Throughout this month, community initiated projects that would add sidewalks and make other improvements to many Ballard streets are vying for a piece of the city's neighborhood street fund from the "Bridging the Gap" levy.

The projects are being presented at a series of community open houses, where members of the public have the opportunity to cast their vote on which projects should be prioritized by the city.

The project rankings will be considered along with a series of criteria by a Seattle Department of Transportation team and narrowed down to the top 50 projects, said Therese Casper with the department of transportation.

In October, top projects are presented to the Large Project Review Team, comprised mostly of members of district councils, for prioritization. The review team will prioritize $4.5 million in projects, and another $4.5 million in alternative projects.

Project design and implementation is scheduled to start in November. The review team will also meet annually for project updates and status reports.

Peter McGraw, senior public relations officer for the Department of Neighborhoods, was impressed with the success of the first open house last week at the Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center.

"This has just been a great turnout," McGraw said. "It's really difficult to know how involved the community will get."

The city received more than 500 applications for projects, more than four times the number received in previous years. About 170 of those applications were for large projects, those that cost $500,000 or more to construct.

"That same amount of interest and involvement early on is showing up at the open house and we're really happy about that," McGraw said.

Large projects in the Ballard area:

- North of North Beach Elementary on the east side of 24th Avenue Northwest: To ease neighborhood complaints of parents parking in their driveways, the project proposes cutting the hillside that runs along the school playfield, build a new sidewalk and put in angle parking.

- Northwest 100th Street: Add crosswalks, pedestrian crossing signs and crossing flags at the three locations along 100th Street.

- Northwest 90th Street from Northwest Holman Road to 8th Avenue Northwest: Install sidewalks and boulevards to make the neighborhood around Crown Hill businesses, schools and playfields safer for pedestrians and more walkable.

- Northwest 100th from Dibble to 15th Avenue Northwest: Improvements to enhance pedestrian safety and neighborhood walkability on the arterial street. Install full sidewalks on both sides of the road.

- Northwest 95th Street from 13th Avenue Northwest to 15th Avenue Northwest: Improvements to enhance pedestrian safety and neighborhood walkability and create safer routes to nearby schools. Install sidewalks / boulevards.

- 13th Avenue Northwest form 85th to 100th: Sidewalks and boulevards along 13th Avenue Northwest, a major pedestrian arterial.

- Holman Road/15th Avenue Northwest corridor: To quell speeding traffic and added safety around nearby schools, parks and businesses, install a series of pedestrian acturated crossings and visual speed controls.

- 14th Avenue Northwest from Northwest 65th to Salmon Bay: Implementation of 14th Ave Visioning Improvements addressing safety issues. Improvements to median, landscaping, sidewalk maintenance and pedestrian street lighting.

- Ballard Avenue Northwest from 20th Northwest to Vernon Avenue Northwest: Repair old, damaged sidewalks.

- Carkeek Park, Broadview neighborhood: Add sidewalks north of 85th and along Northwest Carkeek Park Road and surrounding streets.

For more detailed information and to vote for projects, visit http://www.seattle.gov/neighborhoods/btgnsfcrf/.

Open house dates and locations for large projects (5-8 p.m.)

Sept. 13 - New Holly Neighborhood Campus (7054 32nd Ave. S.)

Sept. 18 - McClure Middle School (1915 1st Ave. W.)

Sept. 19 - Youngstown Cultural Arts Center (4408 Delridge Way

S.W.)

Sept. 20 -B.F. Day Elementary School (3921 Linden Ave. N.)