Tag Archives: john

Seattle’s increasingly modest plans for new bike projects include seven across Capitol Hill, CD — UPDATE

Posted on by
4

This page from the council presentation on the bike plan implementation update oddly includes an image of a Capitol Hill rider on perhaps the most un-pedal friendly in the neighborhood.

Seattle is criss-crossed by 1,547 lane-miles of arterial streets and 2,407 miles of non-arteries. In recent years, the city has added new bike infrastructure to only about 10 miles of those streets per year.

Tuesday afternoon, the Seattle City Council will begin the latest process to shake out the next five years of Seattle bike infrastructure investments. Following the relatively paltry output of the last couple years, the proposed plan includes projects that will likely add up to even less than 10 miles per year. But there are still some new improvements on the list for Capitol Hill, the Central District, and the nearby. Continue reading →

Experts: Capitol Hill mystery soda machine disappearance ‘maybe’ time travel

Posted on by

Or we live in the shittiest timeline.

Experts from Liminal Seattle, trackers of all things weird, wonderful, and paranormal across Capitol Hill and beyond, tell CHS they have been unable to determine exactly what caused the late June disappearance of the mystery soda machine from E John.

“Time Travel is always a possibility (as is sabotage by Timehunters— can’t trust those guys),” Liminal Seattle researcher Jeremy Puma tells CHS. “Portals have also been popping up in random places lately,” Puma reports. Continue reading →

Eyewitnesses: Capitol Hill’s mystery soda machine has disappeared — UPDATE

Posted on by

Breaking news from just off Broadway: The Capitol Hill mystery soda machine is gone.

We’re checking in with area businesses including the Broadway Locksmith to see if they can shed any light on the apparent removal of the pop machine that has garnered global pop culture attention for its mysterious provenance. Continue reading →

Work set to begin to make John/Thomas intersections safer from Capitol Hill Station to Miller Park

Posted on by

After two years of citizen advocacy, a series of pedestrian-focused improvements is coming to the John/Thomas Street corridor with construction set to begin in early July .

David Seater, co leader of Central Seattle Greenways, began calling for the project two years ago. Seater said he walks along the corridor frequently, and finds it challenging to cross either of the streets, which tend to be high on traffic, and low on places to cross.

“I felt like it shouldn’t be that tough,” he said. Continue reading →

Police: Suspected fentanyl and coke found after Capitol Hill apartment death

Posted on by

The King County Medical Examiner has identified a man who died in a Capitol Hill apartment where police found suspected fentanyl and cocaine Wednesday night as James Wilson. Seattle Police say the victim was also one of two men treated by medics in a double fentanyl overdose at a Capitol Hill bar in an incident reported on by CHS in late March.

Seattle Fire tells CHS responding units found the 29-year-old in cardiac arrest inside the E John apartment Wednesday night just before 9 PM and performed CPR. “Unfortunately our efforts were not successful and [the patient] expired,” a Seattle Fire spokesperson said. Continue reading →

SDOT plans additional analysis of Broadway-John-E Olive Way for all-walk intersection

Posted on by

Gridlines at Broadway and John

Call it an all-walk, a scramble intersection, or a diagonal crossing, some community members say the intersection at Broadway, John, and E Olive Way needs one. But the Seattle Department of Transportation isn’t quick to OK an intersection that would stop cars in all directions and allow all pedestrians to cross.

Dongho Chang, a city traffic engineer, said those kinds of crosswalks can have unintended consequences and increase delays for everyone. But Chang said the increase in foot traffic in the last year since Capitol Hill Station opened in March does warrant additional analysis of the intersection.

“We definitely want to look at how to improve conditions for them,”  Chang said of the increasing number of pedestrians traveling through the intersection.

Chang said a new analysis was planned to begin this week. Continue reading →

Woman hit by driver at busy Broadway/E Olive Way crossing

Posted on by

dsc00446A woman crossing one of the busiest intersections on Capitol Hill was struck by a driver witnesses said appeared to be rushing to make the light in a Friday noontime collision at Broadway and E Olive Way.

Seattle Fire rushed to the scene of the collision after callers reported the woman down in the crosswalk in front of the Rite Aid. She was conscious and received treatment at the scene before being taken to the hospital with what appeared to be non-life threatening injuries. One witness said the woman appeared to have stepped into the crosswalk as her signal turned green

Police were interviewing the driver at the scene. E Olive Way just west of Broadway was closed for westbound traffic for around 30 minutes during the response.

Already one of the busiest Capitol Hill areas for pedestrians, the Broadway/John/E Olive way crossings have become even more active with the opening of Capitol Hill Station on the intersection’s southeast corner. Last summer, CHS reported on a study showing street and crossing dangers around the station. Late last year, intersections from Capitol Hill Station to Miller Park were selected for major pedestrian improvements though the project does not seem to include the western edge of the intersection across E Olive Way where Friday’s collision took place.

Classic Capitol Hill apartment building slated for seismic upgrades at 17th/John

Posted on by

The Whitworth Apartments (Image: Cadence Real Estate)

The Whitworth Apartments (Image: Cadence Real Estate)

Pre-WWII brick apartment buildings are part and parcel of Capitol Hill’s charm. Many also need expensive upgrades to ensure they don’t collapse in an inevitable future earthquake.

As the City of Seattle continues to slowly push forward requirements for seismic retrofitting, the new owner of the 56-unit Whitworth Apartments building says he decided to get the work done before the big one hits (not to mention the likely cost-savings of doing the upgrade before a retrofitting law is passed, which will send building owners clamoring for contractors).

Peter Goldman, a longtime Seattle resident, purchased the 17th and E John “unreinforced masonry” building this summer for $18.2 million, property records show. He told CHS his family had recently sold several properties out-of-state and decided to reinvest the money in two Seattle apartment buildings. The U.S. tax code encourages such reinvestments by delaying the capital gains tax.

“The only responsible thing to do is to prepare it for an earthquake,” Goldman said. “I don’t want to wait to be told what to do. I want to do the right thing.” Continue reading →

John/Thomas intersections from Capitol Hill Station to Miller Park selected for major pedestrian improvements

Posted on by

screen-shot-2016-10-29-at-11-05-59-amOften overshadowed by the more bustling sections of Capitol Hill, the “John and Thomas corridor” is nonetheless a crucial pedestrian and transit passageway through the neighborhood. Thanks to a community-initiated proposal, 11 intersections in the corridor between Broadway and 23rd Ave are on deck for a $1 million pedestrian safety upgrade paid for by the Seattle Neighborhood Street Fund.

The proposal from David Seater, a volunteer with Central Seattle Greenways, calls for installing curb bulbs along all the corridor’s un-signaled intersections. It was recently approved by the Neighborhood District Council, setting up a final vote at City Council.

“I walk along John/Thomas frequently and have been frustrated with how unsafe and difficult it can be to cross at any of the intersections without signals,” Seater said. Continue reading →

12th and John ‘squatter houses’ finally demolished making way for microhousing project

Posted on by

IMG_8725A doomed trio of three old houses have been demolished at the corner of 12th and John to make way for a a four-story apartment building with 51 apartment units.

The houses were involved in two separate fires earlier this year likely caused by “improperly discarded smoking materials” as squatters had been using the old homes that stood boarded up awaiting their demolition to make way for the new microhousing development.

City inspectors met with the Hardy Development Company this spring to discuss ongoing issues at their properties, which are slated for the new 51-unit apartment building. Hardy promised to secure the houses and clean up the properties prior to the fires. Continue reading →