RantWoman is no longer a #link21 Virgin. RantWoman also needs another exercise in geeking about about walking directions / wayfinding. RantWoman will also be too happy to remind reders both of her personal fixation with sidewalk issues and of her ability to talk about the connections between sidewalks, climate change, racial equity...
Remember, this is blog as Quaker journal. Polish and sequential think are not necessarily to be expected.
RantWoman forgot to mention that she is THRILLED that Link is finally open. RantWoman remembers conversations in the early 2000's about routing of the train and siting of the University station. The 2004 discussions included one version that would have connected tracks somehow to the I 5 ship canal bridge and then run an offramp right through UFM property. That option proved unfeasible on multiple grounds. So at long last we all get to be thrilled with the new tunnel and station location.
RantWoman is likely to continue just to ride the bus to the U district. However, if RantWoman just wants to go visit RantMom, the train may be just the thing.
RantWoman's previous meditations on travel options and walking routes
It was a cloudy and cool morning. RantWoman decided just to take the train for a first visit to the UNIVERSITY Station.
It was a cloudy and cool morning and RantWoman did NOT get hit by a very quiet (Boo electric cars) SUV making a left turn into a fast food restaurant driveway.
It was a cloudy and cool morning and as is consistently to be hoped the needed elevator was working.
All hail Mariners fans. RantWoman wondered why the train into downtown was full. The train emptied out a lot at Stadium station. Ah yes. Header to the playoff or no? No it turned out later, but that is as much as RantWoman understands of this point in the baseball season. RantWoman understands that the ability to be conversant about baseball can bean important social lubricant. RantWoman also believes God is fine about RantWoman having deficits in this area; RantWoman is unsure about many humans.
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| Selfie |
But RantWoman digresses.
The ride to the U District was uneventful. It's much easier to find one's way around a new thing if there aren't crowds and crowds of people. RantWoman easily found her way to the NE 43rd St exit. The first corner to the west, Brooklyn Ave has no curbs but instead quarter circle installation of yellow domes on all four coners of the intersection. RantWoman has no idea what mobility teachers tell totally blind people about ways to deal with this practice, but there it is.
RantWoman decided on a whim to start with Google's suggestion to walk S on Brooklyn Ave, but RantWoman planned only to walk as far as NE 42nd St and then walk her own directions to Meeting.
Brooklyn Ave NE is indeed MUCH quieter than Roosevelt way NE. RantWoman walked S on the west side of the street. The sidewalk is indeed acceptable, new for part of the block and acceptable all the way to the end of the block and NE 42nd St. This week the construction fencing along the N side of 42nd between Brooklyn and 12th Ave NE has been pulled back away from the sidewalk so it's easier to walk without fear of tripped over the bases of the fencing.
RantWoman should tweak some details of her previous post above but the main point is that RantWoman found a routing that is more elegant in RantWoman's eyes than the one suggested by Google.
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| The Meetinghouse |
RantWoman spent a good spell in worship, with particular appreciation for trees that are not causing problems for any of the sidewalks she needs to walk on.
Later on a return trip to the station, RantWoman retraced her route to NE 42nd st and the walked N on the W side of 12th Ave NE. It's a pleasant walk with grass on the L side of the sidewalk most of the length of the block though there is one driveway between buildings toward the N end of the block.
RantWoman does not recommend having to cross NE 43rd here because it seems like sometimes there could be a lot of traffic and there is no traffic signal. RantWoman did successfully cross both directions at ND 43rd and did find the station for the next leg of her trip.
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