The Kenmore Top 4: June 14, 2024

Celebrating Juneteenth in Kenmore
At the June 17 meeting, the City Council will proclaim June 19, 2024, as a day to commemorate and celebrate Juneteenth throughout the City of Kenmore. The proclamation urges the community to unite in this meaningful observance, to honor the past, celebrate the progress, and work together towards a future of true equality and justice for all. City Hall will be closed on June 19 in observance of Juneteenth.

Join the celebration at the second annual Juneteenth Celebration event taking place Wednesday, June 19, from 3 p.m. – 7 p.m. in Town Square. This community event will include remarks from Mayor Herbig, Interim Executive Director of Racial and Educational Justice of the Northshore School District Ayva Thomas, Congresswoman Suzan DelBene, and the Inglemoor High School Black Student Union. There will also be cupcake giveaways, interactive booths, African drumming and dance performances, crafts, educational materials, and more! The City of Kenmore events team is partnering with the DEIA Advisory Committee to host this important and significant event. This event will be held in conjunction with the Kenmore Farmers Market. Learn more about the history of Juneteenth.

Volunteers Needed to Water Native Trees
Do you want to help salmon and restore wildlife habitat in Kenmore? Small young native trees were newly planted near Swamp Creek this past winter and now they need your help to survive the hot summer. We need several volunteers who can hand water these baby trees once per week (approx. 2 hours) starting at the end of June through mid September. If you would like to water the baby trees and help wildlife habitat, please contact Tracy Banaszynski, Sno-King Watershed Council, at tlbanaszynski@yahoo.com.

Kenmore Automated Photo Enforcement: Successes and Possible Program Expansion
On June 24, City staff will present recommendations to the City Council for expansion of the Kenmore Automated Photo Enforcement (KAPE) program as well as changes to the program based on new laws passed in Washington State earlier this year. Expansion of the KAPE program is an important safety tool to encourage drivers to moderate driving speed which reduces both crash risk and the severity of crashes that do occur. The revenue from KAPE supports important City services as recommended by the Financial Sustainability Task Force. 

The existing KAPE locations are limited to red light enforcement and the enforcement of the 20-mph school zone speed limit, and the recommendations for program expansion will include new school-zone speed limit enforcement locations, as well as expanding KAPE to include enforcement of the regulatory speed limit during non-school-zone hours and enforcement of the regulatory speed limit at non-school-zone locations. Read the full update here or visit kenmorewa.gov/photoenforcement.

Rechannelization on 68th Avenue from 175th Street to 181st Street Coming Soon
This June, rechannelization work will begin on 68^th Avenue north of 175^th Street to address safety and operational issues with how traffic moves between downtown and Bothell Way.

Northbound Traffic: Heading north on 68^th Avenue from 175^th Street towards Bothell Way, the rightmost lane will be changed to buses-and-right-turns only. The second-to-the-right lane will remain a through-lane, and the leftmost two lanes will remain left-turn lanes. Continuing north of the Bothell Way intersection heading towards 181^st Street, the rightmost lane will receive only buses and will be dedicated to buses-and-right-turns only. The second lane will receive all vehicles and carry through-moving traffic through the 181^st Street intersection. A new left-turn pocket will carry left-turn traffic through the 181^st Street intersection. North of 181^st Street the lanes will retain the same configuration, but will be re-aligned to provide several addition parking spaces on the curb in front of City Hall.

Southbound Traffic: Heading south on 68^th Avenue from 181^st Street, the receiving lanes for southbound traffic at the intersection will be reduced to a single receiving lane. Continuing south to Bothell Way, the lane will split into the existing configuration with the rightmost lane for right-turns and through-movements, the second lane will remain a through-lane, and the leftmost lane will remain a left-turn lane. From Bothell Way south to 175^th Street, 68^th Avenue will remain unchanged from its current configuration.

The new channelization has many benefits, including reducing conflicts, improving transit speed, increasing downtown parking, and reducing crossing distances for pedestrians. See a visual diagram of the changes here.