Shoreline Community College this month released a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) regarding its proposed plan for campus improvements to be made during the next 10 years.
The draft includes several proposals officials believe would relieve the two most prominent community concerns: traffic congestions and adequate parking.
The college is holding a public comment time until Aug. 14, and a public hearing is scheduled for 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, July 29 in the Canteen Room in the Pagoda Union Building, 16101 Greenwood Ave. N. Comments made during this time will be considered in the final EIS.
As required by the State Board of Community and Technical Colleges for capitol funding requests, and by the city of Shoreline, who oversees zoning for the college, SCC officials have created a DEIS that they feel is necessary to compensate the forecasted 19 percent enrollment increase over the next decade. The college currently serves about 5,000 students.
While the draft includes building repairs, updated storm water retention and detention systems, an NCAA-sized baseball diamond, soccer field and outdoor amphitheater, traffic and parking remain the college and community’s primary concerns.
The main traffic concern, officials said, is the intersection at 160th and Greenwood Avenue. With an average of 4,000 vehicles using the intersection to get to Innis Arden Way and the college’s entrance, lines of up to 10 cars often form at the four-way stop.
The proposed change includes “spreading out” the traffic near the intersection to better control the peak flow times of the area, said Mike Reed, principal engineer at Traffic Engineering Northwest.
“Traffic traveling west to Innis Arden Way from the intersection would access it directly from Greenwood Avenue, and eastbound traffic would be diverted onto 160th immediately west of Greenwood,” Reed said. “This would split the flows and demands associated with the college and peak traffic hours.”
Williams added that options such as a traffic signal and a traffic circle were not included in the proposal because the college felt those changes “would not go along with the character of the neighborhood.” Still, no permanent solutions have been decided on.
“We know that the intersection is a huge concern for the community, and these suggestions might be looked at as more of a beginning point or talking point, but are certainly nothing the college is saying is the best solution,” said Randy Stegmeier, director of facilities, capitol projects, safety and security for the college.
Because the intersection is located on city-owned property and not the college campus, city of Shoreline planner Andrea Spencer said the college will most likely pick up the bill.
“The city is encouraging the campus to do its master plan, and encourage that the plan support the health and vitality of the community,” Spencer said.
The other contentious issue the DEIS addresses is the amount of parking available for students, staff and visitors. Many residents said they have problems parking because students would rather walk several blocks than pay to park in the college’s designated lot.
“It’s just not fair for those who live around here to not be able to park in front of their homes, and to not be able to find parking within a few blocks sometimes,” one resident said at the public forum in February.
Currently SCC offers just over 2,700 parking spots on campus. According to the DEIS, an additional 700 parking spots are necessary. In order to minimize the community impact, Williams said, the additional parking would be combined into a multi-level garage.
“The planning that has gone into this from the beginning has closely considered the impact the college has on the community,” Williams said. “The way in which that is revealed in the plan is that it does not increase the width of the campus … it goes up.”
While there are no plans to expand the campus boundaries, a property exchange between the college and the city may take place in the future.
“There is some discussion about a potential land swap,” Williams said, “that would add to the college the area that surrounds the pit parking lot on the very west part of campus in exchange for underdeveloped land on campus that borders the park.”
The exchange would allow the college to more easily expand its parking while adding land to the city park, Williams added.
The next step in the process will be to use the community comments to revise the DEIS over the next month or so, after which a final EIS will be submitted to Shoreline city officials for approval.
For now, officials said, the public is encouraged to submit its thoughts and comments on the DEIS to the college.
“Everyone will really have to come together to find appropriate solutions,” Williams said.
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