Rainier Community Center Walking Audit Safe Routes to Parks Overview: Top Observations: Top Recommendations: Rainier Community Center is located in Rainier is a large barrier to accessing the Community 1. Establish a wayfinding system connecting the Columbia City in the southeast section of Center and park facilities. Though improvements are Columbia City LINK station, the Columbia City Seattle. This walking audit explored being done to improve crossing distances and block business district, and the Rainier Community accessibility to the community center and lengths, the sidewalk along Rainier needs to be Center/Genesee Park. surrounding park and civic facilities from the improved. Furthermore, access to Rainier from the 2. Improve the pedestrian experience along Rainier neighborhood and the Columbia City LINK west can be circuitous and dilapidated. Avenue and access across Rainier. Light Rail Station. There are few clues along Rainier Avenue, Martin 3. Genesee Park provides many opportunities for The walking audit route began at Rainier Luther King Way, or the Columbia City business recreation and community interaction. Strengthen Community Center and visited the Columbia District about the parks and facilities around the accessibility between surrounding institutions (school, City Light Rail Station on Martin Luther King Community Center. community center, museum, library, health center, etc) Boulevard South (MLK) via South Alaska Street Genesee Park and the Columbia Park to Lake and park. Also develop plan for and South Edmunds Street, sections of Rainier Washington conceptual trail are strong assets but programming/upgrading park space to improve Avenue South and South Genesee Street, and poorly implemented and utilized. usability. Genesee Park. Edmunds is a more enjoyable route than Alaska to 4. S Genesee St needs improved crossings to connect the Community Center, however without better Genesee Park and the Community Center with the signage is not intuitive. For many, Alaska is the neighborhood to the north and Hawthorne logical route yet it needs improvements for Elementary. pedestrians. Participants: Audit leader: Seth Schromen-Wawrin Table of Contents: Page This walking audit was joined by 18 Audit organizer: Mari Becker and Sound Steps Top Recommendations .......................... 1 individuals representing the following Write-up: Seth Schromen-Wawrin Maps of route audited .......................... 2 groups and stakeholders: Reviewed by: Mari Becker Field Notes.......................................... 3 o Sound Steps Photo Credits: Etta Cosey & Mari Becker Contacts & project information............. 19 o Rainier Community Center o Public Health – Seattle & King County o Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) o Seattle Police Department (SPD) o Columbia City Chamber of Commerce o Seattle Audubon o Local residents Download this report from: www.seattle.gov/parks/Seniors/SoundSteps.htm Safe Routes to Parks – Rainier Community Center Walking Audit September 27th, 2010 About Safe Routes to Parks: Safe Routes to Parks (SRtP) is an initiative developed by Public Health Seattle & King County alongside Seattle Parks and Recreation. SRtP follows the Safe Routes to Schools model, which promotes the health of Seattle’s youth by making it easier and safer to walk to school. In the same way, SRtP aims to Map of Walking Route: benefit the health of all Seattle residents by making parks and recreation facilities easier and safer to access on foot. Physical inactivity is a growing concern in King County, with its ensuing health problems ranging from obesity, diabetes and other chronic health conditions. Meanwhile, Seattle’s over 400 parks and 26 community centers offer ideal opportunities for sports, play, exercise, and other active pursuits. Gyms, weight rooms, pools, walking/jogging paths and more provide a vast public resource. However, many community members either do not know about these assets or cannot easily access them. Through education, enforcement and engineering strategies, the goal of SRtP is to increase the number of people walking to local parks and community centers in order to enjoy these important community assets. By walking to Parks and Recreation facilities and then utilizing the resources that they offer, Seattle residents will be more physically active and healthy. Within Parks and Recreation, SRtP is spearheaded by “Sound Steps,” a walking program for adults age 50+ which includes weekly walking groups, hikes, fitness training, health education and pedestrian advocacy. The Sound Steps pedestrian advocacy team chose to pilot SRtP at Rainier Community Center and surrounding parklands such as Columbia Park and Genesee Park. Their first step was to organize a ‘walking audit’ of the area, investigating the safety and accessibility of walking routes that lead to Rainier Community Center and vicinity. This walking audit was modeled after similar audits conducted by Feet First, a Seattle-based pedestrian advocacy organization (www.feetfirst.info/). The information gathered at this walking audit will be distributed through this report to various community stakeholders, with the goal to receive support and funding to accomplish the identified improvements. After completing SRtP strategies around Rainier Community Center, the model will be evaluated and then applied to other Seattle Parks and Recreation facilities. www.seattle.gov/parks/seniors/SoundSteps.htm page 2 Safe Routes to Parks – Rainier Community Center Walking Audit September 27th, 2010 Field Notes Category Location Description Photo Crossing 38th Ave. S & The traffic circle here is a good traffic calming measure for this intersection. S Alaska St. Because of the light at Rainier Ave and Alaska St, the intersection quickly switches from being very quiet to being very busy. The traffic circle reduces the speeds before the traffic moves into the surrounding neighborhoods. Located between the Columbia City business district, the community center, and the Rainier Playfield, this intersection sees a lot of pedestrian traffic. ACTIONS: • Consider signage such as “Residential Street” for vehicles coming from Rainier. • Encourage neighborhood to maintain the traffic circle landscaping. • Expand traffic circle with an intersection painting Crossing & 38th Ave S Rainier Playfield is often used for sports practices by the surrounding neighborhood and schools. People are frequently crossing 38th between the Streetscape between S Alaska St and playfield and the Community Center to access the playfield from the S Conover surrounding neighborhood and Genesee Park. This use has the potential to Way activate both the playfield and the Community Center. ACTIONS: • Change the pavement along 38th from Alaska to Conover Way to visually connect the playfield to the Community Center. • During times of high activity (sports games, park events, etc) close 38th to vehicles. Encouragement 38 th Ave S Currently it appears like many participants to the sport events at Rainier between S Playfield drive to the events and park on the surrounding streets. Nearby Alaska St and Franklin High School uses the fields for softball, baseball, and tennis. This S Conover could be a potential target group to encourage walking to the park Way facilities. ACTIONS: • Talk with the surrounding schools and organized sport leagues about their use of the playfield and potential ways to implement an encouragement campaign www.seattle.gov/parks/seniors/SoundSteps.htm page 3 Safe Routes to Parks – Rainier Community Center Walking Audit September 27th, 2010 Category Location Description Photo Sightline Post Office at The post office drop box is located so it blocks sightlines for drivers to the Alaska and sidewalk. Additionally, cars at the drop box block the sidewalk. Rainier ACTIONS: • SDOT and the community should talk with Michael Fletcher (USPS Manager of Columbia City Station) to have the drop box moved further away from the sidewalk. USPS phone is (206) 725-5117. Sidewalk Alaska The sidewalk is broken and uplifted in several places along this stretch, conditions between 38th which creates tripping hazards. It is a major arterial that many pedestrians and MLK use to connect Columbia City to MLK and the LINK Columbia City Station. ACTIONS: • Discuss with property owners ways to repair sidewalk. Crossing Alaska and Drivers often make rushed right turns from Alaska eastbound onto Rainier Rainier southbound. This is compounded by the steep hill on Alaska and speed of traffic on Rainier. ACTIONS: • Signage to slow traffic. Schools Alaska and There are three schools (Arts in Motion, Zion Preparatory Academy, and 33rd Ave Interagency Academy) along Alaska, however the school zone only covers one and there is no sign stating ‘school’ when westbound. ACTIONS: • Expand school zone and increase signage www.seattle.gov/parks/seniors/SoundSteps.htm page 4 Safe Routes to Parks – Rainier Community Center Walking Audit September 27th, 2010 Category Location Description Photo Safety Washington Washington State Department of Services for the Blind provides services for Services for the visually impaired. Many arrive by transit along MLK or Rainier. There is the Blind – little visual notification that this site exists or that there may be a Alaska and concentration of visually impaired people in the vicinity. 35th ACTIONS: • Consider more apparent signs that alert drivers of a concentration of blind people in the area. • Community members should ask Services for the Blind what their impression of safety is.