Contents

• Preparation for King Tides in South Park
• Spokane Street Bridge Presentation
• Fauntleroy Watershed Annual Report
• Move Seattle Levy Oversight Committee
• Public Comment on Zoning Modifications at West Seattle High School

Preparation for King Tides in South Park

On December 27 and 28, South Park experienced flooding resulting from the confluence of an extreme storm, very low pressure, an extreme King Tide, and heavy rain. King Tides are very high tides.

High tides are predicted from January 21-27, with King Tides early in the morning January 23-25. The City has been working with community to prepare for this.

Photo: SPU

This Seattle Public Utilities blog post describes the City efforts in collaboration with community to provide temporary flood barriers, including concrete block and sandbags, as shown in the photos above and below.

They encourage people to sign up for Alert Seattle by texting SEATTLE to 67283 or by going to alert.seattle.gov to receive updates about emergencies.

Photo: SPU

On Tuesday, I and several other elected officials from City (Councilmember Morales), County (King County Executive Constantine and King County Councilmember McDermott), and Federal jurisdictions (Congresswoman Jayapal) met with community leaders and City departments and Senior Deputy Mayor Harrell. Region X EPA Administrator Casey Sixkiller was with us as well.  I sincerely appreciate how seriously they have responded.  A long-term solution is only possible with collaboration between the City, County and federal governments.

Photo: Lisa Herbold

Spokane Street Bridge Presentation

The Transportation and Seattle Public Utilities Committee hosted a presentation on the Spokane Street (Low) Bridge on Tuesday, January 17^th.

Here is the presentation, and a link to the Seattle Channel video.

Though the bridge is reopened, only one hydraulic turn cylinder is operational.  This increases the amount of time that the bridge is up and waiting time.  During the discussion, I asked about the timeline for the refurbishment of the cylinders, which had been planned for 2023, before the closure.

SDOT said they need time to determine root causes of what failed on the cylinder, and that technology upgrades are part of the cylinders’ refurbishment, to attain the longest life, so they need time to determine best methods for rehabilitation and time necessary to complete it.

I also asked about plans for public notice of duration of openings because one constituent wrote to me to say:

“If you add that to the 10-15 min current time when open, that could mean as much as a half hour, in which case it would definitely be quicker for bicyclists to take the 1^st Ave bridge detour. Seems important for people to know that info, because if you’re leaving West Seattle for work, a meeting, or any other timebound event, a half hour is a pretty significant delay.  Having updated times would also benefit Harbor Island freight traffic, allowing trucks to decide whether or not to detour.”

The traffic operations division is considering how best to communicate to people about bridge opening wait times and noted they have asked the Coast Guard to notify mariners about the additional length of bridge openings by 10-15 minutes.

Thank you to Chair Pedersen for hearing this in committee, and to his attention to this work as Chair.

The image below shows the location for the structural rehabilitation, lift cylinders and control and communications lines.

Fauntleroy Watershed Annual Report

The Fauntleroy Watershed Council has published the 2022 Fauntleroy Watershed Council Annual Report. It includes a summary of salmon-related activities.

The report includes information about their work, including a chart with several years of useful data about salmon eggs, fry, smolts and spawners.

In 2022, volunteer watchers documented 254 coho spawners, an increase of 10 from 2021, and the highest total since 2012.

The Fauntleroy watershed site is http://fauntleroywatershed.org/, and includes additional reports on exoskeletons, smolt, benthic and other annual reports.

Move Seattle Levy Oversight Committee

The Levy Oversight Committee for the Move Seattle transportation levy has two vacancies. Applications are open through February 9, 2023. Information on how to apply and commission responsibilities is available here.

Meetings take place the first Tuesday of each month from 5-7 p.m. Here’s an archive of previous meetings.

Public Comment on Zoning Modifications at West Seattle High School

Seattle Department of Neighborhoods will be hosting a public comment session to gather feedback regarding the development plans for West Seattle High School. Read the full public notice published by the Department of Neighborhoods copied below or use this link to share the information with your neighbors and friends.

The public is invited to share its feedback regarding the development plans for West Seattle High School located at 3000 California Ave SW, Seattle, WA 98116. The Seattle School District is requesting modifications (also known as “departures”) from City zoning regulations per Seattle Municipal Code, SMC 23.51B, and the Public School Departures Process, SMC 23.79.

1) Reduced vehicular parking quantity

2) Amended bicycle parking performance standards

The Seattle School District has a detailed presentation of the modifications which you can view on the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods website.

Upon receiving your feedback, the comments will be shared with the Director of the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods. After review, the Director will provide their recommendations regarding the proposed departures to the Director of the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections for the final decision.

Please submit your written comments by Friday, February 17, 2023, to:

Nelson Pesigan

E-mail: Nelson.Pesigan@seattle.gov

Mailing Address:

Seattle Department of Neighborhoods
PO Box 94649
Seattle, WA  98124-4649

For additional information, visit our website or contact Nelson Pesigan at 206-684-0209.

Posted: January 20th, 2023 under Councilmember Herbold, Education, Seattle Public Utliities, Transportation, Utilities
Tags: Bridge, Department of Neighborhoods, DON, Fauntleroy Watershed, King Tides, Move Seattle levy, Seattle Public Utilities, South Park, Spokane Street Bridge, SPU, West Seattle High School