By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
The HPAC meeting usually rotates locations but this time, the community coalition for Highland Park, Riverview, and South Delridge met online, with co-chair Kay Kirkpatrick facilitating.
SOUTHWEST PRECINCT POLICE: Precinct commander Capt. Krista Bair first reminded everyone that the Precinct Advisory Council community meeting is tomorrow. Then she addressed the 18th SW gunfire response concerns reported and discussed here. Capt. Bair said she looked at the call and “we had people answer up on the radio … within nine minutes,” and also noted there were multiple case numbers, primarily 26-145289. The call came out around 10:20, she said, and police recovered four shell casings. Several officers were in the area and were pointed in a certain direction while trying to tell dispatch what people were telling them, she added, so the scene might have seemed somewhat chaotic. She mentioned officers being called back for more casings, and she reaffirmed that those are considered evidence, like fingerprints – “the bullet gets used, and when it gets used by a gun, the gun makes a ‘fingerprint’ on that casing,” so casings are sent to analysts who might be able to match multiple shootings to the same gun. She said you’re hearing about more casings or damage because “more trigger switches” are being used.
She also pitched the Connect Seattle voluntary registry for private security cameras so that if investigators are looking for cameras in a certain place, they’ll know who has them (though even if you’re registered, you are not obliged to turn over your video). “Surveillance cameras are the number one tool for catching (criminals),” she emphasized. An attendee asked if SDOT cameras are accessed during pursuits. Police can ask, she said, but “they don’t give up that footage easily … you may even need to (get) a search warrant.”
A Riverview resident who said it was their first time at an HPAC meeting was concerned about property crime potentially linked to unsanctioned area encampments and wanted to know how to report concerns such as abandoned or illegally parked vehicles. Find It Fix It was discussed; Capt. Bair explained that an online report labeled as “closed” does not necessarily mean “resolved,” though she wishes it did. She also explained the Unified Care Team‘s regular meetings and how encampments are evaluated for sweeps. The bar is high, she noted. Another attendee said that one problem with filing Find It Fix It complaints is that there’s no standalone category for an unauthorized solo camper, if they’re not part of a group meriting the “encampment” label. She also talked about the Delridge city-owned site where a shooting happened at an encampment last month before it was finally cleared. Capt. Bair said she got fairly testy in a discussion of that before the clearance: “Why can’t I just send my officers over now, there are no-trespassing signs up everywhere.” She said she was told, because it had been allowed so long, they couldn’t just suddenly move in without warning. So outreach came in quickly and the site was cleared. And, Capt. Bair said, they told neighbors “if you even see one tent, report it immediately” so the camp wouldn’t be re-established.
She also mentioned that the precinct has a new second-in-command, Lt. Pat Daly; his predecessor Lt. Nate Shopay is now working with an assistant chief downtown. Community liaison Officer German Barreto, she said, is now working with the chiefs too.
The discussion segued to what was planned to be the next major topic anyway, the future changes planned on the Highland Park Way hill, meant to slow traffic. What about enforcement? Capt. Bair said there’s just not enough personnel to do that consistently. An attendee expressed concern because of friends who were seriously injured in DUI crashes on the hill. Capt. Bair noted the department “doesn’t even have a DUI unit any more,” though there are a few officers with that focus, and they do work out of the Southwest Precinct sometimes. She also said the city does have data that would show whether impairment or speeding is the major cause of life-safety issues on the hill – probably SDOT.
That segued into Kirkpatrick talking about HPAC’s views of the project, which would convert one downhill driving lane into foot/bike space. They’re asking SDOT to “slow down” on the project, she said, and provided the letter sent to SDOT’s acting director Angela Brady:
Acting Director Brady,
We are writing regarding the 2026 early design options for the Highland Park Way SW Connection Project with an urgent request: Hit pause on this project until SDOT can make a genuine commitment to work in collaboration with the community on design and to elevate their aim to accomplish a project that provides quality, multimodal infrastructure on Highland Park Way that will serve our fast-growing community for decades to come.
In 2024 SDOT did robust community outreach on this corridor and we do not feel that the current designs are responsive to that feedback or account for concerns communicated within their report. This letter outlines our concerns and asks for next steps.
Safety concerns that are not addressed in 2026 early design options:
To slow driving speeds and reduce accidents, SDOTs proposal forces all downhill traffic left, directly adjacent to uphill drivers speeding up a road with 11% grade, rounding a blind curve without any plans to install a median barrier. This proposal does not support reduction of sideswipe accidents which are the most common type on the route (SDOT Volume & Crash Data). Instead, drivers are being forced to become traffic calming devices, endangering themselves, their families and their personal vehicles. We feel strongly that a physical center barrier is essential to delivering a safe project.
Current design accommodations for the two un-signaled entry and exit points on the hill – SW Othello neighborhood & Pioneer Industries – appear to us to be little more than an afterthought rather than a proposal that fully considers the challenges our neighbors will face entering and exiting Highland Park Way, when there is an unbroken flow of downhill traffic during commute hours. At a recent meeting with SDOT, residents of the SW Othello neighborhood walked away feeling their safety concerns were unheard. This design process should be an opportunity to address these safety concerns as well as the lack of pedestrian infrastructure on the north (uphill) side of the road, despite three active bus stops.
Rather than expanding and improving bike infrastructure using available City owned land, we see in the current design multiple risks for unsafe interactions between pedestrians and cars, pedestrians and bikes, cars and cars, and buses with bikes.
As we know from recent history, Highland Park Way is one of only three regional routes for entry and exit to all of Southwest Seattle both during normal operations AND times of extreme emergency. It also runs through a landslide zone where on the upside slope and moving slides and trees significantly blocked traffic lanes on at least 2 occasions in the past nine years.
We have concerns over the community engagement process and lack of response to community feedback:
Despite having at least two team members specifically tasked with public engagement, the Highland Park Way SW Connection project team has been notable for their lack of followup and communication with the community during the timespan of this project to date. Emails are not answered, deadlines are not met, and requests for information are met with FOIA request requirements instead of simple direct conversations.
As you consider our safety and community process concerns, please also keep in mind the gateway nature of this route as an entry point to the Highland Park, Riverview and South Delridge neighborhoods. Projects like this are an opportunity to reflect our values with the infrastructure investments we make.
Our vision is that Highland Park Way be re-considered as- Highland Parkway – a greener, gentler entry/exit/connection to this area. The Duwamish Greenbelt it bisects is a vast City owned space and park for future generations, supporting rich natural habitat, and providing easy access to trails that provide respite from the urban environment. This space promises to be a resource increasing in importance and value over time with swelling population density.
We note the thoughtful design and landscaping solutions SDOT recently rolled out on the beautiful, functional East Marginal Way Corridor Improvement Project, and nearby Georgetown to South Park Safety Project. We are asking for the same consideration for our chronically underserved neighborhoods, which have been historically red-lined and lack attention to our urban infrastructure.
Again, please “push pause” to give our community an authentic voice in the decision making and prioritization and let’s together develop a Highland Parkway that is an elegant and functional roadway for all, pedestrians, bikers and drivers.
We believe that SDOT engineers are up to this task. Please give them your direction and support!
Thank you,
Kay Kirkpatrick & Barb Biondo, Co-Chairs
One other toic:
GLASSYARD COMMONS: Will local campers get priority when the RV/tiny-house site at 7201 2nd SW opens? Some, as Kirkpatrick said, and as we have heard at briefings. Another attendee recapped what site operator LIHI had said at the community meeting about the site (WSB coverage here), that if they only opened it to local RVs, then RV residents from around the region would flock here to be in queue. Kirkpatrick also mentioned some concerns about the Cloverleaf Village tiny-home site now planned in South Park in a “toxic industrial zone.” The meeting ended with a wide-ranging discussion about how to hold the city accountable for ensuring camping problems don’t get out of control, and ensuring that sanctioned campsites are distributed equitably – a concern inflamed by the fact two of the first new sites, both Glassyard Commons and Cloverleaf Village, and existing tiny-house village Camp Second Chance, are relatively close to each other: “It feels like it’s all coming down in our direction,” including the unsanctioned camps that set up like satellites around sanctioned sites.
NEXT MEETING: Watch hpaction.org for updates.