On Tuesday, March 10 the Port of Seattle held a public meeting at the Nordic Heritage Museum. There were three items on the agenda that were of importance to Ballard’s present and future. I attended this meeting because I not only wanted to take some of my own advice about being more involved in the community by going to meetings but I also wanted to blog about it from the perspective of a Ballard resident.

I got first hand facts about issues that I am interested in as well as a crash course on the importance of the Port of Seattle.

The first item on the meeting agenda was about the large vacant area at Shilsole Bay Marina. The Port of Seattle had hoped to put a restaurant there but since they pulled out the lot will remain empty for the next three to five years. The Port's plan is to temporarily landscape and pave this 25,000-square-foot lot until they can find a tenant was passed unanimously.

The second item on the agenda was Fisherman’s Terminal. Commissioner Bill Bryant reiterated several times that the Port of Seattle is committed to a working waterfront and to supporting the North Pacific fishing fleet.

In order to do this, the Port wants to address the safety of the net sheds. Originally built as places to dry and store nets, Port officials say they are being misused by some of the tenants who are creating fire and safety hazards, a point that was reiterated by a representative of the Seattle Fire Department.

The commission, the fire department and representatives from the Fisherman’s Terminal Advisory Committee (who represented the views of the fishermen) all agreed on the need to create solutions as well as future regulations on usage. They also talked about fish sales at the West Wall of the terminal and moorage rates. All of the issues tie into the larger one of making sure that Fisherman’s Terminal remains competitive, safe, and the home of the North Pacific Fleet.

The third item was the Viaduct replacement tunnel and the issue of connectivity to the docks. Engineers from the city and state transportation departments presented the latest maps of what they are visualizing the road system will look like once the Viaduct is taken down.

The engineers said there would be connectivity from Ballard to the waterfront through a new bridge on Elliott where the onramp currently is to the new Alaskan Way surface street. The new Alaskan Way will lave two lanes each way and 12 traffic lights. Mercer will become a two-way street providing connection to I-5 and the new SR99 tunnel that was referred to as the Bored Tunnel Hybrid Alternative.

After the engineers spoke, a group of business people that represent businesses that operate out of the Port facilities commented that they do not think the plan is adequate for their transit needs. The Commissioners were just as concerned about the loss of access to Ballard, the deliberately reduced capacity of the new road system and the fact that the waterfront was still isolated in many ways.

The engineers did not have a whole lot of answers and took off before hearing public comments. The commissioners listened to concerns brought up by fishermen about the net sheds and citizens and business owners about the Viaduct replacement plans.

Of the three items on the agenda, the Viaduct was the one that concerned me the most. The work at Shilsole is a solution to a temporary problem. At Fisherman’s Terminal the net sheds are considered a problem but the commission and the fishermen seem to be willing to work on fixing it.

As for the Viaduct replacement, the Port and the businesses both think that the proposed capacity and street system are not adequate to handle current capacity and want to make sure that their voices are going to be heard. The Commission and the businesses did not feel like they were, and it sure seemed that way.

It seems like the four-lane tunnel and road system idea is being shoved down everyone’s throats. The only difference is that the Port of Seattle has a chance to really change these plans if they want to.

Until I attended this meeting I did not truly understand the power that the Port of Seattle wields. According to figures cited at the beginning of the meeting, the Port of Seattle provides 111,000 jobs and $760 million in revenue.

They are going to be asked to contribute some money towards this project and they stand to be among the groups most affected by the building of it. The Port is possibly the only entity that can still make some positive changes to this plan.

The Port of Seattle is a very important but not as well known government agency and the commissioners are elected by the voters. I suggest that you get to know more about the Port commissioners as well as you know your other elected officials.