By LEAH WEATHERSBY

As any North Seattle resident above 85th Street knows, "sidewalk" can be a hot button word.

For many blocks, those pedestrian corridors are the holy grail of street improvements: forever sought, seldom, if ever found. Every once and a while, however, encouraging signs pop up.

These days, the Broadview neighborhood is starting to look like a showroom for future street improvement designs. Last November, the City's transportation department, also known as SEA TRAN, put the finishing touches on a faux brick, asphalt walkway on North 87th Street between Dayton and Phinney avenues.

Evanston Avenue between North 85th and North 87th streets has acquired something that can perhaps best be described as a portable-looking curb, and the same thing has been put in around the corner on North 87th Street between Evanston and Fremont avenues, with the addition of an actual walkway.

But in some residents' minds, the Street Edge Alternatives Project, or S.E.A. Streets, on Second Avenue NW between NW 117th Street and NW 120th Street tops them all.

The new "S.E.A." street was dedicated at an official ceremony on April 14 with local residents and politicians (including City Councilmembers Nick Licata, Richard Conlin and Jan Drago, and State Representative Carolyn Edmonds) on hand.

The S.E.A. Streets project, which is part of Seattle Public Utilities and was completed in January, is comprised of a curvy road, which varies in width from 14 feet to 18 feet, and a walkway on the west side on the street.

The "impervious area," a.k.a. paving, is intentionally limited to decrease storm water run-off, a well-known side-effect of development. The road and walk ways have been interspersed with "native landscaping" to improve drainage, as well as 12 swales which are linked together. Storm water drainage is further addressed with perforated pipes that "detain water during higher flow periods." There are also built-in parking spaces for residents.

Originally over 30 streets were considered potential candidates to test this new street design. Six blocks submitted the required petition (signed by over 60 percent of the residents) to stay in the running.

Second Avenue residents Tom and Mary Rosplock and Joseph and Lisa O'Leary led the campaign to bring the S.E.A. Streets Project to their block. Ninety-four percent of the street's residents endorsed the plan, with only one resident refusing to sign the petition.

"Before it was just like any of these other streets, unimproved and nondescript," said Mary Rosplock, who added that she and her husband have lived in their present home for 13 years. "It was a risk, but we needed to run a risk."

Not all the neighbors are completely happy about the project. G.F. Christiansen who has lived on the block for nearly 50 years and did not sign the petition said she thinks the project shows mixed results.

"It looks OK, but there are certain things I don't like about it. I don't like a one-way street and the parking is terrible," Christiansen said.

According to a Seattle Public Utilities description of the project, there were many criteria on which potential sites were selected, including that the street be within the Piper's Creek Watershed, with no existing curbs or sidewalks and not directly served by an existing storm drain system. The street also had to be non-arterial, residential and without a steep grade or a metro bus route on it.

John Arnesen, S.E.A. Streets project manager, said the estimated final cost of the project is around $850,000. His department is still reviewing the results of the project.

"We still have to evaluate this project through the fall, winter and spring seasons," Arnesen said. "Once we have a better idea of how this is working we'll talk to the Mayor and the City Council about getting more funding."

When that happens, it appears that SPU will likely have at least one supporter in City Councilman Nick Licata, who was in attendance for the S.E.A. Streets dedication. "I want to see this in other neighborhoods," Licata said.

While the department hopes to do one other similar project, this time with a porous road surface, Arnesen said that neighborhoods shouldn't expect the City to redo all of our streets free of charge.

"Residential street improvements in general have been paid for by property owners," Arnesen said. "In the future this kind of street improvement would most likely involve some kind of homeowner contribution."

But at least now, North Seattle is one step closer to sidewalks for all.

For more information about the S.E.A. Streets project, contact John Arnesen of SPU at 684-8921.