This spring, we wrote to all Kirkland residents asking you to tell the Kirkland Council whether to place street and park maintenance measures on the ballot.
Today, we are writing to thank Kirkland voters for choosing on Nov. 6 to sustain our quality of life by approving Proposition 1 (streets) and Proposition 2 (parks), not just for today, but for future generations.
Your generosity will ensure a higher standard of street maintenance and pedestrian safety and will allow the City of Kirkland to better maintain our parks, to restore and enhance them.
The council recognizes the value of your investment and we are determined to deliver the greatest return possible on that investment. The adopting ordinances for each ballot measure require an annual and public accounting report. City staff is developing work plans and public outreach to prioritize immediate and long-term projects that improve streets, neighborhood safety, schools’ walk routes and restore and enhance parks and open space.
Planning is underway for three additional street overlay areas on Northeast 116th Street, Northeast 145th Street, and Simonds Road Northeast, with resurfacing expected in the summer of 2013. Traffic engineers will implement plans to calm neighborhood traffic in the areas that need them.
In 2013, the city will install a new crosswalk between John Muir Elementary and Kamiakin Middle Schools on 132nd Avenue Northeast. as one example of the 50 new or improved crosswalks that will be implemented throughout the city as quickly as possible.
Proposition 2 will restore landscaping, tree care and maintenance in neighborhood parks to pre-recession levels. We will re-open restrooms in the spring, and return summer lifeguards to Juanita Beach, Waverly and Doris Cooper Houghton Beach Parks. New partnerships with the Lake Washington School District will create more indoor and outdoor recreation options for all residents at school gyms and sports fields.
The city is excited to work with the Finn Hill Park & Recreation District on transitioning park operations of O.O. Denny Park to Kirkland by early 2013. Stable levy funding will support the Green Kirkland Partnership, which brings incredible results to restoring our natural areas such as Juanita Bay Park and urban forests such as Carillon Woods. Docks and beaches at our waterfront parks will be restored and new park land and open space will be identified and purchased.
As always, the city will look to residents to help identify neighborhood areas that are in need of pedestrian safety improvements and work collaboratively to find solutions. The City of Kirkland will ask its residents to help devise plans that will renovate Edith Moulton Park and Waverly Beach Park and to help develop a long-term Master Plan for the Cross Kirkland Corridor. Many of these public involvement opportunities will begin in the new year and we want your input.
Kirkland is fortunate to have this strong community support. On behalf of the council, we thank those who supported the levies before and during the election and those who will be involved in shaping where the investment will be spent most wisely. But most of all, we thank the voters for having the foresight and the generosity to keep Kirkland an attractive, vibrant and inviting place to live, work and visit.
Dave Asher and Amy Walen are City of Kirkland Council members.
