Monthly Archives: February 2015

Also coming to Capitol Hill’s underground light rail station and tunnels in 2016: wireless service

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IMG_3562-2The Sound Transit board is set to approve a contract on Thursday to add cell phone service inside its light rail tunnels and stations. The bad news: no more phone silence when your train goes underground.

Last year, the company Mobilitie was selected to build out the neutral host 4G LTE cell network (i.e., a multi-carrier network with data) to service all underground light rail stations and tunnels. Installation is expect to start in the coming months, but service won’t be available until mid-2016.

Under the proposed contract (PDF), Mobilitie would be responsible for funding, installing, and maintaining the cellular system. The company will also pay Sound Transit $7,500 a month and a one-time $250,000 payment when the University Link tunnel comes online. The company will profit by selling network access to cellular providers.

University Link light rail trains remain on track to start rolling through Capitol Hill Station by early next year. The University Link line will extend underground from downtown to connect with Capitol Hill and University District stations. Sound Transit began boring for the Northgate Link tunnel in November, which will add three more stations north of the University Station: U District, Roosevelt, and Northgate. As of last month, construction on the Capitol Hill Station was around 78% complete.

In addition to enhancing rider experience, Sound Transit anticipates cell service could be used for direct communication with passengers:

Installing wireless communications coverage will improve safety, security, and information opportunities for transit passengers travelling in the underground facilities. It will also create opportunities for additional communications methods and media for transit operations.

Meanwhile, the Sound Transit board is still evaluating proposals to develop the housing and retail properties surrounding the Broadway light rail station. The board is expected to announce the winning contractor(s) in early March.

Broadway bikeway bollard braces

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Never mind the bollards (Image: @checkereddan via Twitter)

(Image: @checkereddan via Twitter)

From the start, there were problems with the artful blue plastic bollards supposedly protecting riders in the Broadway bikeway.

Tagging was less of an issue than how easily the protective elements were moved despite being filled with hundreds of pounds of sand.

After one of the more concentrated failures of the bollards last week, SDOT is now working on a plan to secure the needle and thread inspired bollards with large metal bracings.

A picture of the new braces was shared on Twitter by city traffic engineer Dongho Chang:B-u1PAxUsAAKPSuWe’ve asked SDOT for information on when the new braces will be installed and what it will cost.

In the meantime, the new Seattle Bike Map is out. Check it out, below. Continue reading →

All Pilgrims ready to grow $200K Same Love Garden on Broadway

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Next week, Broadway’s All Pilgrims will host a forum on anti-LGBTQ hate crime. It’s the kind of community role the venue often plays in the busy commercial core of Capitol Hill. The 1906-built house of worship is also ready to move forward with its new plan to create a different kind of community space — a Same Love Garden green space surrounding the Broadway at Republican church “that has been a leader in the recognition of the full acceptance of persons of gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender identities.”

“With increased residential density on Capitol Hill, and the coming of light rail and trolley service to our neighborhood, All Pilgrims wants this garden to be a reflection of the character of our neighborhood and a place of celebration that will serve our growing community,” All Pilgrims pastor Greg Turk said in the announcement of a new fundraising campaign to help pay for the project.

All Pilgrims is seeking to raise $100,000 from the community to match the $100,000 it is putting into the project with a name inspired by the Macklemore and Ryan Lewis song celebrating marriage equality. Part of the community campaign includes a $20,000 online giving goal — You can give here via Indiegogo:

We seek $100,000 from friends like you to match our own $100,000 investment to create a garden memorial to the success of the marriage equality movement and the hope it represents for positive social change. Continue reading →

On the List | Magmafest, Northwest Regional Science Olympiad, Search for Meaning Book Festival, EastPAC, Langston Hughes party

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Science Olympiad champs past (Image: CHS)

Science Olympiad champs past (Image: CHS)

February is done. It’s already time for March. The spanning weekend is full of things to do on and around Capitol Hill including the start of a month-long music fest, a spirituality and book festival, a community meeting on public safety, and a birthday celebration. Saturday, you can also stop by Seattle Central to check out the fun and competition at the Northwest Regional Science Olympiad Tournament.

Details on Magmafest, the Search for Meaning Book Festival, Thursday night’s EastPAC meeting, and the Langston Hughes Motown Birthday Bash are below. Continue reading →

Blotter | Valentine’s brawl outside Rhino Room

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See something others should know about? Email CHS or call/txt (206) 399-5959. You can view recent CHS Crime coverage here.

  • Club fight: A female victim suffered a minor facial injury and a male victim was knocked unconscious in an assault reported late on Valentine’s outside the Rhino Room at 11th and Pine. We’re not sure exactly how to explain what played out but the report seems to describe an altercation between a group of women and two males that got turned up a notch when two more guys intervened and started throwing punches. Here’s how one victim reported the melee began:
    Screen Shot 2015-02-25 at 4.14.45 PMRhino Room security described a scene when two new people showed up out of nowhere and started punching: Continue reading →

Hundreds rally at Seattle U in union fight

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(Images: Alex Garland for CHS)

Council member Sawant
Council member Licata

Students, faculty, and staff walked out of Seattle University buildings Wednesday afternoon to support an ongoing effort by adjunct and part-time faculty to unionize.

The demonstration was part of the National Adjunct Walkout Day, and comes as some Seattle U non-tenured faculty members continue their fight with the university administration to form a union. The hour-long demonstration stretched along the university’s section of 12th Ave and ended with a rally on campus.

Speaking at the rally, council members Kshama Sawant and Nick Licata called on the Seattle U administration to increase wages for “contingent” faculty members, which make up about half of the faculty. “Many of the PhD’s who are adjuncts qualify for food stamps,” Sawant said. Continue reading →

Capitol Hill chiropractic entrepreneurs hope new sports rehab clinic will keep E Olive Way running

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Braccio (left) and Yapee, the co-owners and chiropractors opening Velocity Sports Rehab on E Olive Way (Image: Erika Sommer)

Screen Shot 2015-02-25 at 11.43.18 AMBy Erika Sommer — UW News Lab/Special for CHS

The new Capitol Hill will have high performance sport trainers to help you achieve your physical best — and  Velocity Sports Rehab (conveniently within hobbling distance) for when you break down.

“Up here, a lot of people walk and run… and are into fitness and health. A lot of people don’t even use cars up here,” Velocity’s Jayson Yaplee said.

Yaplee and Michael Braccio are the co-owners and the primary chiropractors of the new rehabilitation clinic slated to be part of the newly completed Zephyr apartment building on E Olive Way. Unhealthily, they’ll neighbor the coming-soon boozy milkshake and sweets provider Hot Cakes when it opens its Capitol Hill location in the same building on the corner where B&O Espresso once stood. But, hey, there will soon be a new sports bar just up E Olive Way — Kessler’s plans to be open in time for March Madness.

If you pull something picking this year’s NCAA Championships pool, Velocity might be just what the doctor ordered. Continue reading →

Community Post | Only 31% of Downtown Seattle Commuters Are Driving Alone to Work

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Screen Shot 2015-02-25 at 8.46.56 AMDowntown Seattle Commuters Increasingly Walking, Biking, and Riding Transit

Nearly 70% of Downtown Seattle Commuters Now Choosing Not to Drive Alone

Screen Shot 2015-02-25 at 8.47.08 AMSEATTLE – The proportion of Downtown Seattle commuters driving alone to work has fallen to a new low.   According to a new Commute Seattle survey conducted by EMC Research[1], just 31 percent of Downtown’s estimated 228,000 daily commuters[2] drive alone to work, continuing a strong downward trend from 35 percent in 2010 and 34 percent in 2012.

Public transit[3] continues to be the top choice for Downtown commuters (45%), followed by driving alone (31%)[4], ridesharing[5] (9%), walking (7%), teleworking (4%) and bicycling (3%).  Continue reading →

Barking dogs over developers: Why so many district candidates are City Hall newbies

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Someday, all of this can be yours, candidate (Image: Seattle.gov)

Someday, all of this can be yours, candidate (Image: Seattle.gov)

In 2015, Seattle will hold the first non-citywide City Council election in more than a century, with seven of the nine seats on the council elected by district. 36 candidates are currently filed with the city clerk’s office, and nearly a third of the incumbents have already declined to run for reelection. So with the old guard seemingly stepping aside and the young Turks charging in, CHS asked various players in the city government: How will this change things?

Mike McGinn

Former mayor Mike McGinn — some old blood you probably remember

Best case scenario: the district system will make money less decisive in city politics. When all nine seats were elected at-large, former mayor Mike McGinn told CHS, little people didn’t stand a chance.

“Under the old system,” said McGinn, “the mayor and the city council all relied on the same traditional sources of political support, the big donors and the large endorsing organizations.”

With the smaller scale of district elections lowering campaigns’ price tag, dollar-spouting lobbyists could be less essential to candidates — and therefore less influential on those elected.

“Redistricting… created a new kind of accountability [to local communities],” candidate Jon Grant told CHS, “and new kind of platform for grassroots candidates to actually have a shot at challenging incumbents who are bankrolled by moneyed interests like developers.”

There also seems to be a growing force of potential big-time leaders focused on small-time problems.

“I think you’re gonna hear more about dogs barking, more about traffic congestion, more about, maybe [about] a crack house or something,” said retiring councilor Nick Licata. “I think the influence of developers will go down… because they’re probably the most active business constituent in the city.” Continue reading →

Pike/Pine business owners bemoan ‘culture clash,’ construction impacts as Mayor Murray tours neighborhood

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(Images: Bryan Cohen/CHS)

These days, most Capitol Hill business owners can point to at least two or three giant cranes above — and two or three construction projects directly impacting their business in some way. Neighborhood growth hasn’t come without growing pains. Mayor Ed Murray got an earful about those effects and the impact of the area’s growing nightlife economy from a handful of business owners during a little publicized Monday evening stroll through Pike/Pine.

The issues raised during the scheduled meet-and-greet probably won’t come as a surprise anyone living on Capitol Hill, but it gave business owners an opportunity to speak directly with the mayor on home turf. Continue reading →