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Tree Planting on Maple Street

Tree Planting on Maple Street

Thanks to the legwork and support of engaged residents, one of the corners of our neighborhood that has become a priority for the Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council is the Maple Street area — specifically, the two-block stretch where it curves and splits into a residential/arterial street.

The oddly shaped (shoestring-thin in the middle, bulbed at either end) piece of land that divides the residential stretch from the arterial is a problem for a number of reasons. It’s untended and generates dust. It doesn’t offer a contiguous pedestrian pathway. It is a frequent accident site on account of speeding and adverse weather conditions. And it’s ugly as sin.

The proposed tree-planting site.
The proposed tree-planting site in all its dusty glory.

To start addressing some of those problems immediately, we’ve recently arranged to have street trees planted on the strip. The proposed locations and tree varieties (e.g., ponderosa pine, lilac, wireless Zelkova, tuliptree) are pictured below. These will help root some of the dust and provide a natural sound and sight buffer between traffic and the nearby homes.

Proposed varieties and locations for street tree planting on Maple Street. Click for a larger view.
Proposed varieties and locations for street tree planting on Maple Street. Click for a larger view.

The next step will be to have some native grasses or flowers planted and sidewalks installed. Later we’d like to see a pedestrian crosswalk across Maple and Ash in line with Euclid. This is a tricky spot, though, so we have met with city engineers and are working with them to figure out the optimal solution for vehicles, residents and pedestrians.

It’s taken the involvement of quite a few organizations and individuals just to get this far: Maple Street residents, the EGNC, Spokane Urban Forestry, the city traffic department and the Office of Neighborhood Services. The EGNC alone is contributing about $3500 from its Community Development Block Grant street-tree fund to help things along. The reassuring news is that, ever since the project gathered steam, it has seen very rapid progress.

As things stand, the site will be prepped for planting on April 17 or 18, and then the trees will be planted by neighborhood volunteers on Saturday, April 19 under the supervision of a certified arborist. This will be kinda sorta part of the wider Spokane Gives initiative.

If you’re interested in learning more about this neighborhood improvement or you’d like to lend a hand during tree planting, please leave a comment below or attend the next Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council meeting on Wednesday, April 9. And we not only welcome but encourage similar proposals from residents all over Emerson-Garfield.

N. Monroe Traffic Presentation

N. Monroe Traffic Presentation

Below is a YouTube movie of the presentation on N. Monroe given by Bob Turner, Senior Traffic Engineer for the City of Spokane, at February’s Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council meeting.

It contains statistics such as average daily vehicle counts and vehicle speed as well as a ten-year retrospective of collisions and pedestrian fatalities. Some of the figures might be surprising, even if they do seem to be at odds with our day-to-day experience on N. Monroe.

Toward the end there’s a list of conclusions that can be drawn (or not) from the available data. Some of the recommendations and concerns tie in to Emerson-Garfield’s current Neighborhood Planning effort.

The individual slides should be fairly self-explanatory. If they aren’t, we can try to address your specific questions in the comments below.

Neighborhood Council Elections and Call for Reps

Neighborhood Council Elections and Call for Reps

In April the Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council (EGNC) will be holding elections for the following officer positions:

  • Chair
  • Vice-chair
  • Secretary
  • Treasurer

These positions are all currently occupied but should not go uncontested. If you are interested in running, please put your name forward at the next neighborhood council meeting on Wednesday, March 12. Keep in mind that you must be a voting member to throw your hat into the ring — which means you will need to have attended three EGNC meetings in the past six months.

Emerson-Garfield is also looking for representatives to become involved in groups that are important to the neighborhood. These include:

All of these volunteer groups generally involve a nominal time commitment of just one meeting per month. Ideally you would also attend the monthly neighborhood council meeting to keep EGNC members apprised of relevant issues and opportunities.

If you’d like to be the neighborhood rep for any of these groups (or co-rep; there’s no reason why two or three people couldn’t share a single responsibility), please speak up at the next neighborhood council meeting or get in touch beforehand. If you’re already involved in one of them and you happen to work or reside in E-G, let us know that too!

These unelected positions are just as essential as the elected officer positions. It’s important for Emerson-Garfield to have a voice as these groups develop citywide plans and policy for the future, and it’s equally important for E-G residents to be kept informed of how those plans and policies are taking shape over time.

Montgomery Ave Traffic-Circle Landscaping & MoU

Montgomery Ave Traffic-Circle Landscaping & MoU

The traffic circles (aka roundabouts) on Montgomery Ave that are slated to be installed this year between the 1100 and 1400 blocks of Montgomery Ave require a memorandum of understanding (MoU) if they are to be landscaped and not drab concrete slabs.

A memorandum of understanding is a non-legal document that lays out the terms of a common course of action. In this case, the parties involved are the City of Spokane and the residents and organizations on Montgomery Ave. The agreement is that the residents and organizations will maintain the landscaping (i.e., occasional weeding, watering, pruning.)

A Landscaped Roundabout
An example of a landscaped roundabout

As part of the MoU, the Montgomery Ave residents will be able to decide which plants, flowers and grasses are installed by the city in the course of landscaping.

Some of the ground cover options include wild ginger, Scotch heather, sunrose and sticky geranium. Native perennials include wildflowers such as common yarrow, aquilegia and coral bells. Ornamental grasses are also an option. See the slideshow below.

Download this PDF for a recap of images and suggestions of landscaping possibilities. The city asks to keep the following in mind when choosing:

  • Any treatment that is installed needs to be kept within 36″ so that it doesn’t obstruct the site
  • A mix of plants would be the best option to make the traffic circles esthetically pleasing all year
  • Plants chosen should be drought resistant to limit the water that is needed

As of this writing, Trinity Catholic School and three families have agreed to sign the MoU. We would like more to join them in this very minimal commitment of time and effort, as many hands make light work. If you live near the site and are interested in adding your name to the MoU, please get in touch.

It’s worth reiterating here that this is one of Spokane’s most forward-thinking residential traffic-calming initiatives, and it’s a compliment that Emerson-Garfield was chosen to be the neighborhood that will benefit.

Submit Your Traffic-Calming and Sidewalk Requests

Submit Your Traffic-Calming and Sidewalk Requests

It’s time to make your annual neighborhood traffic-calming and sidewalk requests.

Here are the sort of problems you can address:

  • A stretch of sidewalk in Emerson-Garfield that is missing or in need of repair
  • An arterial or residential street in Emerson-Garfield where drivers speed, accidents occur frequently, and/or the safety of pedestrians is endangered.

To see the boundaries of Emerson-Garfield, check this handy map.

And here are the sort of solutions you can propose:

  • Curb bump-outs
  • Signage
  • Roundabouts/traffic circles
  • Chicanes
  • Improved visibility
  • Crosswalks
  • Private mini-copters to ferry you to/from the destination of your choosing

Once you submit these requests, they’ll be reviewed by the Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council (which you can be a part of if you’re not already), prioritized according to urgency, then passed on to the City of Spokane for analysis and implementation. Most, if not all of the money for these projects comes from sources such as Photo Red dollars and federal Community Development Block Grant funding.

The council welcomes any and all requests, but please be aware that at some point you might have to collect supporting signatures from some residents in the affected area, especially for traffic-calming projects. Though it might take an afternoon or two (less if other neighbors pitch in), signature-gathering is a straightforward and usually pleasant process. If that sounds daunting, the council is happy to assist with advice or even a bit of legwork.

It’s important to remember that your requests have real impact. Every year sidewalks are installed or replaced throughout the entire city as a direct result of these efforts, and Emerson-Garfield (specifically, Montgomery Ave between Monroe and NW Blvd) is the future site of an ambitious residential roundabout project thanks to resident-led traffic-calming requests.

Our deadline is March 7, so please send your requests ASAP. In fact, it’s best if we have  them in hand prior to our upcoming neighborhood council meeting on Wednesday, February 12. Submit them through our easy-to-use online contact form — just be sure to select “Traffic Calming/Sidewalks” from the drop-down menu.