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The City of Kirkland Parks Maintenance Facility will be moving into the Office Max Building located at 12006 120th Pl NE. The final day for the Office Max is Tuesday, April 30. A community "groundbreaking" ceremony will be scheduled later this spring. A major catalyst for the move is that the Park Maintenance team's current space is only 8,856 square feet, which is woefully undersized to meet the current demands of the City. The new maintenance center will be approx. 25,000 square feet and will be able to serve the department's needs much more effectively.
Additionally operations staff currently have several satellite sites with equipment, materials, and supplies. Being able to centrally locate them in the new maintenance center will save trips and help to reduce travel times. The new maintenance center will enhance the current level of service throughout the city, and will provide space for the Green Kirkland Partnership to continue to grow. Since annexation in 2011, the City has added 154 acres of parks & open space including 132nd Square Park, Juanita Heights, Windsor Vista, Kingsgate, OO Denny, Hazen Hills, Norway Hill, and Edith Moulton Park.
More information on the history of this project can be found on the City website.
On Monday, April 29, the City begins two Capital Improvement Projects along Market Street meant to cost-effectively renovate over 3,000 linear feet of City stormwater infrastructure, enhance safety for bicyclists, and streamline transit access by providing a priority southbound bus lane.
Market Street Stormwater Project
This project renovates 3,050 linear feet of concrete stormwater pipe beginning at the intersection of Market and Central Way and extending north to 12th Avenue. The contractor will close Market Street one section at a time, beginning at 6 a.m. and ending at 3 p.m., Monday through Friday. The project closes the northbound lane only; there are no impacts to southbound traffic.
Northbound vehicles will detour onto First Street during the closures, reentering Market at 13th Street.
King County Metro will reroute the 234 and 255 bus routes to Third Street during weekday construction hours. Market Street access will resume as normal – for buses and vehicles – on weekends.
This project renovates stormwater pipes that have become degraded with age and root-intrusion, using a trenchless method of pipe refurbishment known as cured-in-place pipe. To accommodate this method, which eliminates the need to dig up the entire line, the project includes a period in mid-May when the contractor will work doubles shifts from 7 p.m. to 3 p.m. the following day, for five consecutive nights/days. This is so crews can monitor the curing process.
In addition to the renovated stormwater pipe, the project installs catch-basins at Fourth and Sixth avenues. It is anticipated that the work will be complete by June. More information can be found online.
Lakefront Bicycle and Pedestrian Improvements Project
The Lakefront Bicycle and Pedestrian Improvements project will realign 98th Avenue Northeast (north of Market Street) between Forbes Creek Drive and Northeast 116th Street, creating a dedicated southbound lane for buses and bicycles. To create this lane, called a “queue jump,” the project permanently eliminates 250 feet of street parking alongside southbound Market Street, directly south of the entrance to the Juanita Bay Park parking lot.
The queue jump lane may be used by vehicles turning right into the Juanita Bay Park parking lot.
Additionally, the project creates a southbound “bike box” at Market and Forbes Creek Drive, to facilitate transitional ease for bicyclists turning left from Market onto Forbes Creek Drive. Bike boxes improve intersection safety for bicyclists by increasing bicyclist visibility and allowing the bicyclist a more efficient turning position. Crews will perform the work from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. More information on this project is available online.
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In 2019-2020, the City of Kirkland Planning and Building Department, in coordination with the neighborhood associations in each area, is tasked with updating the Market, Norkirk and Highlands Neighborhood Plans and Market Street Corridor Plan. The purpose of a neighborhood plan is to establish a vision for each neighborhood over the next 20 years in context with the citywide goals and policies in the Comprehensive Plan.
Now is the best opportunity for residents, property owners, and business owners within these three neighborhoods to influence the future growth of these areas. To find out more information and to sign up to receive emails about upcoming events go to the City’s project webpage, or for questions contact: Janice Coogan, City of Kirkland Planning and Building Department, jcoogan@kirklandwa.gov, or 425-587-3257
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In many cities, the proportion of waste that’s recycled versus thrown away is much lower at multifamily properties than at single family residences. Recycling at multifamily properties tends to be more complicated than at a single family home because of a variety of factors such as containers that may be too small or overflowing, or containers that may be inconveniently far away from the building. Additionally, multifamily residents may move more often so they may be unfamiliar with the local recycling guidelines.
The City wants to help our multifamily properties be successful at recycling! The City of Kirkland has developed a variety of tools to help multifamily properties to minimize the barriers and maximize the benefits of recycling. Research has shown that the most effective programs are tailored to address each property’s specific needs and challenges.
Our comprehensive multifamily recycling toolkit is designed to offer personalized assistance to multifamily property, including individual recycling bags, door-to-door education, signage, presentations, service assessments, and multilingual outreach materials. We also assist properties with starting free food scrap composting.
Kirkland’s approach to multifamily recycling has helped increase the multifamily recycling diversion rate from 19% in 2015 to 28% in 2018.
In 2018, we offered personalized assistance to more than 30 apartment and condo properties and distributed more than 1,000 recycling bags to help residents recycle better. The program has helped these properties recycle more and reduce their garbage costs. The City is excited to work with your multifamily property to help you achieve these great outcomes.
 Example of Multifamily Recycling Assistance
As part of National Volunteer Month, we're continuing this week to recognize volunteers that are working hard to make our community a great place to live, work and play. This week we'd like to recognize our volunteers that serve on our fifteen Boards and Commissions. These individuals advise City Council on a variety of vital public policy matters from parks to transportation to tourism.
More information about the City's Boards and Commissions can be found on the City website, or watch the video below.
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The Kirkland Cultural Arts Commission is pleased to announce a funding opportunity to encourage art activations in Kirkland. The Commission has up to $6,000 available to fund two to four programs or events that occur in Kirkland before December 15, 2019. The Commission would like to fund opportunities that engage the public in an innovative or creative way with a focus on art, culture, and heritage. This includes performance art, literary arts, community art projects and other creative ventures. The Cultural Arts Commission will give special consideration to programs that expose art to new audiences.
Applications (PDF-182 kb) are due on or before May 13, 2019 by 4 p.m. to Philly Marsh at pmarsh@kirklandwa.gov.
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Shoreline Master Program update public hearing
Kirkland City Hall, 123 5th Ave.
Thursday, April 25, 7 p.m. (open house starts at 6)
A public hearing jointly hosted by the Kirkland Planning Commission, the Houghton Community Council and the Department of Ecology takes place 7 p.m., Thursday, April 25, at Kirkland City Hall (123 5th Avenue) in the Council Chamber. An open house will precede the hearing at 6 p.m. to give attendees the opportunity to learn more about the SMP and the proposed amendments. Community members are invited to give public comment at the hearing or submit written comments.
For more information on the Shoreline Master Program update process, please visit our website at: Shoreline Master Program news release.
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District 6 Town Hall with Councilmember Claudia Balducci
Kirkland Justice Center
Saturday, April 27, 10:00 - 11:30 a.m.
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Kirkland Repair Café
Kirkland Library, 308 Kirkland Ave.
Saturday, April 27, 12:30 - 3:30 p.m.
King County is hosting a repair cafe' at the Kirkland Library. Bring your small household items including clothing, and they'll work on them! We want to keep stuff out of the landfill, conserve resources and save you money. Free to the public!
You must be present during the repair. Their experienced general "fixers" and sewing fixers will try to repair or mend your items and can often also give you useful advice. There are no guarantees an item can be fixed, or that attempting to fix it won't break it even more.
Please only bring items small enough to be easily carried in by one person. Do not bring any items that are leaking, dangerous, contain gasoline, or have a strong odor. Clothing and other textiles you bring in for mending should be washed first.
All King County repair events are first-come, first-served, with no appointments or set times. But please contact them in advance if possible to let us know what you plan to bring, so our fixers can be prepared. For specialized repairs (which many are), please bring any specific parts or materials needed for your repair.
To ask about your repair, or if you have questions about this event or any King County repair events, contact Tom Watson by email or at 206-477-4481, or post a comment or question on the Facebook event page for this Kirkland event. Thanks!
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Map Your Neighborhood
Fire Station 22
Tuesday, April 30, 7 - 9 p.m.
Is your neighborhood ready to work together in case of a disaster? If professional first responders are unable to reach everyone who needs assistance, do you have a plan to respond with your neighbors?
Map Your Neighborhood (MYN) teaches you to organize with your neighbors and develop an emergency plan to respond and help each other. This facilitator training will teach you how to host your own MYN session, get to know your neighbors, and make a community plan tailored to your neighborhood.
The class is free, but registration is required. Sign up online at: http://bit.ly/Apr2019MYN
For more information email KirklandEM@kirklandwa.gov or call (425) 587-3691.
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The Wizard of Oz: 80 Years Down the Yellow Brick Road
Kingsgate Library
Tuesday, May 14, 6 p.m.
The Wizard of Oz is a cultural phenomenon unlike any other. With memorable characters, the story is captivating and inspiring. Film historian Lance Rhoades will discuss how M.G.M.'s Technicolor musical adaptation of L. Frank Baum's book has sent generations of fans "over the rainbow!"
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Kirkland BizPrep Town Hall
Kirkland Performance Center
Tuesday, May 28, 6 - 8:30 p.m.
Disasters happen. Is your business ready?
The Kirkland Chamber of Commerce and Kirkland Office of Emergency Management are partnering to host BizPrep, a business preparedness town hall. Come learn about the tools you need to get your business prepared for just about anything.
This town hall will feature a case study and business lessons learned from the 2016 Downtown Bothell Fire as well as a panel providing action items business owners, operators, and leaders can do to help their business weather an emergency incident. Topics will include disaster preparedness, cyber resiliency, and legal and insurance considerations. RSVP online.
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