(Image: Central Hills Triangle Collaborative)
Powered by a $48,000 Department of Neighborhoods grant, the Central Hills Triangle Collaborative will join the Lid I-5 group and the Pike/Pine Urban Neighborhood Council with a goal of putting together teams of community representatives and design professionals to develop concepts for three lidded areas across the interstate:
- South: Over I-5 between Madison Street and Pike Street with a focus on providing parks and open space including connections to Jim Ellis Freeway Park.
- Central: Over I-5 between Pike Street and Olive Way with a focus on urban and building design for non-residential uses and how to strengthen employment and activation along the Pike|Pine corridor and Olive Way.
- North: Over I-5 between Olive Way and Thomas Street with a focus on urban/building design for affordable and market rate housing. Design influences may include how to transition Capitol Hill to the commercial uses on Eastlake Avenue and South Lake Union.
A fourth team will focus on “Connection” to bring the South, Central, and North sites together with “multi-modal access and coordination between the sites.”
The collaborative will begin with orientations on November 3rd and 7th from 12:00 to 1:00 PM at the Center for Design, 1010 Western Ave. Organizers are planning a kick-off design charrette for January 13th from 9 AM to 1 PM at 12th Ave Arts in the Pike|Pine Room, 1620 12th Ave.
If you are interested in being part of the Central Hills Triangle Collaborative, contact program manager John Feit.
The Lid I-5 campaign was originally born out of the PPUNC development watchdog group in an effort to advocate for reconnecting lower Capitol Hill to downtown and nearby neighborhoods currently separated by the freeway. Earlier this month, $1.5 million in public benefits spending was earmarked for further study of lidding I-5 as part of the development surrounding the planned expansion of the downtown convention center.
