Ch-ch-ch-Changes Around Kenmore
Posted by the Kenmore Crow | Filed under Photo/Video | 2 Comments
All kinds of changes happening around Kenmore in the past week or so…
The new unnecessary traffic signals at both ends of NE 181st St behind Safeway have been activated.
Grocery Outlet has moved, opening in their new location in Kenmore Square yesterday.
The new store looks great, and has much better visibility than their old location in Kenmore Village. They were smart to jump on this space as soon as it became available, considering the public statements from Urban Partners, the supposed eventual developer of Kenmore Village, that they basically aren’t welcome to stay in the fancy-schmancy new upscale downtown when it finally gets built (whenever that will be).
Speaking of Kenmore Village, the grand future downtown of Kenmore is looking more and more like a ghost town with each passing month. Here’s an update of our map.
Meanwhile, across the street, new foliage is being planted at the new “green” city hall:
It’s spring time in the city of Kenmore, I suppose.
Tags: Business, central-kenmore, city hall, Grocery Outlet, photo, traffic
Kemore’s Pacific Tree Frogs Out in Force
Posted by the Kenmore Crow | Filed under Photo/Video | 1 Comment
Spotted this via Twitter today. According to the poster, it’s a chorus of hundreds of Pacific Tree Frogs in Kenmore.
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Tags: audio, pacific tree frog
Axolotl: Aquatic Awesomeness
Posted by the Kenmore Crow | Filed under Photo/Video | 1 Comment
A purple axolotl at Maser’s Pet, right here in Kenmore.
Sadly, this awesome little guy is not for sale.
Tags: axolotl, Maser's, pets, photo
Do they sell liquor to people that are already super wasted?
Posted by the Kenmore Crow | Filed under Business, Photo/Video | No Comments Yet!
Good thing they put up those handwritten signs. Otherwise how would their potential patrons ever have figured out that this location has been closed?
Tags: Business, Kenmore Village, Liquor, photo
Kenmore Homes Swallowed Whole by Brightwater Sewage Tunnel!
Posted by the Kenmore Crow | Filed under Construction | 1 Comment
Okay that headline isn’t exactly true. But apparently there have been some pretty serious problems…
The Seattle Times had an interesting story a few days ago about the trouble brewing hundreds of feet under our fair city: Brightwater tunnel likely causing homes’ troubles
Neighbors of Brightwater have complained of construction noises late into the night, cracked floors and foundations, a sinkhole that swallowed a driveway, pollution of a creek, homes flooded with sewage and wells gone dry.
Most of the complaints have been filed by people who live along the tunnel route. The tunnel runs under Northeast 195th Street and other roads, and directly beneath 147 private properties, officials said.
Here are some of the things neighbors have endured:
- Marlene and Eldon Berg’s previously quiet Kenmore neighborhood became a noisy construction site, with truck engines revving, backup beepers sounding and metal banging on metal when contractors began digging a tunnel portal. Windows in their home rattled and floors shook when a boring machine chewed its way out of the portal. After the Bergs’ well ran dry, the county hooked them up to the city water system.
- Ray Ames was asleep when his wife, Mary, woke him up and showed him a brownish liquid flooding the kitchen and pouring out of the toilet. Raw sewage had backed up into the house because of pump problems on a Kenmore sewer line that was being redirected to the Brightwater plant. Two years later the county paid more than $70,000 for repairs and legal fees.
- Pauline Chihara stepped out of her Kenmore home early one morning and discovered her driveway had fallen into a 30-foot-wide, 15-foot-deep sinkhole.
Yikes!
Here’s a map of where the Brightwater tunnel passes through underneath Kenmore:
View the full system map at the project page on King County’s website.
Sounds like it’s a good idea to keep your eyes peeled for potential problems (cracked foundations and driveways, plumbing issues, etc.) if you live anywhere along the NE 195th St. route.
If a giant sinkhole swallows your house, call 9-1-1 from the neighbor’s place after you barely escape with your life. If you have other, less pressing problems thanks to Brightwater, call the County’s construction information line at 206-205-5989.
Tags: Brightwater, Construction, King County, sewage
