November/December holiday meeting
The NE 50th Street project
Rob Gorman - Project Manager
Construction will start late February. Weekend and extended-hours work would mean they could finish by August, but normal scheduling will mean work through October - or later. How much weekend and extended-hour work they'll get is a good question.
Includes:
During the 16th-to-Roosevelt work, sections will be closed one block at a time. The fire department will be relocated to Boat Street while work is being done in front of their building. Detours will go up to Ravenna Blvd., down to 47th, or 45th, as appropriate. Between Roosevelt and 11th, the diversions will be on 47th; detours during the 16th to 20th NE sections will be down to 45th.
Q&A:
Q: Do they know about the lake on NE 50th and U. Way?
A: Yes, drainage will be fixed.
Q: Pedestrian enhansements:
1) Will we have more pedestrian push buttons?
2) Will the new sidewalks be wider?
A:
1) Don't know. Updates to them are part of the project.
2) Some sidewalks will be wider, particularly along U. Heights, corners
between Roosevelt and 15th.
Q: More pedestrian buttons would be BAD. Community organisations have all
discovered that they INHIBIT pedestrian traffic. Why would more even be
considered, sine the city agreed not to add more?
A: Don't know that there are more.
Q: Turning left from 50th NE to I-5 is a big problem, given the turn-lane
backup. Will this help?
A: Signal synchronisation may help here.
Q: Will the new signals integrate with the I-5 on-ramp signals?
A: Don't know.
Q: Everybody talks about pedestrian friendliness; who is going to look at
signal syncronisation to ensure that it is _pedestrian_ friendly.
A: Seatrans. This is our problem. If you see issues starting, yell.
Q: The pedestrian buttons at 50th and University Way, and those at 45th and
University Way, are useless. Why?
A: Can't answer - they should work.
Q: How do utilities resurface - how is the transition from underground to
utility poles handled?
A: The lines just go up. There's an ordinance bounding the areas to be
undergrounded.
Q: What are the boundaries?
A: Don't know for sure - NE 50th to someplace south of that, 15th NE to
Roosevelt NE.
Q: The plan seems to be going ahead at this point; are pedestrian buttons
negotiable at this point?
A: Probably not. But signal timing is always settable.
Q: Who is the signal manager?
A: Brian Kemper.
Q: About the detours - who do we call about inundation by people cutting
through University Park inappropriately?
A: Marlyn Vanail handles the detour routing.
Q: Any work with the north precinct on parking enforcement/mitigation?
A: If a problem occurs, we would. All detour intersections will have police
management to keep traffic moving.
Q: What's the start date again?
A: Late February. The exact day isn't set.
Q: What's the work order?
A: That'll be up to the contractor.
Q: How does this affect north/south traffic? Intersection work will block
more than just NE 50th. Are we looking at hours, days, or weeks of
blockage?
A: We'll work on one lane at a time in intersections, where there's
concrete work to be done. Asphalt closures will be limited to non-peak
hours.
Q: On the north/south traffic question - do you have any idea of the
blockage time? Days? Weeks? Guesses from experience?
A: Weeks, as a guess. It'll be gawdawful for the first week of each
intersection work, then people will learn other ways around.
Q: Will there be a net increase of traffic on 50th after the work is
completed?
A: None anticipated.
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Seatrans/Street use
Rich Brugunder
Sidewalk and alley maintenance issues
Works in the street use office - sewer, drainage, some sidewalk and alley issues. Can tell property owners to repair sidewalks and alleys, and work on drainage issues.
Q: Are you the people to talk to about sidewalk damage caused by illegal
parking?
A: We can notify property owners and tell them to clean the sidewalk and/or
make repairs, but the ordinance has no teeth, so there's no enforcement.
Q: Isn't the sidewalk is owned by the city?
A: Sort of. The city's actual maintenance responsibility and ownership is
from curb to curb - the street.
Q: If a sidewalk has to be rebuilt after a utility line is moved, who pays
for it?
A: The line installer.
Q: Who maintains alleys?
A: The paved kind, with drainage systems installed? (As in University Park)
The city maintains these.
Q: Does the property owner have the legal responsibility to maintain the
sidewalks on their property?
A: Yes.
Q: Are there standards for this?
A: Yes, but basically, if you match what's already out there, you're fine.
The permit for sidewalk work is free, to help encourage people to maintain
their sidewalks.
Q: What about damage to sidewalks caused by tree roots?
A: We try to save the trees, if we can. The city arbourist is consulted.
Q: We'd just like the sidewalks to be flat.
A: As long as the sidewalk isn't dangerous, it's okay by us.
Q: You say the department has no enforcement rights - so you don't do
anything?
A: If we get a complaint, we send out a notice. We then wait 30 days, and
then send a second notice, and then a third. Then we don't do anything
because we can't.
Q: How do we file the initial complaint?
A: Call 684-5283.
Q: In the past, wouldn't the city repair sidewalks? But at a very expensive
rate?
A: The city used to offer that as a service, but doesn't anymore. When it
did, it paid half the cost.
Q: What about shrubbery and other sidewalk encroachments?
A: That'd DCLU. They have enforcement powers.
Q: What is the alley right-of-way, and who determines it?
A: Police enforcement. If it overhangs below a certain point or is in the
alley. 14 to 15 feet width is expected for the pavement, but 16' is the
full right-of-way.
Q: Parking enforcement seems to ignore alleys.
A: Yes. You have to call the non-emergency number.
Q: CALL. They WILL ticket and tow - particularly illegal parking that
blocks emergency vehicle access.
Q: Is there any action being taken to create sidewalk problem enforcement?
A: No. Talk to the city council if you want to get something started.
Q: Is there a philosophy about this in your department? Do you _want_
enforcement powers?
A: Enforcement powers would make our jobs much easier.
Q: So, Seatrans would support being given addition enforcement responsib
ilities?
A: Yes. Currently, the city council has to individually order sidewalk
actions.
Q: How do sidewalk additions work?
A: You have to establish a sidewalk improvement district. 60% of property
owners must agree to set up a special taxing district to fund it.
Q: Do you maintain the NE 52nd Street hillclimb?
A: Yes, but it's a different department of Seatrans.
Q: Curb markings - do you know anything about the rules for that?
A: That's spelled out in the parking code. You can paint 5' on each side.
The city red curb paint is applied by Seatrans, also - the traffic
engineering department.