Perpendicular parking will stay and plans to spend over $600,000 for a controversial 1,340-foot stretch of sidewalk snaking around the water side of Alki Avenue between 63rd Avenue Southwest and Beach Drive has been scrapped - but other plans will be considered.

Sandra Woods, Seattle Department of Transportation street fund manager, said the controversy began when notices were erroneously posted in front of residences that would be impacted by the plan, that said perpendicular parking spots were to be erased in favor of fewer, parallel parking spots as a result of sidewalk construction.

The project was included in the Neighborhood Street Fund Initiative as part of the city's Bridging the Gap improvement plan.

"We don't intend to change existing perpendicular parking," said Woods. "There has been a lot of misinformation. Seattle Department of Transportation will create a few different proposals to bring to the Alki community. We want to work with residents and in a very positive way."

Woods met informally with three residents last week whose properties could be impacted by a new sidewalk. They ironed out misunderstandings based on the old plan, and discussed future options.

Wayne Strong said he was impressed with Woods' concerns and appreciated her openness to a new plan.

"We put everything in the past behind us," he said of the old plan. "Sandra put us at ease with the parking issue."

He said the original proposal was drawn up and circulated by a consulting firm before the city authorized the now out-of-date plan. One idea Strong suggested was to make the bend more pedestrian-friendly by turning Alki Avenue along the proposed stretch of new sidewalk into a one-way street and to divert the other traffic to 63rd Avenue.

Neighborhood activist Richard Warren, a 40-year Alki resident, was not at the meeting with Woods, but said he wants the community to keep pressure on her, and those she represents, to save those parking spaces.

"I've made a lot of measurements in front of my house and along the street there, and I don't see how a new sidewalk can be built without reducing the number of our parking spaces," he said.

"And there are better uses for the money. The sidewalk across the street is fine. Maybe they can do some minor repairs to it. Alki Avenue also needs repairs. And I'd like to see three raised crosswalks along Alki and Beach Drive like they have at Alaska Junction. This would add a lot of safety to pedestrians crossing because traffic comes racing by here."

A meeting in March is in the works to involve the Alki Community Council and area residents with the city transportation department's future proposals.

Steve Shay may be contacted at steves@robinsonnews.com