Shoreline City Council Meeting January 13, 2014

Devon Vose Rickabaugh
Photo by Jerry Pickard

Shoreline City Council Meeting 1-13-14

By Devon Vose Rickabaugh

Martin Luther King Jr Day

Mayor Shari Winstead presented The Martin Luther King Jr Day Proclamation to the Ballinger Teens for their commitment to community through volunteering, hosting a leadership summit, and recreational activities. The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. believed that "a person’s worth should not be measured by his or her color, culture, or class, but rather by their commitment to creating a better life for all." Mayor Winstead proclaimed “On behalf of the Shoreline City Council, I urge Shoreline residents to reflect on our common goals, and celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s ideals of freedom and justice for all." She Proclaimed January 20, 2014 as Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

Annexation of 145th Street

The Council discussed whether to pursue the city’s annexation of 145th Street. Senior Transportation Planner Alicia McIntire and Transportation Services Manager Kirk McKinley presented background and requested direction to begin negotiations with Seattle and King County to transfer the roadway to Shoreline.

Shoreline does not own any of the right-of-way on 145th but experiences significant traffic and safety issues associated with this street, including the lack of a sidewalk system that complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Furthermore, Shoreline cannot improve the sidewalks on the north side of this street without coordination with King County. Traffic volumes on this street are anticipated to increase due to highway tolling on the Lake Washington bridge(s), regional growth and the future light rail station at NE 145th Street and I-5.

Councilmember Hall said he would like to see more of a plan drawn up  and the transfer of Seattle Public Utilities to Shoreline completed before tackling the annexation of 145th.

City Manager Tarry said the Council would be only approving moving ahead toward the annexation and approving spending $50,000 of the moneys approved by Council for a Route Development Plan to be used for the development of documentation associated with the annexation, such as base mapping and assembling existing data from all jurisdictions.

Transportation Services Manager Mckinley said that the transfer of Seattle Public Utilities is a separate issue from the annexation of 145th.

Councilmember Salomon wanted a report on how many home owners would be affected by this annexation of 145th from Lake City Way to 3rd and Greenwood.

City Manager Tarry said she heard permission from the Council to negotiate with Seattle and King County and move forward with the Route Development Plan for 145th Street.

King County Metro Transit will need to reduce service  by 600,000 hours or approximately 17 percent of Metro’s current service. Specific cuts proposed for Shoreline can be found on the King county website. Of the 26 Metro routes serving Shoreline: 11 would remain unchanged, seven would be modified, three routes would be retained, however, service in Shoreline would be eliminated, and five would be eliminated altogether.

The system wide cuts would occur over five consecutive service changes, beginning in June 2014 with the elimination of the viaduct construction mitigation service. Subsequent cuts would then occur in September 2014, February, June, and September 2015, with approximately 150,000 hours eliminated with each service change. In an effort to forego these cuts, King County has been seeking additional funding sources.