Kirkland Neighborhood News: Online Dialogue about Cross Kirkland Corridor

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

This message is being forwarded from the King County Library System:

King County Library System

960 Newport Way NW, Issaquah, WA 98027

Convey offers online public input on Cross Kirkland Corridor

Suppose you had an opportunity to transform six miles of abandoned railway into a multimodal transportation corridor. What features would you want it to have to accommodate pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit? With the City of Kirkland’s recent acquisition of a section of the Eastside Rail Corridor from the Port of Seattle, the City is looking to the future of this vital community asset. The King County Library System (KCLS) and the Kirkland Arts Center are cooperating to promote community conversations and visioning and will share their results with the City. KCLS has launched an online tool at http://www.dialogue-app.com/532  for community members to share and comment on ideas about the Cross Kirkland Corridor.

KCLS is launching Convey -- a new initiative to foster civic engagement. In support of the library’s mission to provide free, open and equal access to ideas and information to all members of the community, Convey will enable KCLS to disseminate information, facilitate lively discussion, and gather input from community members about issues of interest and concern. Convey projects will take many forms, each appropriate to the needs of the community. The Kirkland Convey project is using Dialogue, an online data-gathering platform, to provide up-to-date information, solicit and capture community input on the possible uses of the Cross Kirkland Corridor.

In Kirkland, Convey will take three forms:

1. Through Dialogue (http://dialogue-app.com/532 ) , users simply register and describe their ideas for the corridor. All participants can post comments, respond to others, discuss ideas, include images, and spark discussions using a very sophisticated interactive platform.

2. In person, printed comment forms are available at Kirkland Library, Kingsgate Library, Kirkland City Hall, the Kirkland Arts Center and the Arts Center Store. Online access to the Dialogue site is available at the Kingsgate and the Kirkland libraries via dedicated computers provided by KCLS.

3. The Kirkland Arts Center will also be hosting a public design event in mid-summer.

The library’s role is simply to convey information and to provide opportunities for the community to comment in easily-accessible and interactive ways. KCLS will read entries only in order to insure consistent subject headings for data aggregation. As a neutral third party, KCLS' role is to gather and disseminate information. KCLS is not responsible for or involved in evaluating, proposing or giving preference to any suggestion, submission or proposal. The reports from KCLS and the KAC will be delivered to the City of Kirkland in the fall.

Release Contact: Elsa Steele, 425.369.3478 elsas@kcls.org