Council and residents discuss Parkway project

Published 4:30 pm Friday, December 19, 2008

The City of Sammamish Council last night voted 7 – 0 to approve Phase 1A of the East Lake Sammamish Parkway Project.

Phase 1A represents a significantly reduced redevelopment of the parkway than the one proposed originally.

Parkway improvements which have been under consideration until recently were supposed to stretch from Inglewood Hill Road to Northeast 26th Street.

It is hoped that the reduced project, known as Phase 1A, will retain the original improvements planned for the Inglewood Hill Road intersection, and extend those improvements northward to Northeast 18th Place.

In the original plan, the improvements were to extend to Northeast 26th Street.

Though the vote to approve the plan was unanimous, the meeting was by far a night of mutual agreement, with about 50 local residents on hand to witness what was at times a dialogue of great passion.

With the project discussion moved to the front of the agenda in the hopes that the crowd of 50 or so would be able beat the expected snow on the way home, a line of speakers formed to have their say on the council’s handling of the Parkway.

Those comments often digressed into heated attacks on what was seen as a refusal of the council to listen to its residents concerns.

A number of the speakers were members of the Citizens for Sammamish group, which has formed in recent months for the purpose of ensuring the priorities of local citizens are represented in council activities such as this.

Spokesperson for Citizens for Sammamish Michael J. O’Connell said after the meeting that the decision to reduce the scope of the project was generally a victory for the city and his group.

“It was pleasing to see the city concede that this massive project would be an irresponsible use of funds to solve the problems at hand,” he said.

“The two things that I took away were that the Citizens for Sammamish group is strong and only getting stronger, and that the city is growing more flexible.

“Last night there was a sense that some of the Councillors could be persuaded to act upon the concerns of the people.”

“We’ve been concerned about this for years, and only now you are listening, at the 11th hour?” was one of the comments heard in the public submission time.

“It is time to start listening to the people,” was a refrain that rang out repeatedly.

The specific concerns over the future development of the Parkway included, but were not limited to, maintaining sufficient traffic volumes, providing a safe thoroughfare for pedestrians and cyclists, water run-off into Lake Sammamish, and the problems associated with the power poles and above ground power supply.

Phase 1A is expected to cost about $8.7m, down from $13.9m in the initial project.

The length covered by the project will be reduced from 5,300ft to 2,800ft.