by Kirby Lindsay, posted 18 February 2015
At the January meeting of the Fremont Neighborhood Council (FNC) representatives from the City of Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) – John Buswell and Greg Funk – spoke about pending repairs to the city system of stairways.
Throughout Fremont, at street ends, mid-way on long blocks and often in seemingly random places, we have staircases. According to Buswell, the City of Seattle has 515 staircases they manage, with 45 in North Seattle – and the majority of those in the Fremont/Phinney Ridge area.
The Bowdoin/Fremont Staircase
The City maintains a database on each and every staircase, and does regular condition assessments putting prioritization on the needed improvements and repairs. One Fremont stairway, at N Bowdoin Pl & Fremont Ave N, has reached high priority due to safety concerns.
According to a January 2015 SDOT notice on the Bowdoin project, ‘The existing stairway does not meet current safety standards.’ The City complies with American With Disabilities Act (ADA) standards for staircases in its rebuilds. These improvements do not include wheelchair access, but they will incorporate a consistent rise and run of the stair treads, hand rails on both sides and landings at regular intervals.
Described by SDOT as a ‘slab and rail’ staircase, the Bowdoin/Fremont stairs were one of those built between 1945 and 1965. Builders re-used concrete slabs and rail salvaged from the streetcar lines removed from area roadways. Placing concrete slabs one on top of the other, offset, and using the rail as posts with boards nailed on as rough handrails.
While being of a common type of construction, this stairway stands as unique as more than half has a 5% grade, working more as a ramp (with metal strips set every foot or so to aid with traction,) with a steep set of stairs at the Fremont Ave end.
City Plans For Staircase Replacement
According to Buswell, the City has no money to build complete new sets of stairs around the city but with the stock they have they can do small maintenance and/or whole replacements. “We have many more needs than we have money to maintain,” he observed. Yet, former Mayor Greg Nickels made walkability a priority for the city, and since then SDOT has given more attention to doing what they can for city staircases.
For Bowdoin/Fremont, they plan to replace the existing staircase. SDOT struggled to develop a design as they wanted one that preserve as much of the hillside and natural grade as possible. A neighbor of the stairway actually developed the final design which does preserve the grade, and then some.
The new stairs will be built offset (slightly south) from the existing ‘structure.’ According to the drawing distributed at the FNC meeting, the hitching post at the top of the staircase can remain, but will be relocated slightly south to stand at the center of the staircase rather than at the southwest corner. The new staircase design incorporates regular landings, entries for adjoining neighbors, handrails, and will be built without disturbing two existing maple trees and one cherry.
Question Of Bike Access
According to SDOT standards, the new staircase must also have a bike runnel, and that requirement has indefinitely delayed this construction – originally scheduled to begin in February.
A few different runnel designs have been used by the City of Seattle in various projects over the last years, including the retrofitted runnel used on the stairs on the 41st Street overpass. This runnel requires users to tilt their bicycle at a severe angle – to avoid hitting the handrail – in order to run tires along it. Some users complain that pedals of their bicycles hit the steps when they lean it, and impede their progress, or that the angle tips items off the bicycle.
SDOT has worked on a runnel that avoids these problems, and one that they can install throughout the city consistently. This final design would be used on all future stairway improvement projects and, according to information given at the FNC meeting, the design currently awaits approval by pedestrian and bicycle advocates.
Buswell couldn’t give details on the final design, but he did suggest that the runnel for the Bowdoin/Fremont stairs could allow cyclists to stand their bike upright, by placing a cycle ramp to one side of the staircase, beyond the railing, and thereby widening the path.
Residents at the FNC meeting suggested building the new staircase at Bowdoin without a runnel, and retrofitting one to the stairs that run parallel just north at 40th Street. The wider staircase at 40th has much more usage as it sits in direct line with a crosswalk that connects the residential area with B.F. Day Elementary School and the public playground.
Pending Construction
As of now, however, the rebuild of the Bowdoin/Fremont stairs remains delayed. Buswell promised four weeks advance notice of the beginning of construction. Residents asked that construction be done either before the Summer Solstice (and the Fremont Fair) on June 21st, or after July 4th, as both dates create a dramatic rise in public usage of this passageway.
For more information on this project, contact Seattle Department of Transportation representatives John Buswell at john.buswell@seattle.gov or Roadway Structures Supervisor Bruce Wallace at bruce.walace@seattle.gov
Or, as always, consider attending an FNC meeting on the fourth Monday of the month at Doric Lodge #92 at 7p – the next one is February 23rd – and read more about the advocacy organization on the FNC website and its Facebook page.
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©2015 Kirby Lindsay. This column is protected by intellectual property laws, including U.S. copyright laws. Reproduction, adaptation or distribution without permission is prohibited.