We’ve gotten the official word that the NE 45th Street Viaduct will reopen on Friday, September 10 at 10am. 

SDOT is inviting the community to come and out celebrate that day starting at 8:45am.  You can hear from the project team and city staff who worked on the project, as well as meet the contractor who completed the project on schedule for the first home football game at Husky Stadium. 

The event will be held at the top of the hill (near 22nd Avenue NE & NE 45th Street).  The roadway will reopen to traffic following the event at 10am.

Police had to interview a man in the hospital after he says he was attacked and beaten on The Ave.  It happened around 1am last Saturday (8/28) in the 4700 block of University Way.  As the man was walking, he says four men suddenly jumped him, struck him in the head from behind, and knocked him to the ground.  While on the ground, he was hit several more times and knocked out. 

The victim had a fractured orbital bone and a fractured nose.  There were no witnesses to the attack and the only description the victim could give of his attackers was that they were possibly two white men and two black men.  The victim said he didn’t remember any altercation earlier in the evening that would have prompted the attack.

Less than a week after they opened in the U-District, a local business had its A-frame signs stolen.  Ride Bicycles at 6029 Roosevelt Way had 2 of the signs stolen from the intersection of Roosevelt & Ravenna.  The folks at Ride Bicycles say the signs, that look like the one pictured left, will be expensive to replace.  Call 206-985-7433 if you have any information on the signs.

For all of you who’ve complained about the poor condition of 15th Avenue NE in the U-District, here’s some great news.  SDOT has just unveiled its plan to make big improvements to the road from NE Pacific Street up to NE 55th Street in 2011.

SDOT will rebuild 15th Ave NE between NE Pacific and NE 50th with new concrete pavement.  It will also resurface the roadway between NE 50th and NE 55th streets.  The project will feature new curb ramps, wider sidewalks at bus zones, a new marked crosswalk at NE 41st Street, and a new northbound left turn lane at NE 42nd. 

Here’s the timeline for the project that kicks off early next year.

• January – June:  NE Pacific to NE 45th
• June – September:   NE 45th to NE 50th
• September – October:  NE 50th to NE 55th

You can track the project here.

Just a few months after state lawmakers gave the green light for permanent beer and wine tastings in grocery stores, some U-District stores are getting in on the action.

The QFC in U Village just applied for an additional liquor license class that would allow them to offer beer and wine tastings.  The Whole Foods on NE 64th was approved for one a few weeks ago.

The state tried a pilot program back in 2008 and legislators in Olympia passed a bill in March to start the tastings again.  Only grocery stores that are 9000 square feet or larger will be allowed to take part.  The tastings have to be offered in a designated area.  The samples have to be 2 ounces or less and customers can only drink up to 4 ounces per visit.

It didn’t make the list of top 20 farmers markets in the nation, but the U-District Farmers Market did finish 5th best in our state in a recent contest. The online contest by the American Farmland Trust wrapped up just after midnight this morning. The Ballard Farmers Market finished first in the state with 1285 votes, followed by Olympia, Auburn, Prosser, and the U-District.

Photo of U-District Farmers Market by Kristin Okinaka, The Daily

After years of asking, R+E Cycles has finally gotten its wish.  The city just installed a new bike corral outside the business on 5627 University Way.  The folks at R+E tell us it was installed last week and replaced an old bike rack that kept getting hit by cars. 

As part of the Bicycle Master Plan adopted by Seattle in 2007, the city will continue to install on-street bike parking.  These corrals usually eliminate one space for vehicle parking.  SDOT hopes to have six of these corrals up around the city by the end of this year.  Thanks to Robby for the picture and the tip.

Burglars broke into a UW frat house as students slept to steal a 58″ plasma television.  It happened last Wednesday (8/25) between 1am and 9am at a frat (name redacted in police report) in the 4500 block of 19th Ave NE.  Police believe at least two people broke in because of the size of the television.  Officers also believe the thieves took their time inside the house since the television brackets were still on the wall.  About 50 people were staying at the frat house over summer break.

There’s been another milestone in the NE 45th Street Viaduct project.  SDOT just finished the new cement concrete roadway surface that caps the new west approach.  The outside barrier walls have also been put in.  This week, new street lighting is scheduled to be installed.  SDOT says the viaduct is still set to reopen by September 10.

New photo from SDOT

 
If you haven’t heard yet, that big football shaped thing in the skies of Seattle is a zeppelin.  For one more week, “The Eureka” will be offering rides over the Puget Sound area.  It takes off from Paine Field in Everett and has been spotted all over Seattle, including this picture taken from the U-District by Jeffrey Linn.  Rides start at about $375 a person.  Our partners at the Seattle Times recently took a ride on board.  You can read their story here.