Pedestrian Safety Concerns in the Haller Lake Area

In the Haller Lake area of north Seattle, there are some places with dangerous conditions for pedestrians, often due in part to cars parking illegally on sidewalks.

We in the north Seattle Haller Lake Neighborhood are fortunate to have a nice local park, Northacres Park. The park takes up much of the land between 1st Ave. N.E. and Interstate 5, and between N.E. 125th St. and N.E. 130th St. There is a fairly large patch of forested land in the northern part of the park, ball fields in the east, and in the western part, next to 1st Ave. N.E., there are substantial grassy areas, picnic tables, a childrens’ playground, and a water spray park. The park is not only a favorite spot with neighbors but also with others who come from other parts of Seattle and Shoreline (the next city to the north, about a mile away).

Unfortunately, most people come by car and find it extremely difficult to find a place to park. There is a small parking lot on the west side of the park and a larger parking area in the eastern part, but not enough for all the park visitors. The result is a pervasive problem of cars parking on neighborhood sidewalks, in other places where there is not enough room and cars partially block the street, etc.

On one hand we want people to enjoy a day at the park, but on the other hand the parking situation creates many problems in the surrounding neighborhood. We call the police to report the situation when twenty or thirty cars are parked on the sidewalk, creating dangerous situations where people, including those in wheelchairs or pushing babies in strollers, are forced into the street, risking their safety and disrupting the flow of vehiclular traffic. But I really feel sorry about all the people that came to enjoy a day at the park only to find tickets on their cars! So this website is partially to highlight the ongoing parking problem, which is also a pedestrian safety problem, and partially to provide a website to which people can link when suggesting to city officials to work on improving the situation.

Although this site is primarily about pedestrian safety around Northacres Park, and also in hope of finding relief for park visitors, note that I am including some other local concerns.

This page was last updated on 12 May 2016.

©2013 Robert M. Fleming Jr.

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