Five small-scale projects to improve the neighborhood have been given the green light. At last month’s Ballard District Council meeting we learned that 40 of 160 applications for the Neighborhood Projects Funds (NPF) came from Ballard. The following projects were unanimously approved at last night’s Ballard District Council meeting. They are listed here in priority order:
- Develop sidewalk/pedestrian safety improvements on 28th Ave. NW From Market to NW 57th St.
- Improve lighting at Salmon Bay Park.
- Install a traffic circle at NW 62nd and 9th Ave.
- Improve/repair walkway on NW 100th from 8th NW to 15th NW
- Establish eastbound right turn lane at 24th NW and Market St.
Five more projects are on the “back-up priorities” list, and six proposals were deemed not eligible for consideration. The proposals not chosen this year will be considered again in 2010 and will also be entered into a database of unfunded needs within the Ballard district.
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Excellent; I LOVE #5! I'm sorry for the veterinary clinic, but at least it will make it easier to get out of Ballard on weekends. AND weekday mornings.
Does #5 mean a right turn from easbound Market turning onto Shilshole?
The only way to have a right turn lane that goes east would be if you were coming up shilshole and got to Market heading north and there was a turn lane. That would actually make sense, because there are two lanes there now: The one on the right is right turn OR straight and when you go straight there is a bad merge right before NOMA. I see a near accident at least every other day. So it sounds like they are going to make that right lane a right turn only. Should cost the city about $100 in paint.
Yes, Ernie, I meant the right turn from Mkt to Shilshole.
Joshua,
What I THOUGHT they meant was that they wouldn't allow parking so close to the intersection, so there would be two lanes heading east, plus one dedicated lane turning southeast (right) onto Shilshole Avenue. If they DIDN'T do that, then only the left lane would go straight, right? That would be a nightmare, even without buses.
But, I could have made a incorrect assumption.
Living on 28th — I'm thrilled to hear about completing sidewalks/organizing the parking frenzy south of 57th. Hurrah! (Now if only they will fix that swamp pool!)
these are all great improvements!
Great improvements?
Regarding the right-turn lane:
Turning that northbound traffic (going straight) into one lane only will mean sitting through at least three changes of lights before getting through that intersection (and those are long lights). That strip of road is a cluster-**** regardless of day or time. Maybe they should eliminate the parking spaces along that portion of Shilshole as well. I know, what about the businesses? Well, every other business up on Market Street doesn't have an ideal parking situatino either.
Dunno. Damned if you do/damned if you don't. But I think it's a terrible idea — $100 for paint notwithstanding.
Note: The only reason that merge has become a high-risk accident area was the other “great improvement” the city decided on a few years ago when they eliminated one of the two northbound lanes on 24th Avenue NW, insisting that traffic studies concluded that the change could handle the traffic volume — all while building more apartments and condos of course.
I've been hoping for a WESTbound right turn lane at 24th & Market. As it is now, two lanes coming south on 24th have to merge right after crossing to Shilshole, in a place that is very badly designed for this.
Before there were so many people here (here I go, sounding like an old-timer), we all knew not to go straight from the rightmost lane, but that consensus seems to have disappeared…
Sweet!! The week I moved into the hood a car T-Boned me at 62ND and 9th. I have seen tons of close calls at that intersection and heard at least 2 other wrecks.
I have to agree with Acquaformosa. Making that lane right turn only is a terrible idea! Hardly anyone turns right there and I would say more than 50% turn left. Better signage for yielding after crossing Market would help. Now on the other side they need to make the present far-right left turn lane for going straight on only (except buses). Hardly anyone uses the far left lane to turn.
Don't count on the commen sense proposal you put forward. The way Seattle seems to implement turn lanes is to take an existing lane that can be used to either go straight or turn into one that can only turn. Nevermind that it reduces overall capacity…
I think there is some confusion here.
I believe the right turn lane is probably for Eastbound Market drivers. Once Ocho opened, that intersection became atrocious. Market backs up all the way to Taco Time, because cars turning right (at Shilshole) are slowed by pedestrians crossing the road.
A green right arrow here would allow cars to turn without having slow pedestrians given there normal right of way.
sounds like a good idea to me.
in this city i'm sure a study was conducted and i argue w/your percentage turning right. i do agree w/removing the parking at least past hamburger harry's…
Kim, Since the description in the article was for an eastbound right turn lane I concluded the right turn lane will be put in on northbound Shilshole at Market NOT on eastbound Market at Shileshole/24th since that would be a southbound right turn. Maybe someone will clarify. I can see where it could be taken for either direction. So which is it, a right turn along eastbound Market at Shilshole/24th or a right turn along northbound Shilshole at Market? Whatever the case I can't believe the city keeps approving condos in the area without any road improvements.
If “ballard complainers society” is correct, that seems like a prudent and sensible idea, especially with summer coming.
However, the notion that just because a study was conducted (as “Kim” posits), doesn't make me feel any better that the idea has merit. Just like the same study that concluded that northbound 24th Avenue NW didn't need two lanes anymore.
It's all a bit transparent to me. I used to drive home to Loyal Heights (coming from the Ballard bridge and then up Shilshole all the time). Now, I avoid that corridor even on weekends.
I can't make sense of #5, and hardly ever travel that direction- so don't really have an opinion on that specifically. But in general- I think the intersection at 24th and Market- is potentially the most “road-rage inducing” intersection in the city- in all directions. The “every-other-light” cross walk confuses pedestrians (I watch them every day- they think they missed the crossing light and cross against it). Southbound on 24th- the turn/straight combo middle lane backs up so people go down the right lane- which ends as soon as you cross Market causing a “merge” if you can call it that- that's where tempers flare the most– there are no signs indicating who has the right of way- and there are definitely people who take advantage of the lack of signage. I'm not sure what would solve all this, but it's certainly more than simply #5.
I just want to applaud all of those who submitted applications for Neighborhood Projects Funds, and to thank those who submitted these green-lighted projects. Every little improvement helps, and I love that I live in a neighborhood with so many people who care about what's going on… even if we sometimes disagree, I love the passion about Ballard.
Nowhere else I'd rather live right now.
That's what most of us do anyway, we sit through one or two lights in order to go straight. It's the people that come up on the right and cut us off in the middle of the intersection in order to merge without hitting parked cars so that they don't have to be patient with the rest of us who are going to bitch the most about this. It should be a right turn only, and people that don't use it as one are usually the ones who get honked at for cutting people off.
I don't understand why put a traffic circle at NW 62nd and 9th Ave. Is there for some reason more traffic on 62nd than other streets without traffic circles such as 61st or 60th? I think there should be a traffic circle put in at NW 60th and 9th Ave as more traffic comes through on 60th. I go up 9th all the time on my bicycle and I see more close calls at 60th. I don't understand why people often forget to yield at intersections in residential areas when there's no stop signs.
You can't believe it? What planet have you been living on?
The city wil do whatever they can to make life here s miserable as they can. Count on the worst possible “improvement” you could imagine….that's what we're likely to get.
Then they'll build another hundred condos.
If you didn't want your car to be T-boned, why did you move here?
This one was more about the traffic on 9th than that on 62nd. 9th Ave gets overflow from 8th (where the Goodwill is) during rush hours. People speed up 9th to avoid the traffic over there and they drive the same speed up this small street as they do on 8th. I've lived at the intersection for over 10 years and have seen at least 6 t-bone accidents and one so bad it rolled over once and back on it's wheels. There are traffic circles north and south of us but we are in a span where there are none. I'd like to think that they chose this because of my suggestion but I have a feeling that several people wrote in about this intersection.
I still would think 9th and 60th would have more accidents as it's in that strip of intersections on 9th with no traffic circles, 59th through 63rd. If 9th and 62nd does have more accidents than it makes sense to put it there. I'm just surprised at that being a dangerous intersection over others. Thanks for the answer.