Aurora corridor revamp enters phase two

SHORELINE

As the first phase of the Aurora Corridor Project between North 145th and North 165th Street nears completion, city officials, business owners and residents are gearing up for the next two miles.

And there is plenty to be done.

An environmental review by city consultant Jones &Stokes is underway to analyze traffic impacts, land use, air and noise, socio-economics and cultural/historical resources in three design alternatives.

Reports by the firm, as well as other technical reports, are expected to be available for review by June before the city council chooses a design alternative for the remaining two miles of the corridor project.

“They’re scientists, we don’t tell them what to do,” project manager Kirk McKinley said. “The city of Shoreline has no influence over the analysis or the outcomes of the analysis.”

Part of doing the analysis up front, McKinley said, is that it gets community members involved and makes the entire process more transparent.

The design alternative process features four options for the remainder of the project. One involves a 98- foot width design from curb to curb, while two others use a 110-foot width design. The fourth option is to do nothing.

Both of the 110-foot width options include design options, such as 7-foot sidewalks, 4-foot vegetated amenity zones between curb and sidewalk, and landscaped medians.

One option shifts east at North 175th Street and North 200th Street while the other shifts west at the same locations. The 98-foot width option includes 7-foot sidewalks and shifts east at North 175th Street but does not include room for amenity zones and minimal room for vegetation in the medians. Either of the two 110-foot options most closely resemble the work done so far between North 145th and North 165th Streets.

Shoreline resident and Aurora Business Community (ABC) Team participant Dale Wright supports either of the two 110-foot alternatives.

As a member of Vision Aurora, a group committed to seeing that the design for the first mile is carried through to the last two, Wright hopes to make others aware of issues surrounding the first mile.

Wright said understanding the cost of the project is difficult.

Responding to documents the ABC Team received on April 4, Wright explained some of his own project cost analysis.

“It’s because of many false figures stated for the first mile that I performed my own cost analysis,” Wright, a retired industrial accountant said. “I feel that I am qualified to do so.”

Using information from the most current cost analysis study, dated October 2006, information from consultants and city staff, Wright’s analysis agreed with the city’s $26 million price tag for the first mile. He said costs for the Interurban Trail, roughly $4 million, should not be included in the cost for the Aurora corridor.

“The Interurban Trail is truly a separate project,” Wright said.

Wright said another common misnomer is that the first phase is typically referred to as the “first mile” when the total distance as confirmed by the firm, CH2M HILL, is really 1.2 miles.

“That’s 20 percent more and the reason it’s important is that when you compare to other cities and try to determine where you are … from a cost standpoint you need a common unit of measure.”

He said opponents of the Aurora project say the cost far exceeded a similar 2005 project in Federal Way.

Wright said that although the cost was $11 million more than Federal Way’s corridor project, additional design costs — such as the number of lights and landscaping — weren’t included in Federal Way’s $15 million project price.

He said non design costs stemmed from public meetings, litigation and traffic control while the basic topography of the land presents additional, costly challenges in Shoreline.

Because the project was funded through the normal flow of tax revenue and the cost of utilities is paid by Seattle City Light, Wright determined that the first mile cost to the city is $2.9 million.

“For that investment, the city receives the first mile valued at $26 million,” Wright said.

Larry Steele, owner of Aurora Rents, 175th Street and Aurora Avenue, said there are many issues surrounding the second phase of the Aurora corridor project.

“This is one of the most important corners of the project,” Steele said. “Our biggest concern is how much property (the city) will take.”

Steele, a second generation owner of the 45-year-old business, said it is critical for him to come up with some mitigation to acquire property to offset any of his own property loss.

“My first concern is how I’m going to stay in business and is the taking of property fair enough to me so I will be able to stay in business,” he said.

Steele will more than likely have to rebuild and must also determine how best to run his business while construction occurs.

“At this point I don’t have the answer … I’m expecting this to be a partnership with the city,” he said. “I’m not demanding (help), I’m asking. It’ll be up to the city to say they can help but right now, I don’t know how that’s going to be.”

One possibility may be moving his business east over Ronald Place North, commonly known as the Red Brick Road. According to a letter sent to city officials from the Shoreline Historical Museum board of trustees in January, the road is listed in the city’s Historic Resource Inventory as the “last exposed section of the original brick auto road which ran through Shoreline from 85th Avenue N. to the county line.” The road, which was completed in 1913, was one of 15 sites the museum board asked be preserved or incorporated into new site plans in order to promote adaptive reuse should their original function no longer be necessary. An idea would be to save the bricks and memorialize them in a city park or use asphalt to encapsulate the road itself.

“My hope is to preserve the thought of Red Brick Road … by a remembrance,” Steele said. “If the city were to vacate the road and remove the bricks and preserve them, that would be ideal … but we’re still in the beginning stages of all this.”

At the April 25 ABC Team meeting, city manager Bob Olander thanked team members for their participation in their appointed volunteer positions and asked for their continued help in making a recommendation to the city council.

“It’s probably one of the most important projects for the next 100 years,” Olander said. “These opportunities don’t come along very often and we need to make sure we do it right. What you’re doing is very important to the city of Shoreline.”

The ABC Team decided to participate further, by extending the May 9 meeting to three hours and agreeing to meet on May 23 and June 6 before the city council makes a decision. Meetings are open for public observation and are held at the Shoreline Fire Department, 17525 Aurora Avenue North, at 6:30 p.m.

Preparation of environmental documents including the National Environmental Policy Act and State Environmental Policy Act will occur through December. After the environmental process is complete the next steps will include a design process and right-of-way acquisition. Construction on the next two miles is slated to begin in late 2008.

“We’ll be meeting with all of the business (owners) to confirm parking space, customer access and working with them, sharing information,” McKinley said.