New Path Connecting Hospital To Neighborhood Currently Under Construction

 site of new connection at bend in road of

44th Avenue NE and NE 47th Street

 current connection to be removed



Construction on a new path linking Children's Hospital and the neighborhood in the 4800 block of 44th Avenue NE is underway for the next four weeks.  

The Hospital Construction Blog says the path, which will replace the current one, will improve safety, and is part of Seattle Children’s Major Institution Master Plan  (MIMP)."

The Hospital Construction Blog says:

During construction there will be some trucks parked nearby, for the shortest time possible to perform necessary work.  

Construction will take place from 8-4:30pm on weekdays. As much as possible, parking and construction will take place on Seattle Children’s property.  

The existing path will remain until the new one is constructed.

Todd M. Johnson, Vice President, Facilities and Supply Chain, told the Laurelhurst Blog about the new connection:

Generally, the old path, which the Hospital internally refers to as the "Hobbit Hole," was too narrow and too steep, so it needs to be replaced with an ADA compliant ramp.  

The new pedestrian entry will be to the south of the existing entry at the bend that 44th Avenue NE takes toward NE 47th Street.  

This was called out in the City Council-approved Major Institution Master Plan as a point of pedestrian entry to the campus. It allows our patient families and workforce who live in Laurelhurst to enter the campus. It also allows pedestrians to gain access to Penny Drive and the Sand Point Way sidewalk and cycle track which lead to the Burke Gilman Trail connection.  

The construction will take up to four weeks because we must first relocate plant material, then do some minor excavation work which entails digging the pathway down far enough to put in a new base of compacted soil and a drain along side the pathway. Then the path will be paved and landscaped.  

The new path will look much like the landscaped buffer that’s there now. The intent is to plant back enough for the hospital to not be visible at any point on the public sidewalk. 

The old path will be planted solid like the rest of the landscape buffer. Three shrubs will be reused from the current path, however much of what is being taken out is dead or not survivable. 

The only temporary impacts will be a truck or two occasionally on the street side and some noise during the day.

About 135 plants of about 18 different species will be planted according to the plant list sent to the Laurelhurst Blog by a Seneca Group representative, overseeing the project. Other than the 3 relocated plants, the rest will be new, and many of the plants will come from the Hospital plant nursery and only a few plants may need to be purchased.

For more information go here.  For questions or concerns, email construction@seattlechildrens.org.