Tag Archives: i-5 shores

4,000 without power on Capitol Hill after ‘Bird/Animal Contact’ — UPDATE

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Seattle City Light says more than 4,000 customers around the areas above I-5 on the western edge of Capitol Hill and swaths near E Thomas were without power after a Thursday afternoon outage attributed, sadly, to “Bird/Animal Contact.”

SCL reports the outage began around 2:15 PM and says it expecting service to be restored by 8:45 PM. Typically, the city’s restoration estimates are conservative and power can be restored much earlier depending on the damage being repaired.

You can view outage information and track updates at seattle.gov/city-light/outages.

UPDATE: The outage was already reduced to fewer than 2,000 customers just after 3 PM.

UPDATE x2: SCL reported service was restored just before 8 PM after repairing a final downed wire near 15th and Thomas.

Two transformer fires were reported around the time of the initial outage. Seattle Fire was called to a pole fire reported at 15th and Thomas just before 2:15 PM and a second in the 300 block of Summit Ave E at 2:16 PM as the grid absorbed whatever failure resulted from the animal incident.

CHS reported here in June about the remaining areas of Capitol Hill where utility lines have not yet been moved underground by city work and redevelopment to improve service reliability and help avoid long disruptions.

 

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Seattle’s I-5 lid hopes get $2M federal ‘research and planning’ boost

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(Image: U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal)

(Image: Lid I-5)

Seattle’s hopes for someday lidding I-5 through downtown capping noise and pollution while re-connecting neighborhoods and creating millions in dollars of new development opportunities are getting a federal boost.

U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal representing the WA-07 district including Capitol Hill and much of the city’s central and northern neighborhoods says she has helped secure $2 million in federal funding “for the City of Seattle to continue their research and planning of a project to construct a lid over Interstate 5 (I-5) in downtown Seattle.” Continue reading →

Metro’s plan for RapidRide G service changes includes return of bus service to Capitol Hill’s I-5 Shores

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A new Metro coach ready for the center-loading RapidRide G line (Image: Metro)

King County Metro is planning for the return of Route 47 to serve Capitol Hill’s Summit and Bellevue Ave neighborhoods — kind of.

Metro and King County Executive Dow Constantine have arrived at a finalized plan for changes to area bus routes to better connect and optimize service with the planned 2024 opening of the RapidRide G bus line on Madison.

CHS reported here in December on Metro’s ongoing process to weigh rider feedback against available resources and hopes for increased service frequencies on key lines connecting to the RapidRide route.

Metro has been set on other changes including Route 10 and Route 12 with a proposal for the lines to be “reoriented” to operate along E Pine instead of E John and Madison, until they turn north on 15th Ave and 19th Ave. Metro is also going ahead with a plan to move Route 11 off Pine.

But the future of the former Route 47 service had been up in the air. Under the final plan being submitted for approval by the King County Council, Metro would restore service in the areas along Summit and Bellevue by “extending some Route 3 trips to restore trolley bus service in western Capitol Hill where the former Route 47 operated.” Continue reading →

This time, the goodbye to Capitol Hill’s Metro Route 47 looks permanent

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By Cormac Wolf — CHS Reporting Intern

Route 47, the storied ride along Summit and Bellevue Ave on Capitol Hill’s western slope, was shuttered during the pandemic. Now it seems likely King County Metro will restore service to the dense neighborhood, but without the 47. It’s hard to find anyone upset by the probable change.

As CHS reported earlier this month, Metro is shifting buses around in anticipation of the coming RapidRide G line on E Madison. They’re currently soliciting public opinion on whether to lend more buses to routes 10, 11, 12, and 49 (option A), or extend route 3 to include route 47’s old territory (option B). Option B would essentially revive route 47, serving Summit Slope residents every half hour.

We reached out to several community groups aiding riders to see what their consensus on the choice is and asked around about the line. We didn’t find much enthusiasm about saving the 47.

Central Seattle Greenways, the contingent of Seattle Neighborhood Greenways which works in Capitol Hill, was split on the potential options. Continue reading →

Capitol Hill ‘mini park’ to be cleared amid Seattle’s continued, smaller homeless encampment sweeps

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Thanks to a CHS reader for the picture from the mini park

The pace of Seattle homeless encampment sweeps has picked up under Mayor Bruce Harrell’s administration including clearances of small camps sometimes nearly as quickly as they take shape. The new pace will bring a clearance this week of one Capitol Hill encampment apparently formed by an individual camper at the Thomas Street Mini Park.

The latest clearance has been announced for the area around the 300 block Bellevue Ave E park on Thursday morning where city workers and outreach contractors are planned to be on scene to provide assistance and clear away any remaining belongings and debris.

“The City is addressing this encampment as it impedes access to the park and open space for neighboring communities,” a Seattle Parks spokesperson tells CHS about the planned clearance.

It isn’t the first time in the current pandemic wave of Seattle’s homelessness crisis that the park has been swept — CHS reported here on a clearance last September — but the small camp targeted for clearance this time is indicative of the increased and more rapidly deployed resources for removing encampments from public spaces under the Harrell administration as COVID-19 restrictions fade. Continue reading →

Local real estate company touches up new Capitol Hill home office

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Seattle-based real estate investment company Timberlane Partners has a new office on Capitol Hill. Timberlane purchased the 614 Boylston Ave E property for over $2.4 million in September. Shortly thereafter, the company began working towards office space renovations on the first level of the two-story building.

Despite its pristine exterior, the Boylston Ave E property is over a century old, having been built in 1906. It was purchased by the owners of brand design firm Phinney Bischoff in the mid-90s, and sold to Timberlane in 2021 after nearly three decades of ownership. Continue reading →

Analog Coffee: after a decade on Capitol Hill, still focused on Summit Ave

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After the pandemic, Hayden is ready for anything — even 25 more years on Summit Ave

With photos and reporting by Alex Garland

Ten years ago on Summit Ave, coffee slingers Danny Hanlon and Tim Hayden set out to bring new energy to Seattle’s cafe scene with a new joint on Capitol Hill and a simple, straightforward approach that was more about fostering the vibe of a favorite neighborhood bar than creating a caffeine corporation. They vowed a decade ago that Analog Coffee would be the only coffee shop they would ever open.

“When we started having those talks in 2008/2009, the Seattle coffee scene seemed like it needed some new blood,” Hayden told CHS this week when we came calling to wish the cafe congratulations on its decade on the Hill. “it was full of great coffee shops but most were roasters. There weren’t a lot of strong independent shops at that time. We really value that independent shop model, we weren’t interested in being roasters. We love interacting with people and creating a special spot in the neighborhood. We decided we would try to make our own version of our favorite shop through Analog.” Continue reading →

Goodbye to the 47 — UPDATE

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Some obituaries of the COVID-19 pandemic will never be recorded. CHS is here to bury Bellevue Ave’s Metro Route 47.

It has been dead and gone for months but we never reported on its passing and, as the economy more fully reopens and increased levels of vaccination have more of us on the move, more neighbors around the western slope of Capitol Hill are asking, “What happened to the 47?”

It was more than the pandemic. The 47 was one of King County Metro’s COVID-19 sacrifices, part of a handful of suspended all-day routes and overall service reductions required due to the plunge in ridership and fare revenue during the health and economic crisis.

But as Metro has bounced back, the 47 has been left permanently behind. Continue reading →

CHS Pics | Finch and Pine growing into its space on Bellevue Ave

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Spring Harvest with vegan feta and spring peas with a Spruce Dirty Gibson on the side.

Capitol Hill is reopening and there is symbiosis on Bellevue Ave.

Finch and Pine, the seasonal Pacific Northwest cafe, is one of the newest dining spots in the neighborhood and its horseshoe counter is ready for a steadily growing number of indoor diners. Like most of us, new owner Sara Moran saw her life change during the pandemic. For her, dreams of owning her own restaurant were suddenly on fast forward.

“I thought I was going to have more time,” Moran said. “I knew I had to do something. The next step was to find a place. I came in here for coffee one day and heard it was for sale.”

CHS told you here about the new project in the former Cafe Barjot space from Capitol Hill food and drink veteran and first time owner Moran whose vision for a restaurant of her own was partly shaped by her time in the kitchen at the dearly departed Sitka and Spruce and her hope for “a symbiotic relationship with the community, the farmers, the fishermen” that come together to create a menu. Continue reading →

New Finch and Pine seasonal Pacific Northwest cafe seeks to achieve neighborhood ‘symbiosis’ on Bellevue Ave

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A Finch and Pine marble rye tartine with housemade gravlax, cured with fennel seeds and fennel frans. A seasonal selection of tartines will always be on the cafe menu. (Image: Finch and Pine)

The close relationship between a bird and a tree is the inspiration behind Finch and Pine, the seasonal Pacific Northwest cafe set to open soon in the former Cafe Barjot space on Bellevue Ave.

Sara Moran has visions of the crystal finch living in a pine forest, eating pinecones, and spreading seeds for more trees.

“What we would like to be — a symbiotic relationship with the community, the farmers, the fishermen,” Moran says.

Along with partner Paolo Gentile who will handle the beer and wine end of things, Moran is planning a May 6th reopening of the space. CHS reported here on the decision from owner Wylie Bush to sell Barjot and focus his efforts on nearby Joe Bar.

With experience from her own food allergies, Moran wants the menu — centered around locally grown produce, and seafood, and as many locally forged items on the menu as possible — to be gracefully friendly to diners including pescatarian, vegetarian, and items that “just happen to be” vegan or gluten free. Continue reading →