After a long period of negotiations and planning for a safer 14th Avenue Northwest, residents of the street and surrounding neighborhood can now see the first steps of their vision being put into action.

Seattle Transportation finally broke ground at 14th Avenue Northwest and Northwest 58th Street to build two curb extensions on the northeast and northwest corners of the intersection.

After applying and searching for ways to help pay for its vision, the 14th Avenue Northwest steering committee received $18,000 last year from the Department of Neighborhoods and Seattle Department of Transportation in Cumulative Revenue Funds. This money is used for projects that are linked to neighborhood goals or maintenance that address safety issues.

The group used the money to apply their improvement ideas on 14th Avenue Northwest from a vision that began in 2005 to beautify and create more green space along the street.

"We are so excited about this after three and a half years of working and planning our 14th Avenue Northwest vision," said Mary Lou Olson, a resident who has been involved with the project since 2005.

Median improvements for a future curb bulb on Northwest 59th Street, curb extensions with a natural drainage system and additional bike lanes directed from the city's Bicycle Master Plan will also be added.

Sometimes referred to as rain gardens, the purpose of the natural irrigation curb extension is to capture storm water runoff and to prevent polluted water from streaming into Salmon Bay. This fits in with the neighborhood goals to become greener and allow the water to re-circulate back into the garden's soil.

The curb bulb will extend the sidewalk into the street to reduce the time and distance it takes a pedestrian to cross, according to the transportation department. Curb extensions are also helpful in preventing drivers from parking in front of crosswalks, blocking curb ramps and improving the visibility between drivers and pedestrians.

The current faded crosswalk at that intersection will be remarked to provide better visibility to oncoming traffic and crossing pedestrians.

Earlier last week the 14th Avenue Visioning Project committee heard of more good news when they received a letter granting the project an additional $21,000 in Neighborhood Street Funds and Cumulative Reserve Funds. The money will go toward fully completing the curb extensions, median improvements and striping a bike lane on the block between Northwest 58th and 59th streets.

The project is projected to last for the next six weeks.

The committee and neighborhood hope that this initial step will set off a domino effect to what they intend 14th Avenue Northwest will become. Ultimately the goal is to move the north-south traffic to the west side of the road, where the median now splits the one way lanes going north and south. North of Market Street the roadway would be about 26-feet wide with back-in diagonal parking.

The effect of creating a narrower street and diagonal parking often slows speeding traffic.

The group also hopes to create a separate bike path, walkway and open space, about 42-feet, consolidated to the east side of the street.

"We're trying to turn this avenue more into a boulevard," Dawn Hemminger, a steering committee member of the 14th Avenue Visioning Project previously told the News-Tribune. "By bringing the median over to the east side it will provide a larger walk area and opportunities to put in a pea patch, feeding areas and gathering places."

For updates on the 14th Avenue Visioning Project visit http://www.14avenuenw.org

Allison Espiritu may be reached at 783-1244 or allisone@robinsonnews.com.