Businesses and residents of the north portion of the SR99 WSDOT Safety Study are becoming concerned with recommendations being discussed between the Washington State Department of Transportation, Seattle Transportation and area stakeholders.

The problem is simply that we do not have enough roadways in the North End of the city (indeed in the entire region) to handle the amount of motorized vehicles that use those roadways. Because of this problem, driver rage and stupidity have become the norm.

In the case of the WSDOT study of Aurora Avenue, suggestions are being strongly made to eliminate all parking along Aurora Avenue between N. 65th and N. 145th and that those lanes, which are now allowed to provide parking for the small businesses in the area during non-peak hours, are not really necessary.

During the peak hours of 3-7 p.m. northbound, no parking is allowed with the consent of the small businesses in the area and at great hardship to most of them.

In the southbound lanes of Aurora, no parking is allowed between the hours of 6-9 a.m. These peak hour restrictions help greatly in getting traffic into and out of our downtown core.

Also under discussion is "median treatment," which could mean the total elimination of the designated two-way left-turn lane access to homes and businesses, a barrier down the middle of Aurora (like the one from the Battery Street Tunnel to Woodland Park) or just closing out the two-way left-turn lane and replacing it with trees and shrubs and designated left-turn access.

Also under consideration is the elimination of ALL traffic in the curb lanes and instituting a BRT lane (bus rapid transit), which would reduce traffic flows along Aurora by ONE THIRD. This one-third reduction of allowable traffic on Aurora is being considered even though the current bus route (No. 358) that runs along Aurora Avenue is only heavily used in the a.m. and p.m. peak-hour times.

WSDOT is pushing these BRT lanes quietly to Seattle politicians and department heads as one solution to the transportation and safety problem along Aurora Avenue.

The question that begs to be asked is: "What problem along Aurora?"

Aurora works well considering the amount of traffic it is asked to carry. Let us not forget that Aurora is the alternative to I-5 when the freeway is all clogged up with accidents! Do we really want neighborhood streets such as Meridian, Roosevelt, Greenwood and 15th NW to become the I-5 alternative? Do we really want to deliberately increase traffic on neighborhood streets at all?

Residents and businesses along Aurora should be concerned. Where are those cars and trucks going to go? Whose neighborhood streets are going to be impacted by additional traffic? The answer is, "all of them!"

What is good for residents in the North End is the smooth flow of traffic along Aurora so that commuters are not tempted to cut through neighborhood streets to bypass traffic. What is good for Aurora businesses is creating a smooth flow of traffic along Aurora so customers and delivery trucks can move efficiently, providing them with adequate on-street parking for customers, and easy access to businesses via the two-way left-turn lane, as well as safe, crime-free walkways for customers.

What is NOT good for both Aurora businesses and North End residents is eliminating ONE THIRD of the traffic flowing along Aurora and replacing it with dedicated BRT (bus) lanes. By working together, problems can be solved. We just all need an open mind!

-Faye Garneau, Executive director, Aurora Avenue Merchants Association