Stairway Spring Cleaning Day

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2014_2_Stairway Walks Day_Olmseated Vision (19)Join us Saturday, April 25 for Stairway Spring Cleaning Day to help keep your neighborhood  walkable and honor Seattle’s stairway legacy. Jake and Cathy Jaramillo, authors of Seattle Stairway Walks, in conjunction with Feet First, Seattle Neighborhood Greenways, and the City of Seattle, are organizing a city-wide cleaning of public stairways. This first-ever stairway spring cleaning event, which falls on the Saturday after Earth Day, will not be possible without a generous volunteer effort from Seattle residents throughout the city.

Sign up today to volunteer and choose among fifteen stairway locations across Seattle.

 

Fremont”N 46th Street and 1st Avenue NW

 

LeschiS King Street between 30th Avenue S and 31st Avenue S

 

Beacon HillS Hanford Street, between 25th Ave S and Cheasty Blvd S

 

Beacon HillS Hanford Street, between Cheasty Blvd S and Morse Avenue S

 

Beacon HillCollege Street between Beacon Avenue and 13th Avenue

 

Rainier Beach S Redwing Street and Rainier Avenue S

 

Rainier BeachS Pilgrim Street between Waters Alley S & 61st Street S

 

Rainier Beach S Norfolk Street between Waters Alley S and Rainier Avenue S

 

Rainier BeachS Cooper Street between Waters Alley S & Rainier Ave S

 

Rainier BeachS Thayer Street and Rainier Avenue S

 

West Seattle/GenesseeSW Hanford Street and 46th Avenue SW

 

West Seattle/GenesseeSW Genesee Street and 49th Avenue SW

 

West Seattle/Highland Park SW Myrtle Street and Delridge Way SW 

 

West Seattle/North Delridge” SW Genesee Street and Delridge Way SW

 

West Seattle/Alki” SW Carroll Street & 58th Place SW

 

Stairway Spring Cleaning Day serves as an effort to both maintain the impressive network of Seattle’s public stairways and spur greater community support for these stairways. Seattle’s stairs are a valuable community asset; they serve as scenic neighborhood byways that connect us to parks, playgrounds, bus stops, and outdoor recreation across the city. In total, there are more than 650 publicly accessible stairways within city limits, which serve as vital pedestrian infrastructure. They are also a historical legacy, as the stairway network dates back over 100 years.

 

The Seattle Department of Transportation, which owns 509 of these stairways, frequently monitors their condition, and in 2013 had a dedicated budget of $1 million for their upkeep. With these funds, SDOT was able fund the repair of 32 stairways, and the rehabilitation and replacement of 12 others. Despite their admirable work, SDOT simply does not have the resources to clean debris and remove pesky invasive species from the entire public stairway system. Accordingly, a coordinated volunteer effort to spruce up stairways on Stairway Spring Cleaning Day will go a long way to create a safer pedestrian environment and enable Seattle residents to better appreciate the city’s world class public stairway network.

Thank you for your donation!

Feet First utilizes NetworkForGood.com to process donations.

Your donation will help us to:

put on neighborhood walks and provide walking resources

raise awareness throughout Washington about the benefits of walkable communities and rights of the pedestrians

host events and programs focused on improving walkability