News of Madison Valley

You are cordially invited to the opening of the McGilvra Greenway.

We’ll be meeting on the new corner bulb at 37th Ave E and E Madison St (Broadmoor Golf Course Fence, SE corner) at 1:30 pm on Saturday Sep 21st. This is our opportunity to thank city employees and elected officials for responding to community concerns and making our neighborhood safer and more livable by implementing a traffic-calming greenway on the nearest four blocks leading to McGilvra Elementary School.

It’ll also be a really fun time to explore and try out our first few blocks of neighborhood greenway in a car-free environment. We’ll be opening the street to people while closing it to cars for one hour. If you haven’t experienced a completed greenway, this is your chance to see what all the excitement is about. Bring kids, sidewalk chalk, bikes, parents, friends, neighbors, grandparents.

A bit of background we’ll be sharing: The need for safety improvements along 37th Ave E was brought to the Madison Park Community Council (MPCC) back in late 2011 by Brian Connolly, a concerned McGilvra PTA parent, who had observed a life-threatening collision when a child biking to school collided with an SUV being driven by a parent who just dropped off her child at McGilvra Elementary. Brian, and the residents along 37th Ave E, had recognized the severity of the hazards in their area and were motivated to make change happen.

Over the next several years, a coalition of residents, parents and volunteers collaborated first with Brian Dougherty, Safe Routes to School Coordinator working within the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) to get the intersection of 37th Ave E at E Madison St redesigned for safety. Then, this coalition collaborated with SDOT Neighborhood Greenway implementers Emily Ehlers and Dawn Schellenberg to design and construct the 4.5 blocks of greenway we have today. The work accomplished by SDOT and the community has been excellent and we want to thank them for doing a great service to our whole community.

The intersection and greenway are important beginnings of a community-wide network of calm, pleasant neighborhood back streets where people of all ages and abilities can move about with dignity and comfort, whether they choose to walk, bike, roll in a wheel chair or drive. We’re planning a ribbon cutting celebration to thank all those involved and to share our success with the broader community.

We really hope you can attend and share the invite others.