Children's Hospital has just posted 2 options (one pictured above) for a new trail link that will provide access to the Burke-Gilman from the Hartmann property where Sand Point Pediatrics is located.
Ideas and comments for the new trail connection were collected at an open house last month for the new connection and as we posted about yesterday the options will be shown and discussed at tomorrow's open house in Gould Hall at the University of Washington from 10-2pm..
Children's is required to build the connection in adherence to the Master Plan adopted by the City Council in 2010. The trail should be complete by late this year.
All ages are welcome and kids’ activities will be provided, including free bike helmets with complimentary fitting and free kids bike safety inspections.
The new connection will:
- provide ADA access to new Sand Point intersection at 40th Avenue NE
- remove diseased trees with new native trees
- remove invasive non-native species from the property (public and that owned by the Hospital)
- provide ongoing maintenance of Hartmann building connection with the trail (currently maintained by Friends of Burke-Gilman Trail)
1 comment:
People need to be aware that options other than those the hospital is suggested at this hospital run event are possible.
One large negative impact of the routes shown is that they would take vegetated park land to make what is essentially an extension of the hospital’s grand Penney Way entrance. Perhaps 95% or more of the use of this park land would be for the hospital.
Given that vegetated park land is a rare commodity and will be increasingly rare in the future. Alternative routes with less vegetation impact may be better and serve more users.
Public land planning permitting processes are yet to come because planning for this area was intentionally separated from that of the main Hospital on the other side of Sand Point Way NE. Ideas for the Hartman property were not well vetted during past planning forums which did not include the Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation and did not alert those who might otherwise have given voice of possible affect on park land.
So far there doesn’t seem to have been study to show if this project would increase cycle commuting or be better than alternative routes. A study comparing costs and benefits of alternatives and environmental impacts is also needed. If a route destroying park vegetation is selected there should be mitigation to make up for what would otherwise be lost ecosystem services. Replacing a portion of the Hartman property parking lot with vegetation could provide some such mitigation.
Post a Comment