Seattle Sun Newspaper - Vol. 7, Issue 6, June 2003

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Merchants question decision

to build Lake City Way median

By JAMES BUSH

Lake City Way is getting far more median than anyone bargained for.

Although earlier drawings presented to the community included small sections of divided roadway, Lake City business people were shocked to learn recently how much median transportation planners are seeking to build this fall.

"This was a surprise put that in capital letters," says Jamie Pierre, whose family has owned and operated the Bill Pierre auto dealerships in Lake City for almost six decades. With the help of the Lake City Chamber of Commerce, merchants are organizing to contest the installation of the full median plan.

The current proposal would split the street from Northgate Way to NE 117th Street, resume the median at the NE 120th Street intersection and continue it to the Lake City commercial core. More median would be added north of the core to NE 133rd Street and around the intersection of Lake City Way and NE 145th Street.

Neighborhood merchants learned the specifics at the May 15 meeting of the Lake City Chamber.

Tom Simpson, access management engineer for the Washington State Department of Transportation, says median installation is fairly common on state highways with traffic flows of more than 25,000 cars per day. Lake City Way (also known as State Route 522) currently handles almost 40,000 automobiles on a daily basis, he says. Adding a median reduces left-turn accidents and increases the highway's capacity without adding extra lanes, says Simpson.

Although Simpson called the decision a joint one by both the State and City, given Lake City Way's state highway status, the median installation is really the State's call, says Ron Scharf, project manager for the Seattle Department of Transportation.

It's a bad call, argues Mike Russell, manager of the Big Foot Car Wash and gasoline station at 11310 Lake City Way NE.

Several car dealerships across Lake City Way gas up cars at his station on a daily basis, Russell says, and patronize his car wash during winter months. Many commercial customers from the business district to the north buy gasoline from his station. A steady stream of southbound drivers also buy gas during the morning commute. Those three groups, which comprise the bulk of his morning business, would be cut off by the new median, he says. If the median is constructed as planned, "there will be no reason for me to open in the morning," he notes.

While acknowledging that Lake City Way is an important regional highway, critics of the median plan point out that the street is also home to many auto-oriented businesses and is the main access to several residential neighborhoods. When told at the meeting that the SR-522 project would include a left-turn lane at the Northeast 120th Street intersection, but not a left-turn signal light, Breakfast Club restaurant co-owner Mike McCauley told State and City representatives that this change is no improvement.

"You can't move more cars that way you can only move one car when the light is changing from yellow to red," he said. "It seems to be set up for through traffic, not neighborhood traffic."

Business owners also cited potential interference with truck deliveries if a median is installed.

Project managers pledge that area residents and business owners will be kept informed throughout the construction. A major public open house on the project will be held this September or October, with construction beginning about one month later. Scharf also promises business owners that all travel lanes will be kept open during peak hour traffic and that access will be maintained to all businesses during construction.

Pierre says he and other Lake City Way merchants are hoping the current plan isn't set in concrete. "Hopefully, there's a balance between what they need and what our businesses need."