find it temporarily relocated to NE 55th St & Ravenna Pl NE.

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*not by pedestrians

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Soil movers needed this week at the Ravenna Community Garden

April 18, 2011 by Leave a Comment

The Ravenna Community Garden could use your help (and your shovel) this week.

The group is looking for a few volunteers on Tuesday and/or Friday to help move the large pile of soil into the garden. Many hands make light work, AND you could skip your push-ups for the day.

Willing parties should show up around 5:30 PM, with shovels and wheelbarrows if they’ve got ’em, at the north end of the field behind the Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center (6535 Ravenna Avenue NE). Hope for good weather, but dress for the worst.

For more information, contact the Ravenna Community Garden folks at ravennacommunitygarden@gmail.com, or visit ravennacommunitygarden.org.

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Fate of old Fire Station 38 to be decided by City Council; public comment period begins

April 15, 2011 by 4 Comments

Now that the new Fire Station 38 (4004 NE 55th St) fully operational, it’s time to determine the fate of the old one (5503 33rd Ave NE).

Your new house?

From today’s press release (from the City of Seattle’s Department of Finance and Administrative Services; emphasis mine):

With new facilities now in operation, the Department of Finance and Administrative Services (FAS) will recommend to the City Council the sale of two historic former fire stations: Fire Station 37 in West Seattle and Fire Station 38 in Ravenna Bryant.

Proceeds from the sale of the two properties – through a competitive process for fair market value – would be returned to the Fire Facilities and Emergency Response Levy Fund. The levy program includes land sale proceeds in its funding plan.

FAS has published its recommendation, and is collecting comments for 30 days.  FAS will then transmit its recommendation, based on the formal evaluation called for in Council Resolution 29799 and amended by Resolution 30862, to the Council. The City Council is expected to consider the future of the buildings as early as June.

If sold, the Fire Facilities and Emergency Response Levy Fund (which paid for the new fire station’s construction) could be refilled to the tune of a million dollars — the property was appraised at just over a million dollars in 2009, according to King County property records.

The building itself was granted landmark status in 2004; therefore, changes in the structure are limited and the city’s Historic Preservation Program must be contacted prior. (Read the full Seattle Fire Station No. 38 Landmark Nomination Report (pdf; 26 pages!) for more information on the history of the Fire Station 38 and the surrounding neighborhood.)

Comments about the sale of old Fire Station 38 are due by May 18, and will be incorporated into documentation presented to the City Council. Send your comments to Rich Gholaghong via phone (684‐0701), by e‐mail (richard.gholaghong@seattle.gov) or by regular mail (Rich Gholaghong, FAS Real Estate Services, P.O. Box 94689, Seattle WA 98124‐4689).

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At the FAS’s Real Estate Services’ homepage, a variety of documents detailing the sale recommendations and next steps are available. I have also linked to them here, for your convenience:

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“Why is my alarm clock blinking?” – Power outage affects 3,600 in Ravenna/Wedgwood this afternoon

April 12, 2011 by Leave a Comment

About 3,600 Seattle City Light customers lost power this afternoon around 1 PM, due to a falling tree branch. Power was restored about an hour later.

From Seattle City Light’s Scott Thomsen (emphasis mine):

Seattle City Light restored service to about 3,600 homes and businesses in Ravenna and Wedgwood in about an hour after a falling tree branch cut power to the area.

The outage started about 1 p.m. when a private tree company cut down part of a Douglas fir near NE 40th Avenue and NE 92nd Street. The falling wood hit power lines, causing a short, before coming off the lines and falling to the ground.

City Light crews inspected the area for damage then re-set breakers to restore power before 2 p.m.

The general boundaries of the outage were NE 106th Street on the north, NE 75th Street on the south, 8th Avenue NE on the west and Lake Washington on the east.

At the time of this writing it looks as though there is one customer still affected, very close by where the incident took place. But all other customers in the area have restored power.

This is also a friendly reminder (for those in the effected area) to check your clocks (especially any that may wake you up in the morning) when you get home from work today.

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Welcome our newest ad partner, Blossoming Buds Cottage

April 4, 2011 by 1 Comment

Say hello to the Ravenna Blog’s newest ad partner, Blossoming Buds Cottage!

In November 2004, Tristan Christophilis opened her Blossoming Buds Preschool in the basement of a house in the Laurelhurst neighborhood. The program and educational philosophy of the school proved to be quite popular and successful, and in January 2007, the preschool moved to its current larger location in Bryant (4706 35th Ave NE).

Then in July 2009, a sister facility to the preschool was opened in Wedgwood: Blossoming Buds Cottage (7501 35th Ave NE).

The Cottage shares the same education goals and standards as the preschool, with the added bonus of being a flexible, drop-in style preschool. At Blossoming Buds Cottage, students may attend two-, three-, or four-hour blocks. Every day is broken up into a predictable schedule (ex. story and meet and greet time followed by snacks followed by art) that parents can depend on, but the activities and themes change from day-to-day and month-to-month.

Blossoming Buds Cottage also has other services and events available throughout the year:

  • Semimonthly “Date Nights” – Kids spend a four-hour block playing, eating pizza and watching a G-rated movie while their parents are enjoying some quality kid-free time.
  • Open for afternoon home Husky games – Open approximately one hour before kick-off and up to four hours after the game ends (with a four hour maximum stay).
  • Birthdays or other special events – Two hour blocks of time are available on weekends, and various party packages are available.

My three-year-old son has been attending about once a week since January, and loves it. I love the flexible schedule, and my precious block of time down at the Starbucks (with the wifi). And the staff could not be nicer and care more for my child.

For more information on Blossoming Buds Cottage, click on their ad to the right, or visit blossomingbudscottage.com.

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Power outage affecting over 2,000 customers in Ravenna and U District

April 1, 2011 by 3 Comments

UPDATE (as I was writing): From the Seattle City Light’s Power Lines information page:

City Light crews have restored power to all but 837 customers in the University District area, in an outage that originally affected more than 2,000 customers. The outage began at about 6 p.m., and was caused by a downed wire.

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Seattle City Light (and a few Ravenna Blog twitter feed followers) have reported a large power outage affecting areas of Ravenna and the University District, starting around 6PM this evening.

Seattle City Light Outage Map screen shot taken during the outage on April 1

Seattle City Light has crews working to restore power at this time (though no estimated time of restoration has been given).

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This area is no stranger to outages: I reported on a similarly-shaped outage which occurred on January 24th of this year. I mention this not because I’m looking for a connection (or a conspiracy), just to note that local residents are quite tired of these things.

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Really, it *is* spring. Here are some local garden events to prove it!

March 31, 2011 by 1 Comment

[UPDATED 4:47PM – Added some Center for Urban Horticulture Events]

Spring has, indeed, sprung. The sun’s path has crossed the equator and is headed further north everyday. (Astronomers know what season it is well before meteorologists and Seattleites, unfortunately.)

Here are some upcoming local garden-related events you may want to attend. Just be prepared to bring along your rain poncho.

Ravenna Community Garden

Two April work parties are scheduled (and you can find out about future ones by visiting their website  at RavennaCommunityGarden.org):

  • Sunday, April 10th, noon to 3PM – plant cabbage in Bed #10, move dirt pile, re-position compost bins, BUILD SHED, weed and plant the herb border, install fencing around herb bed
  • Saturday, April 30th, 2 to 5PM – plant potatoes in separate containers, plant Bed #7 with root veggies, BUILD SHED, border plantings

Anyone in the neighborhood is welcome to lend a hand in the community garden. It’s located on the northern end of the field behind the Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center (6535 Ravenna Ave NE).

Picardo P-Patch

The Picardo Farm Gardener Gathering date has been set for Saturday, April 9th, in the University Prep Commons Area (8000 25th Ave NE). (This meeting is really only for Picardo P-Patch plot holders. If you’d like to look into getting your own plot at Picardo [or any other p-patch in the city], you can read up on the process here.)

Here are some agenda highlights:

10-11AM – New Gardeners

  • Picardo history and culture
  • Expectations and gardener responsibilities
  • Mentoring program

11-noon – Whole Garden

  • Announcements: Leadership, Straw Bale and Coffee Bag sale, post garden plant sale
  • Master Plan updates: Compost bins, orchard areas, grant proposal
  • Composting Toilet: Demonstration after the meeting
  • Food Bank gardening
  • South Field conversion to year-round gardening: process and how to get involved
  • Door prizes

After the meeting to 2PM – New gardener orientation in the p-patch

  • Find your plot
  • Learn about the garden – composting toilet, orchard, children’s garden, toolshed, etc.

Center for Urban Horticulture

Over in Laurelhurst at the UW’s Center for Urban Horticulture (3501 NE 41st Street), gardening-related events ABOUND. Here are three that I would recommend:

  • Saturday, April 2nd, 9AM-2PM – Northwest Fuchsia Society Spring Plant Sale: Hardy, species, baskets & many hard to find varieties. More info at www.nwfuchsiasociety.com.
  • Saturday, April 2nd, 9AM-3PM – Garden Lovers’ Book Sale: Free and open to the public. Find a great deal on used gardening and plant books. Proceeds of the sale are used to purchase the best and newest in horticultural books and journals for the Elisabeth C. Miller Library. More info at depts.washington.edu/hortlib/index.shtml
  • Saturday, April 16th, 10:30-11:15AM – Young Gardener’s Story Time: The Magic of Seeds! Join us for a story program that starts small and grows into something amazing! After the stories, do a seed dance and plant a seed to take home. (Held monthly, through the growing season.)

There are MANY more events in April at the Center for Urban Horticulture. Visit their Classes and Events Calendar to see them all.

Thanks to Rebecca on facebook for the tip!

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Do YOU know of any other Ravenna-area gardening events in April? Let me know in the comments below or by email, and I shall add them to the post.

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Roadwork at the “Scramble” to begin the week of April 4th

March 28, 2011 by 3 Comments

UPDATE (Thursday, March 31, 8:30AM): Chelsea Funis with EnviroIssues, and working on the 15th Avenue Reconstruction Project, has sent along an updated project plan graphic (which I have replaced my old one with below). Looks like the improvements for the north side of the intersection found funding! More great news for the users of this crazy mash-up of an intersection.

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I wrote back in late August 2010 about two local road improvement projects slated to start in the new year: The 15th Avenue NE reconstruction, and the work on the intersection of 22nd/Ravenna Ave/Ravenna Pl/54th/55th (AKA the “Scramble”) in southeast Ravenna.

Work on 15th Avenue NE has been going strong since January, starting with the southern end of 15th Avenue NE in the University District. (You can see how the project is progressing and sign up for weekly email updates here.) The Seattle Department of Transportation’s (SDOT) goal is to finish up at the intersection with NE 55th Street by the end of the year.

How did the funding come about for the “Scramble” improvements? Just like with the 22nd Avenue NE repaving project of last year, the SDOT was able to fund another smaller, nearby project through the bidding process for a larger one.

The "Scramble," with street names

From the email notice (sent out March 25th):

During the week of April 4, 2011, the Seattle Department of Transportation will begin work to improve and repave the intersection of NE 55th Street/Ravenna Boulevard NE/22nd Avenue NE near Ravenna Park. The work is scheduled to be complete in June 2011. The improvements include repaving NE 55th Street from 22nd Avenue NE to 25th Avenue NE, reconfiguration of the intersection to make it safer for drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists, new curb bulbs, pedestrian ramps and restriped crosswalks, and a new bike lane on NE 55th Street. Two new bio-retention areas will also be added in the new curb bulbs to improve drainage in the area.

The intersection will remain open during construction, but drivers and pedestrians should expect temporary lane closures, posted pedestrian and bicycle detours, and parking and loading restrictions. Drivers should consider using alternate routes to get to nearby destinations.

Final design plan for the "Scramble," courtesy SDOT - click to view full size

For more information, visit the SDOT’s NE 55th Street/Ravenna Boulevard NE/22nd Avenue NE Intersection Paving and Improvement Project website.

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