7:25 am, Junior High students crossing 166th to school on the temporary crosswalk. 
re turning right on 104th on their way to school. 
I ran into Jeff Palmer, City Traffic Calming Manager. He was friendly and helpful. Apparently, the road project is dynamic and it's "tweaked" regularly to keep the traffic and construction moving. Mr. Palmer pointed me to the traffic flow improvements at Redmond Junior High. Signage (see photo) was posted to encourage parent chauffeurs to pull forward; and drop-off lanes were marked off.
I met Principal Prato Barone 'standing watch' in front of the school. He said the new signage and marked lanes help move traffic during the busiest 5 minutes of the morning. Look at the bikes! Mr. Barone plans to eventually install a covering over the bike parking area. And, he plans to initiate a week long "bike to school" clinic, recruiting teachers, who bicycle, to give the clinic.
When asked, Prato told me he still hopes the District will approve connecting the two parking lots to improve traffic flow. I wonder, could the large flag-pole possibly be an obstacle towards this mobility & safety improvement? Only one egress and ingress to the school would be safer.
I didn't notice any students walking between the lots in the open space.
This huge promenade, boulevard or whatever you want to call it was noticeably desolate & unused. The impervious concrete platform area appears much better suited for an eco-friendly "open green space" than a "corridor space" for students and their bikes. I hope LWSD will revisit this wasteland and approve the parking lot connection.
{click to enlarge photos}
Some of the problem is with the tourists that use our hill as a route to avoid Avondale. What needs to be done is to get the tourists off our hill! --- KING OF THE HILL ---
ReplyDeleteIt's bad enough that there is all this construction to deal with but some of the flaggers are not helping. Their direction is not clear and with traffic patterns changed every day, we (the drivers) need CLEAR DIRECTIONS. This morning I had an interaction with a RUDE flagger that got all pissy because I could not read his mind and then when I questioned him about what I was supposed to do, he started back-talking at me. I'm not a mind reader. And if the directions are not clear, there will be an accident or worse. Some of those flaggers are great. Clear, direct, and some are even cheerful. But others are beyond incompetent. Like the one guy, standing with his stop/slow sign, twirling it around. Yes, twirling. Please tell me, as a driver, what do I do with THAT???
ReplyDeleteThe narrowing of 166th has caused massive traffic jams and will decrease the value of property on Education Hill. Commute times have risen and the desirability of real estate has dropped. I'm optimistic it will improve with the installation of the automatic light but the indications thus far are of serious problems to come.
ReplyDeleteNot sure which "tourists" you speak of: I pay property taxes to the City of Redmond; own a home; and work hard. I'd prefer to see my family rather than commute at 6am and 8pm when the traffic has cleared. I also ride the bus at least once per week.
Tourists are at the Space Needle.
This mess is just another example of the city doing whatever it has made it's mind up to do and to heck with the residents. At the Feb 7 2008 meeting it was clear that local sentiment was against the lane reconfig, but that since the city had secured fed funds for the light they were going to jam the reconfig down our throats. Why the wait till fall??? This could have been done over the summer with less disruption. The decision had been made by the city in plenty of time to meet that schedule. One humourous note, my letter to the city was met with the response from Nancy McCormick as ombudsman. That response included a suggestion to use alternate routes. Since I live ON Ed Hill I don't see that as really viable!
ReplyDeleteYes, I know it's a mess; I live here, too. The City wrote a letter of apology - it's linked at this post.
ReplyDeleteI remember a planner saying the light would take months to order and that's why they are intalling it late. Hard to believe, but that's what they said.