Tag Archives: eastlake

Young rider who died in I-5 Colonnade stairs crash identified

Posted on by
Reply

(Image: CHS)

The King County Medical Examiner has identified the Seattle teenager who died Tuesday night in a crash on the stairs through the Colonnade bike park below I-5.

Çınar Doğan died of multiple blunt force injuries in the crash, according to the report.

Doğan was 14.

The teen died Tuesday in the just after 6 PM crash in the park just off Lakeview Blvd between Capitol Hill and Eastlake. Police say he was riding a “motorized electric bicycle” down stairs when he lost control. The young rider was wearing a bike helmet but suffered “severe head and body injuries,” police said. Other details of the crash have not been released. Continue reading →

Young rider dies in crash at I-5 Colonnade Mountain Bike Skills Park — UPDATE: ‘motorized electric bicycle’

Posted on by
5

An area of the overhauled mountain bike park (Image: City of Seattle)

A teen rider died Tuesday night in a crash at the I-5 Colonnade Mountain Bike Skills Park.

Seattle Fire and Seattle Police were called to the bike riding area below I-5 between Capitol Hill and Eastlake just after 6 PM to a reported crash involving an approximately 14-year-old male. According to emergency radio updates, CPR was underway as crews arrived to render aid.

UPDATE: According to SPD, the teen was riding an electric motorcycle at the time of the crash. Police say the victim was wearing a helmet. UPDATEx2: A police report on the incident describes the bike as a “motorized electric bicycle.”
Continue reading →

For drivers, bus riders, bicyclists, and walkers around North Capitol Hill, 2026 begins with pains for long-term transportation gains with RapidRide J, I-5, Roanoke Lid and Portage Bay Bridge projects

Posted on by

Drivers, bus riders, bicyclists, and walkers were steered away from Eastlake Ave at Roanoke Tuesday morning after road construction workers hit a gas line. The street closure was just part of the traffic twists and turns around Capitol Hill’s north end as 2026 begins with major construction projects on the RapidRide J line, the new 520 Roanoke Lid and Portage Bay Bridge, and the “Revive I-5” work on the Ship Canal Bridge coinciding over the coming weeks, months, and, sometimes, years.

Seattle Fire reported no injuries in the overnight Eastlake response though streets in the area remained closed into the morning commute.

Planned work around the ongoing decade of 520 replacement projects will make for the longest running impact on getting around in the area. Continue reading →

Seattle’s only East Design Board review of 2025… continues

Posted on by

(Image: PUBLIC47 Architects)

Changes to the design under the review process include an effort to make the Boylston Ave E facing lobby more “pedestrian friendly” (Image: PUBLIC47 Architects)

In July, CHS reported on a rarity across the city’s core neighborhoods including areas stretching across Capitol Hill, First Hill — the only meeting of the year so far for the East Design Review Board as it convened over approval of plans for an eight-story project above Eastlake.

Now in the final days of 2025 and with the housing affordability crisis in the city as sharp as ever, this 2727 Boylston Ave E project appears to have hung on to its dubious distinction.

Wednesday, the review board is set to convene to sign off on what CHS has found is the only project to come in front of the volunteer group this year.

“The reality is that very few ground-up projects currently pencil,” Mike Yukevich of developer Eastlake Real Estate Partners says. Continue reading →

A 2025 rarity — East Design Review Board to decide on eight-story Boylston Ave E project

Posted on by

(Image: PUBLIC47)

There will be at least one project for the East Design Review Board to help shape this year. Wednesday, the board is slated for its first meeting of the year CHS is aware of, reviewing a planned eight-story apartment building along Boylston Ave E and I-5 in Eastlake.

The review session seems to be more wrapping up unfinished business than opening the gateway to more reviews. The board’s schedule after Wednesday remains empty through September.

You can’t thank the city’s recently passed interim “middle housing” legislation for jumpstarting new development. The Eastlake project has been in the works for years. Continue reading →

There’s a new, even more fun place to ride bikes now below I-5 between Capitol Hill and Eastlake

Posted on by

Thanks to the Seattle Park District, a grant from King County Parks, and the Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance, there is a great new space to ride bikes below the rush of I-5 between Capitol Hill and Eastlake.

This week, the Seattle Parks Department and members of the alliance gathered to celebrate the opening of the $314,000 overhaul of the city’s I-5 Colonnade mountain bike skills park including a new paved track ideal for young riders and those riding mobility devices. Continue reading →

Wanna ride bikes? The I-5 Colonnade Park is getting two new pump tracks this spring

Posted on by

 
🐦‍⬛ $5 A MONTH TO HELP KEEP CHS PAYWALL-FREE

Subscribe to CHS to help hire writers and photographers to cover the neighborhood. CHS is a pay what you can community news site with no required sign-in or paywall. To stay that way, we need you. Become a subscriber to help us cover the neighborhood for $5 a month -- or choose your level of support 🐦‍⬛
 

This pump track in Port Angeles is an example of the setup’s appeal for riders small and large (Image: City of Port Angeles)

The Colonnade (Image: Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance)

Construction has started on a bicycle pump track project including a new paved track for young riders in a $314,000 overhaul of the city’s I-5 Colonnade mountain bike skills park below the busy freeway on the slope between Capitol Hill and Eastlake.

Seattle Parks and Recreation and the Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance announced the project is moving forward with construction slated to be completed before summer.

“One beginner-friendly, aMTB-friendly paved pump track; and one larger, steeper paved pump track are expected to be completed by the end of May,” the Alliance says.

The Alliance has been working to improve the bike recreation area challenged by homeless camping, litter, and the area’s steep slopes. It designed and built the Colonnade as “the first urban MTB skills park to open in the United States” when the space debuted in 2005. The Alliance began seeking funding for the new tracks in 2018. The group has been holding work sessions to help prepare the area for the new effort. Continue reading →

There’s an art exhibition opening this weekend below the I-5 freeway between Eastlake and Capitol Hill

Posted on by

Artist Matthew Offenbacher has chosen an unusual gallery for a painting exhibition in his neighborhood spanning Capitol Hill and Eastlake set to open this weekend.

“It really was calling to me. It’s very much like a lot of spaces the city has been sweeping encampments from,” Offenbacher says of the liminal space of the I-5 Colonnade, the sloping, 7.5 acre park beneath the echoing freeway.

Offenbacher’s Charms exhibition includes seven paintings mounted on columns that support the elevated freeway between Capitol Hill and Eastlake.

“I made these paintings using aluminum foil, holographic film and glitter, and am thinking of them as protection charms for the city,” Offenbacher writes about the showing.

A visual artists who has been creating and organizing in Seattle for more than a decade, Offenbacher said the new show is a return to creating inspired by the 2020 protests, the Seattle police and prison abolitionist groups Defend the Defund, and the Seattle Solidarity Budget.

“I took a big step back and reevaluated my role as an artist,” Offenbacher said. “This show is a first attempt at how to bring these things together.” Continue reading →

After outcry, Seattle Public Schools puts campus closures plans on hold — UPDATE

Posted on by

Families and city leaders attended a “Save TOPS” meeting at the Eastlake school earlier this month. Thanks to a CHS reader for the picture.

The district is backing off its proposals to close schools across Seattle but it is not clear what its next steps will be to address a $131 million budget deficit for the current school year with continued financial shortfalls on the way.

Seattle Public Schools has canceled a series of community meetings to discuss the proposals and the planned closure of up to 21 elementary school campuses just as the meetings were to begin. The district’s first session was to take place Tuesday night.

“I am taking more time to reflect on plans to bring a consolidation recommendation this October. As a result, I am canceling the upcoming community meetings. A new schedule of engagement sessions will be released soon,” SPS Superintendent Brent Jones wrote in the message to families. “I understand the closure of schools is a very serious topic. After receiving thoughtful feedback from many of you, it is clear we need more time to carefully consider our next steps.”

The zigzag comes after strong pushback from families and skepticism from the Seattle School Board that they could support the district proposals. Continue reading →

Shuttered Eastlake Bar and Grill destined for demolition and redevelopment burns in overnight 4th of July two-alarm fire

Posted on by

(Image: Seattle Fire)

The boarded-up Eastlake Bar and Grill burned 4th of July night in a two-alarm fire that mostly destroyed the restaurant that has stood empty awaiting demolition to make way for new mixed-use development.

Seattle Fire says the blaze was first called in to 911 just before 1 AM Friday morning with smoke and flames reported coming from the vacant commercial building in the 2900 block of Eastlake Ave. E. Continue reading →