East Ballard Community Association

14th Ave NW Boulevard Park

Seattle news

Zachariah Bryan

Seattle Department of Transportation

Photos: A walking tour of East Ballard

Guest — Mon, 01 Jul 2013 16:59:52 +0000

Guest (not verified) Mon, 07/01/2013 - 9:59am

East Ballard Community Association joined with FeetFirst to provide a walking tour of East Ballard, taking note of several infrastructure projects currently in progress.

All photos by Zachariah Bryan

Last thursday, The Ballard News-Tribune joined the East Ballard Community Association and FeetFirst on a walking tour of East Ballard. The tour gave an update on several infrastructure-related actions happening in the neighborhood, including the Ballard Greenway, RapidRide, high capacity transit, the 14th Ave NW Boulevard Park, roadside rain gardens and the dangerous pedestrian crossing at 11th Ave NW and NW Market St.

While The Ballard News-Tribune has covered all of these stories, the walking tour gave a nice overview and showed how they all connected and worked together.

The group met up at Reuben's Brews, the now almost year-old small brewery headed by owner Adam Robbings. In his short tenure in Ballard, Robbings' has been racking up award. Recently, at the Washington Beer Awards, his brewery won five medals and runnerup for best small brewery -- no small feat in a state (and a neighborhood) oozing with breweries.

In addition, Reuben's Brews has started taking a stake in the community with their thank You thursday, which benefits community organizations each week. $1 per pint goes toward the week's selected organization. Last week, they benefited FeetFirst.

From there, the EBCA and FeetFirst folks took to the pavement, walking their way up to NW 58th St and 15th Ave NW, where EBCA and Ballard Greenways member Aaron Solorzano spoke about what is happening with the Ballard Greenways.

By 15th, two notable actions have taken place. First, speed humps have sprouted up, noticeably slowing down traffic. Second, a small concrete island has been placed at the entrance of 58th from 15th, preventing traffic from going Eastbound into 58th while still allowing bicycles -- a measure to help keep kids at the St. Alphonsus Parish School safe.

However, some drivers still ignore the island. As Solorzano was speaking, one person dodged the island and drove into 58th via the wrong lane.

Next up the group headed north, to NW 60th St, to speak about RapidRide D and the proposed high capacity transit line, which could mean light rail, streetcar or something else.

RapidRide D opened up to Ballard, while nixing other lines, to much initial disgruntlement. While several kinks have been worked out on the line, and residents seem more used to the service, it has some anxious to get something quicker and more reliable.

"Some call it bus rapid transit lite, because it doesn't have a lot of capital to it," said FeetFirst's Jack Whisner. He added, "Good transit is fast, reliable transit. RapidRide is a way to provide fast, reliable transit without the greater cost of light rail or streetcar."

Patrice Carrol of the Department of Planning and Development described how high capacity transit could alter land use regulations in Ballard, perhaps encouraging a more walkable environment along 15th. While nothing is set in stone yet, she said there will be a lot to look at and discuss as things move forward in the coming years.

A 15th Ave NW corridor study is already underway. It will analyze whether some restrictions should be loosened from strictly industrial to allow more commercial and residential development. the Ballard section of that study will start moving along in the fall.

At 14th Ave NW, EBCA and Groundswell NW's Dawn Hemminger discussed the 14th Ave NW Boulevard Park, which is moving along.

"This is a mile-and-half-long sea of concrete (which was originally used for the old trolley line)," Hemminger opened.

As a driver rolled by and yelled at the crowd, "Yeah, where are people gonna park?" Hemminger noted that there will be no parking when the park comes to life. Currently, the gravel strip in the middle of the road is used for parking by residents, workers and visitors. Currently the strip provides 89 parking spaces.

Hemminger said that the strip was unusual for neighborhoods in Seattle to have and that in fact the surrounding neighborhood can absorb the lost parking.

"The tradeoff is we are providing a park in a neighborhood that has wanted a green space for over a decade," Hemminger said, noting that the city has tried and failed to identify any other space for a park. She said that this was a creative way to provide a place for people to gather and play, while helping slow drivers who blast through 14th who are avoiding the traffic and stoplights on 15th.

Down the road, Cari Simson of Antioch University gave an update on roadside rain gardens in East Ballard. The area for the project will take place along 11th Ave NW between NW 56th and NW 58th streets.

Simson said that roadside rain gardens are important to stymy pollution because right now rainwater drains into the pipes and flows down the roads and dumps directly into Salmon Bay, sweeping up and toxins along the way with it. Rain gardens would be a natural, aesthetically pleasing way to biofiltrate the stormwater.

At 11th Ave NW and Market St, Shannon Dunn explained a desire of the community to create a safer crossing for pedestrians. Right now, pedestrians have to dodge traffic Frogger-style to get across Market St, or else walk way out of their way. However, so far, efforts to convince the Seattle Department of Transportation to do something have not gone very far.

From there, everyone headed back to Reuben's Brews to enjoy more refreshing beer, thus concluding the walking tour.

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Ballard Week, April 22-26

Guest — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 15:18:17 +0000

Guest (not verified) Mon, 04/22/2013 - 8:18am

Captain underpants comes to town, Greenways in Crown Hill, community meetings

Monday, April 22

Mayor's Earth Day

What: Elected officials of city governments and tribal nations across the Pacific Northwest will announce the formation of a new coalition to oppose coal trains and coal exports.

Where: Golden Gardens Park (8498 Seaview Pl NW)

When: 1:30 p.m.

More info: https://www.facebook.com/events/140534606128436/141359422712621/?notif_…

Captain Underpants author visits Secret Garden Bookshop

What: His newest Captain Underpants adventure is Captain Underpants and the Revolting Revenge of the Radioactive Robo-Boxers! Dav will not be speaking but will pose and talk to everyone individually as he signs their books.

Where: 2214 NW Market St

When: 5-7 p.m.

More info: www.secretgardenbooks.com

Greenways in Crown Hill?

What: Crown Hill Neighborhood Association is hosting a speaker from Ballard Greenways at the monthly meeting. There will be a short presentation followed by Q&A.

Where: Crown Hill Center (9250 14th Ave NW, Rm. 4)

When: 7:15 p.m.

More info: http://crownhillneighbors.org/

Celebrating Puget Sound: Strategies for Clean Water

What: Interact with local organizations working for clean water at a resource fair; At 5pm Tracy Rector, a local documentary filmmaker of the upcoming “Clear Water” will talk about the Suquamish Tribe’s efforts to improve the health of Puget Sound; The keynote will be followed by a panel of local water quality advocates, and opportunities for attendees to learn more and get involved.

Where: Antioch University (2326 6th Ave)

When: 4 p.m.-9 p.m.

More info: http://www.antiochseattle.edu/ai1ec_event/celebrating-puget-sound-strat…

Tuesday, April 23

Ballard Stormwater Consortium

What: Learn more about groundwater, surface water and drainage conditions in Ballard, the status of SPU's soil testing and the bigger picture of combined sewer management in Ballard.

Where: Neighborhood Service Center (5604 22nd Ave NW)

When: 4:30-6 p.m.

More info: http://ballardstormwaterconsortium.wordpress.com/

Wednesday, April 24

Free Solar Power Workshop

What: Are you solar-curious? Solarize Seattle: Northwest is winding up its spring campaign in our neighborhood with a free workshop in Ballard. Learn about solar, incentives that bring the cost down, and get a free assessment of your home.

Where: Ballard Library (5614 22nd Ave NW)

When: 6-7:30 p.m.

More info: Register at www.solarizewa.org/registration. Register by April 22nd. Alex Sawyer, alex@nwseed.org

Thursday, April 25

Ballard Community Task Force on Homelessness & Hunger

What: The BCTHH works to end homelessness and hunger in the Ballard community by providing a forum for service providers, community advocates and governmental agencies to share information, capitalize on their collective resources and coordinate efforts. We will work as advocates of change and partners of compassion toward a just and supportive community.

Where: Swedish Ballard Cafeteria Conference Room (5300 Tallman Ave NW)

When: 6-7:30 p.m.

More info: https://www.facebook.com/BallardHomelessness, or Graham Pruss at grahampruss@yahoo.com

East Ballard Community Association monthly meeting

What: The EBCA meets on the 4th Thursday of every month. Those interested in getting up to speed on the latest happenings in the East Ballard neighborhood and who want to become more involved with planning events and coordinating projects are welcome to attend.

Where: Please contact eastballard@gmail.com for meeting location.

When: 7:30-9:30 p.m.

More info: www.eastballard.org

Zachariah Bryan can be reached at zachb@robinsonnews.com

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Crown Hill Neighbors

Seattle Department of Transportation

EBCA asks for letter-writing support in funding crosswalk

Guest — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 19:06:36 +0000

Guest (not verified) Thu, 12/06/2012 - 11:06am

If Ballard has it's say, a new crosswalk could appear at the intersection of 14th Ave NW and NW 62nd St. But, first, Ballard has to say something.

On it's website, the East Ballard Community Association has posted a letter writing campaign in support of the crosswalk through an application for the Seattle Neighborhood Street Funds, via the Bridging the Gap Levy. According to the Association, the crosswalk would improve safety for all modes of transportation crossing the north end of the median divided intersection.

In the proposal, there will be curb bulbs (which helps make the distance pedestrians have to walk much shorter) with rain gardens on the east and west sides and a marked crosswalk with a pedestrian refuge in the center.

The proposed design will be similar to the crosswalk at NW 58th St and 14th Ave NW, EBCA writes, and the existing median would not be affected.

EBCA will submit the letters along with responses in their application to the City of Seattle on Dec 17, 2012.

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And Twitter at http://twitter.com/ballardnewstrib

Seattle Neighborhood Street Fund

Bridging the Gap levy

Seattle news

Zachariah Bryan

EBCA

Thursday in Ballard: Sustainable Ballard potluck, East Ballard meeting, Homelessness Task Force meeting

Guest — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 18:45:28 +0000

Guest (not verified) Thu, 10/25/2012 - 11:45am

Tonight's the night for civic engagement -- it's just a shame that we can't all clone ourselves and be everywhere at once. Sustainable Ballard, the Ballard Task Force on Homelessness and Hunger, and the East Ballard Community Association are all meeting tonight. See below for details:

Sustainable Ballard Potluck at Hilliard's Beers

Sustainable Ballard is hosting their first quarterly potluck tonight at Hilliard's on 1550 NW 49th St from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. What better place to have a potluck, right? Between the food, music and Ballard-made beer, it's sure to be a night of fun and good conversation. Guests are asked to bring a dish to share.

East Ballard Community Association

"What are them Ballard Greenway-things all about, anyway?"

Is that the question you find yourself asking? Then tonight is the night to inform yourself, as the East Ballard Community Association will be having a discussion about Ballard Greenways, and they'll have with them Seattle Department of Transportation's Doug Cox. Cox is the guru on the subject and can explain the whole plan with ease and eloquence -- so don't miss out.

Meeting is at 7:30 p.m. at St. Alphonsus School, 5816 15th Avenue NW.

Ballard Community Task Force on Homelessness and Hunger

Do you care about homelessness and hunger in Ballard? Or maybe you have concerns to address? Well, we have a task force for that. The Ballard Community Task Force on Homelessness and Hunger (say that in one breath) meets every month, and they'll be meeting tonight at 6:30 p.m. at Swedish Hospital Ballard, Main Entrance, Conf Rm B&C.

Sustainable Ballard

Riding Reporter. CycloFemme. Critical Lass. Ballard Greenways

Seattle news

Ballard Task Force on Homelessness and Hunger

Don't Miss: Community meetings galore

Guest — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 22:16:27 +0000

Guest (not verified) Thu, 07/26/2012 - 3:16pm

Tonight's the night to get civically engaged. In Ballard, three public events are happening. Unfortunately, they are all landing around the same time, so unless you event cloning, it might be hard to make it to all of them.

First, 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m., Ballard Community Task Force on Hunger and Homelessness will be hosting their meeting at the Ballard Swedish Hospital, in the cafeteria conference room. As the name suggests, anyone concerned about hunger and homelessness problems in Ballard are welcome to take part in the discussion. More info

Meanwhile, SDOT will be hosting an open house for Ballard Greenways in the Adams Elementary cafeteria, which also starts at 6:30 p.m. and ends at 8:00 p.m. Ballard Greenways is a grassroots group dedicated to making roads more bicycle and pedestrian friendly. More info

Lastly, the East Ballard Community Association is having a meeting 7:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. More info

Ballard Task Force on Homelessness

Zachariah Bryan

Balllard Greenways

Community Associations

neighborhood involvement

civic engagement

14th Ave. planter project needs volunteers

michaelh — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 19:10:26 +0000

michaelh Wed, 03/24/2010 - 12:10pm

Volunteers are needed to help install these planters on median ends along 14th Avenue Northwest.

Stephanie Shelton

The East Ballard planter project on 14th Avenue Northwest, which will install 27 city-donated planters on median ends north of Market Street, is moving forward but needs volunteers to become a reality.

Volunteers are needed for the following days and events:

Planters Pickup and Delivery – 8. a.m. on April 1

There are 27 planters currently sitting at the Seattle Department of Transportation's Sunny Jim facility in south Seattle ready to be picked up. Big trucks, trailers and drivers are needed to help pick up and deliver.

Gravel Delivery – morning of April 9

Gravel donated by Salmon Bay Sand & Gravel will be delivered and dropped in the median ends for weed control. Volunteers are needed to control traffic during delivery.

Gravel Raking – morning of April 10

Volunteers needed to help rake and smooth out the gravel.

Planter Placement – morning of April 12

Several strong volunteers are needed to help move the 50-pound planters from a storage area on 14th Avenue to their designated locations in the medians. Hand truck donations for the morning would be greatly appreciated.

Potting Soil Delivery – afternoon of April 12

Potting soil donated by Cedar Grove Compost will be delivered. Volunteers needed to control traffic during delivery.

April Day Out Planting and Adopt A Street Cleanup – 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on April 17

This will be a fun event for the whole family. Join neighbors in helping keep the neighborhood streets clean and beautiful. Participants can admire the new planters and get their hands dirty by doing a little planting thanks to plants donated by Swansons Nursery and neighbors.

The East Ballard Community Association is asking neighbors interested in helping to pledge to help out with at least one of the events listed above.

Interested Ballardites can email Dawn Hemminger at eastballard@gmail.com and tell her which event or events they want to participate in.

The East Ballard Community Association received a $14,000 matching fund grant and 30 planters from the city in late 2009. The planters will be installed at the median ends along 14th Avenue from Northwest 59th Street to Northwest 63rd Street.

East Ballard Planter Project

Neighborhood activists form a bond, build a community

michaelh — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 21:42:15 +0000

michaelh Fri, 02/12/2010 - 1:42pm

East Ballard activists Shannon Dunn and Dawn Hemminger at Nervous Nellie's, one of their favorite meeting places.

Michael Harthorne

Whether most east Ballard residents know it or not, the identity and future of their neighborhood is being shaped in a large part by two women whose disparate personalities and skill sets have fused together to create a formidable community-organizing team.

In the past two years, Dawn Hemminger and Shannon Dunn have worked together under the banner of the East Ballard Community Association to spearhead projects, such as installation of planter's on 14th Avenue Northwest this April, and events, such as last summer's East Ballard Walking Tour.

Hemminger, after her involvement with the 14th Avenue Visioning Project, took over the East Ballard Community Association's seat at the Ballard District Council. Set met Dunn in early summer 2008 and found they shared similar goals and desires.

They shared an important connection, Dunn said.

"We both want to live in a certain kind of world," she said.

Dunn said she is old-fashioned in that she wants to know her neighbors. Communities are safer and happier when neighbors know each other, she said.

"I'm in this because of people," she said. "If we could take the feeling I have walking over to a neighbor's house on a lovely Sunday evening and bottle it, we would be bazillionaires."

Hemminger said she originally started getting involved in the east Ballard community for a somewhat selfish reason. She said she was using it as an opportunity to get more comfortable being an extrovert.

"Everyone getting to know each other felt really good," she said. "It felt like I was part of something. I wanted more of that."

The two decided to try an experiment with the East Ballard Community Association. They would hold bimonthly events for a year as a sustainable way of building community and see where it went.

As the year went by, Hemminger and Dunn learned more about how they complimented each other as a team – summed up in the nicknames Digital Dawn and Shannalog.

Dunn said she is stuck in an analog world of snail mail and phone calls made from landlines. She said she couldn't get anywhere in the world of SDOTs, SPUs and electronic newsletters without Hemminger.

Hemminger runs the community association's Web sites and answers emails. She said Dunn was instrumental in getting her out of her shell and up in front of people.

Dunn, who describes herself as a person who is always selling, said Hemminger has become excellent giving presentations at meetings now; she still feels the fear but she does it anyway.

Hemminger is also a great manager of time and people, helping to bring out the best in them, Dunn said.

The year year of bimonthly events went well, and there was no doubt about keeping it going," Dunn said.

"When that year was up, it's not like we sat down and said, 'Should we keep doing this?'" she said.

The continuation of their involvement in the East Ballard Community Association has been rewarding for them both.

As neighborhood involvement in the association has grown during the past two years, Hemminger said she has been able to make connections with people who share similar ideas.

"If we don't get these big projects done, we still met a lot of great people," she said.

Dunn said the relationships formed through the association have been rewarding. It's been good to see neighborhood businesses and schools getting exciting about engaging in the community, she said.

Both Hemminger and Dunn pointed to the June East Ballard Walking Tour as the most rewarding and enjoyable event they have hosted.

It was a beautiful day and it seemed like a lot of the neighborhood got involved, either through attending, contributing free pizza or opening a lemonade stand on the tour route, they said.

In the future, Dunn said she would like to see more people get involved in the East Ballard Community Association, including professionals – graphic designers, architects, grant writers, project managers, engineers – whose expertise the association could use.

Hemminger said she envisions the association becoming more of a hub, using a core group of knowledgeable people to facilitate and empower neighbors to get to work on their own projects.

If there is one thing that is certain about the future of the East Ballard Community Association, it is that Dunn and Hemminger see themselves working together to get there.

"If Shannon left, I would hate that," Hemminger said. "It wouldn't be the same. I couldn't have built the community association like this without Shannon."

Hemminger said she is not sure if she would be interested in staying as involved without Dunn by her side.

Dunn said she would probably not be the lead on community association projects if Hemminger dropped out.

She said she lacks some of the necessary skills, but would also miss the companionship and knowing that someone always has her back.

The good news for the neighborhood is that hopefully they have built up the East Ballard Community Association in a way that it will survive without either of them, Hemminger said.

Besides, she and Dunn aren't planning on going anywhere anytime soon.

"It's part of our life," Hemminger said.

East Ballard awaiting funding for park boulevard demonstration

michaelh — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 01:49:13 +0000

michaelh Thu, 02/11/2010 - 5:49pm

A rendering of what a proposed park boulevard on 14th Avenue Northwest would look like. Traffic has been moved to the west side of the street, the median has been removed, and a park has been constructed on the east side.

Zach Thomas

The East Ballard Community Association and 14th Avenue Visioning Project are awaiting potential funding from a number of sources to complete a two-block demonstration park boulevard on 14th Avenue Northwest.

Volunteers submitted an application for money from the city's Opportunity Fund in early February and a second application for money from the Parks and Green Spaces Levy is due in April.

"We told Parks we don't care where the money comes from, we just want it," said Dawn Hemminger of the East Ballard Community Association.

At the Feb. 10 Ballard District Council meeting, Peter Locke, an east Ballard resident and the vision behind the 14th Avenue park boulevard, said the purpose of the project is to create open space in an area that is lacking it while improving safety for pedestrians and vehicles.

The plan for 14th Avenue from Market Street to Northwest 65th Street, which was conceived five years ago, is to move traffic on the 100-foot wide street to one side, get rid of the parking median, and create a park on the east side of the street.

Locke said the money is available now, Seattle Parks and Recreation is excited about the project, and there is a real need in the community for more open space.

"We think what we have now is getting two sections of this project north of Market done," he said. "I don't want to miss this opportunity."

The section Locke and other volunteers want to start with is the two blocks between Northwest 59th Street and Northwest 61st Street.

Zach Thomas, a volunteer and east Ballard resident, said those two blocks are in the middle of an under-served area, there are no driveways conflicting with where the park will go, and community groups haven't made any median improvements there yet.

Locke said they will conduct a parking study to see how much parking will be lost by removing the median on those two blocks.

He said they would eventually like to expand the park boulevard concept the entire 20 blocks from Ballard High School to the water on 14th Avenue, though the design would change in the area south of Market Street because of use by industrial vehicles.

Dave Boyd from Groundswell NW said the group has been working with Parks to find open space in that area of the neighborhood without much luck.

"I'm convinced this is the last opportunity to create community space in that area of east Ballard," he said. "We owe it to east Ballard to support this."

While money from the Opportunity Fund can be used to acquire land for parks or develop parks on already-owned land, using money from the Parks and Green Spaces Levy could be a bit more tricky, Hemminger said.

A portion of that levy was specified for use acquiring land for parks in the Ballard urban village, she said.

Parks told the East Ballard Community Association they could likely use that money to develop the park boulevard on land owned by the Seattle Department of Transportation, but it would require the proposal to go through the Seattle City Council and Mayor's Office as well, Hemminger said.

Meanwhile, volunteers and community groups have already set about improving 14th Avenue in other ways.

An intersection project completed last year on 58th Street improved pedestrian visibility and added swales to the parking strips to help filter storm water runoff.

In April, the East Ballard Community Association will begin installing planters donated by the city to the street's median ends.

A park boulevard is currently under construction on Bell Street in downtown Seattle.

14th Avenue Northwest Visioning Project

Bicyclists/Pedestrians

Parks/Open Space/Trails

Robinson Papers

Help shed some light on east Ballard

michaelh — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 18:51:12 +0000

michaelh Thu, 12/24/2009 - 10:51am

The Ballard District Council is compiling a list of street lights that are not working to send to Seattle City Light for maintenance.

The council is especially concerned about non-functioning lights on arterial streets, according to Dawn Hemminger, president of the East Ballard Community Association.

The community association is helping the district council by providing input on street light conditions along specific arterial streets in east Ballard.T

The community association is requesting any residents out for a stroll before Dec. 31 to jot down any lights that are out and submit this online form.

Current results from the survey can be viewed here.

The Ballard District Council is most interested in the following arterials in east Ballard:

Northwest Market Street from Third Avenue Northwest to 15th Avenue Northwest
Northwest Leary Way from Third Avenue Northwest to the Ballard Bridge
Northwest 65th Street form Third Avenue Northwest to 15th Avenue Northwest
14th Avenue Northwest from Northwest Leary Way to Northwest 65th Street

Ballard District Council