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Design concept for a new bridge over Portage Bay
An early rendering of the Roanoke Lid concept
Washington is moving forward with the 520 Portage Bay Bridge and Roanoke Lid Project even as it is still scrambling for the best way to pay for it.
WSDOT announced it awarded a contract for the job to Skanska on March 11th.
CHS reported in November on the $1.375 billion price proposal from Skanska for the contract — a bid 70% higher than the state’s estimate. An agreement with Skanska extended the window to accept the bid, giving Washington legislators “more time to address the funding gap” during its just-wrapped budget process, WSDOT says.
The new plan? Move forward with the $1.375 billion bid but find a way to cut costs and close the gap. WSDOT says legislators have ordered it to seek “cost reduction opportunities.” That could mean new, scaled back designs for the planned lid and new bridge. Continue reading →
The national music school franchise School of Rock is planning to open its second location in Seattle to start 2024 in a space not far from Capitol Hill’s bustling nightlife and live music scene. Are you ready to rock, Montlake?
News of the planned opening comes as a key Capitol Hill music venue where some of those Montlake kids might eventually rock faces permanent closure.
The new “School of Rock Seattle Downtown” will be offering music classes and camps for ages six and up along 24th Ave in Montlake.
“We want to be the music in the community,” says Chad Fondren, co-owner and general manager. “There’s no better way to learn an instrument through the performance-based music education program that we offer. We use rock music and rock instruments as a vehicle, so it’s gonna be a little more fun.”
There have been School of Rock performances on Capitol Hill in the past. Cafe Racer and Neumos have all hosted end-of-season performances. The new spot might mean Capitol Hill will see more of them.
But Cafe Racer may never host another young Seattle band. The 11th Ave venue has been shuttered since being forced to close earlier this month over unpaid rent. Racer’s Jeff Ramsey said he has been scrambling to change the club’s business model and find a more sustainable path forward. So far, the cafe has remained dark.
Chad and Tracy Fondren also run the School of Rock in Issaquah while planning the Montlake location. School of Rock in Issaquah grew to hire 19 instructors and teach around 250 students. They’ll also be bringing a third co-owner and music director with them, Cole Paramore, who was the first instructor hired in Issaquah. Fondren says he and his wife love Issaquah, but are excited to be in Seattle. Continue reading →
Work on a small — but surprisingly imposing — component of the $455.3 million Highway 520 project have come to a halt over neighbor complaints about new, oddly-looming sign bridges.
The Washington State Department of Transportation says crews have paused installation after two of the three massive structures were put in place and generated immediate complaints.
“We have received feedback from neighbors about the sign bridges and have paused installation of a third sign bridge pending additional community input,” WSDOT said about the situation. “It’s important to note the project area is still under construction.” Continue reading →
The next few weeks will bring some traffic challenges around 520 as the Washington Department of Transportation project to replace the highway and add a new Montlake lid will require prolonged closures in the area.
WSDOT says starting the night of Friday, July 14th, Montlake Blvd will be closed to motor vehicles for ten days as crews complete utility work and realign the Boulevard and the eastbound on-ramp to SR 520 onto the newly constructed bridge. All associated 520 on-and off-ramps for Montlake Blvd will be closed during this time as well. WSDOT says a signed bicycle and pedestrian route through the work area during the closure. Continue reading →
WSDOT is celebrating a milestone with the final placement of huge steel girders as it prepares for work on the “Montlake Project” to create an improved Montlake Blvd interchange, a landscaped lid over 520, a bicycle and pedestrian “land bridge” east of the lid, and a three-lane West Approach Bridge South over Union Bay for eastbound traffic to wrap up construction by the end of the year. Continue reading →
Seattle Public Schools plans to renovate and expand Montlake Elementary School are pressing forward, over the objections of some neighbors who say the new school will be too big for the site and for the neighborhood.
The city’s Department of Neighborhoods has completed a review of the proposal, and has passed its recommendation along to the Department of Construction and Inspections, which will make the final ruling.
The existing 22,000-square-foot historic school along 22nd Ave E would be maintained, while being renovated and modernized. The existing six portables, cafeteria and small greenhouse would be removed. In their place, the district plans to build a new, 80,500-square-foot building along E Calhoun, stretching the length of the block, and wrapping around 20th Ave E. Additionally, a new gym will be constructed at 20th and E McGraw.
The end result will give a roughly C-shaped campus, with a courtyard used as an outdoor play area. Additional outdoor space will be available on the roof of the gym, and in a mezzanine-like called a “learning terrace” coming off the new building with room for many more students.
The dramatic potential enrollment increase is a big part of what’s upsetting many neighbors. After the renovations and expansion, the school will be able to serve 500 students. In the current, 2022-23 school year, the school has an enrollment of 184. That’s down from a recent high of 268 students in the 2017-18 school year.
The all-time high for enrollment at Montlake was 487 students was back in 1935-36, when the school housed grades K-8. It’s now K-5.
Not all neighbors are upset about the proposal, of course. In public comments filed with the city’s Department of Neighborhoods, some gave the project unequivocal support.
An aerial rendering of the project
Those that were upset look at the potential enrollment and say it will play havoc with the neighborhood’s character. They note the school is a small campus (second smallest in the city) in an area with narrow streets and has no dedicated parking. They generally say the root of the problem is fitting too big a school onto too small a site.
“Shoehorning the buildings–proposed for 500 students– to cover most of what vies for the smallest school lot in the city, would be about a tripling of current school, staff, and student body size. This though even Seattle School District’s website indicates little to no growth in number of households in the Montlake community in the next five years,” wrote Montlake resident Arthur Dorros in a comment to the Department of Neighborhoods.
Additionally, parents and neighbors point to district projections which call for falling enrollment across the district for the next 10 years. Continue reading →
The new signalized crossing at E Lynn (Image: SDOT)
The Seattle Department of Transportation and director Greg Spotts have put a bow on six years of work to complete a more modest than originally planned road diet of the 23rd Ave/24th Ave corridor north of Madison into Montlake that was cut back over the years from a transformation of the two lane configuration of the busy street.
The corridor provides access to the Montlake neighborhood, SR 520, the Montlake Bridge into north Seattle, and parts of Capitol HIll and the Central District to the south and serves as a key transit route. The completion of the project comes as Montlake’s connections to 520 are still being rebuilt and a new freeway lid is under construction as part of the state highway’s long-running replacement project.
But unlike the corridor’s overhaul to single lane traffic south of Madison, SDOT backed off a similar reconfiguration through Montlake meaning residents and pedestrians must today still cross four lanes of traffic to move through the neighborhood even after the years of work.
SDOT tackled the 23rd Ave/24th Ave overhaul in three phases. The third and final phase of the project from E John to E Roanoke has now been completed, SDOT said this week. During this phase, improvements were made at the intersections at E John and E Lynn, including repairs to sections of sidewalk and the installation of new accessible curb ramps. Additionally, bus stops were upgraded and painted curb bulbs and posts were installed to improve visibility and safety for people walking and rolling. Continue reading →
The Seattle Department of Transportation still has a long road ahead to meeting the city’s “Vision Zero” goals but new street projects are addressing some of the most notoriously dangerous intersections around Capitol Hill.
Over the weekend, SDOT crews tackled work to finally overhaul the busy 23rd and John intersection, adding new protected turn signals and new pedestrian safety elements to one of the crossings with the most red-light crashes in the city.
“The new intersection will have protected left turns for northbound, southbound, and eastbound traffic,” SDOT said about the work. “People making a left turn from northbound or southbound 23rd Ave E and from eastbound E John St will have a separated turn lane and dedicated turn signal.” Continue reading →
The overhauled western segment of the 520 bridge and the new Montlake Lid are slated to be completed in 2024 (Image: WSDOT)
The walking, running, and rolling trail along it will remain open but 520 across Lake Washington — “the world’s longest floating bridge” — will be closed in both directions this weekend as the project to replace the last western segment of the route and create a new Montlake lid continues.
The closure also marks a smaller but important milestone for the neighborhood’s streets as the longtime onramp to the highway from Lake Washington Blvd is now closed — forever. Continue reading →
The medical examiner says the woman found dead after a police standoff with a man inside a burning Montlake house last week was stabbed to death. She has been identified as 32-year-old Caitlin Savage.
Investigators also reported the name of the suspect who died in the blaze in the 25th Ave E home as John Fuentes, 53, and say the man died of smoke inhalation during the standoff with police. Continue reading →
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