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| The locations of three new projects added to the Transportation Improvement Plan are marked on a map |
By
Oliver MoffatAt the
May 20 meeting, the city council approved a new
Transportation Improvement Plan with some amendments, discussed
Electric Scooter and Bike Sharing, and provided feedback on the
Comprehensive Plan.
Every year, the city council is required to approve a list of transportation projects for the subsequent six-years. The city council made three amendments to the
Transportation Improvement Plan before approval: an unfunded bike bridge to Edmonds over SR 104, proposed improvements to Firlands Way, and splitting the 185th project into separate east and west projects.
Regional bike advocates lobbied the city council to build a non-motorized bridge over SR 104 where a one mile gap in the Interurban Trail between Shoreline and Edmonds drives cyclists onto busy streets. The city council agreed to pitch in $40,000 to study the project but (given
staffing shortages) the city did not sound eager to commit to yet another big bike bridge project.
One block to the east of the
CRISTA retirement community and one block west of the new
Canopy apartment complex is Firlands Way N. A citizen-initiated proposal could convert the road with 90 feet of city-owned right of way into a six acre, tree-lined pedestrian friendly public space.
The proposal could be both a transportation project and a park project and bring badly needed open space to the rapidly urbanizing neighborhood near Aurora. The city council added a plan to study the Firlands Way proposal to the transportation plan.
After
hearing safety concerns about 180th Street from residents in North City, council member
Eben Pobee sponsored an amendment to separate the 180th and 10th Ave segments of the 185th corridor project into a distinct project called the “North City Light Rail Connector”.
Largely symbolic, the name change doesn’t increase the priority or funding for the project, but raises the visibility of a smaller project that was previously buried inside a larger project.
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| A screenshot shows council member Betsy Robertson saying “All those folks who don’t want to see the additional housing, they are all comfortably housed.” |
Although it wasn’t on the agenda, the topic of what kinds of
Middle Housing the city should allow came up while discussing the
Comprehensive Plan.
Mayor Chris Roberts said he wants to “double down” and “embrace middle housing of all types” not just meet the minimum density rules required by state law. “I hope the planning commission brings back policies that give us the big version of what middle housing could look like in Shoreline. And then we can work with our affordable housing developers to say ‘okay, what do you need’ and how do we get really truly affordable housing in our city,” said Roberts.
Council member
Annette Ademasu disagreed with the push for more middle housing. “I’m hearing from people out there… they don’t want to see corner to corner… townhomes. They would rather see more green space interspersed when we are looking at middle housing,“ said Ademasu.
“All those folks who don’t want to see the additional housing, they are all comfortably housed,” council member
Betsy Robertson said in response. “And we have a housing crisis and we need to add more units. And Shoreline is committed to doing that,” said Robertson.
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