Today is the last day of the 34-day comment period on the Phase II Sitka Seawalk plans.
It is not clear exactly what weight the public comments will have, since it appears the train has left the station on the big question, which is about the project design.
Maybe, maybe not. We don’t know.
Perhaps it would be going too far to say the process resulting in the “35 percent” plan unveiled here on Nov. 30 was done in secret. But it is undeniable that it was done without the knowledge or participation of the Sitka general public.
To be sure, extending the seawalk was never a matter of great concern in Sitka. If there is any mention of it in the Sitka Comprehensive Plan, it is not easily discovered. That does not mean that members of the public would not have been pleased to take part in the planning of Seawalk Phase II if they had known it was going on.
For those who don’t know Sitka, or who may not be as privileged as your editor to have a 55-year perspective on local public affairs, we’ll mention only a few recent projects in which Sitkans asserted their rights in planning their own infrastructure: the community haulout and boatyard, the redesign of Sawmill Creek Highway and bike lanes, the Cross Trail, the Community Hospital property sale, and the planning of Sitka’s new Centennial Hall and Sitka Public library. There are many others.
The point we wish to make is that Sitkans are not accustomed to having plans for a major public project put before them as a gift, hope you like it, and maybe you have some ideas about the trimmings.
Another reason we are concerned about this upside down process is that the introduction says priority was given to the wishes of the Sitka public, expressed at some previous time, that any seawalk extension have “the look and feel” of the old seawalk. But where the old seawalk departs from solid ground, there is an elevated eight-foot wide boardwalk with side rails, and Phase II drawings show no boardwalk, no side rails, a paved walkway, and rock fill 19 feet wide at the top and built on tidelands. We’d call that “a new look and feel.”
If this were a life-safety priority for Sitka, we’d support the fast track plan that has been laid out for construction of Phase II a decade after the first section was opened. But there is no emergency here.
Improved visitor access to Sitka National Historical Park is a worthy goal for Sitka, and it is the basis of the federal and state funding for Phase II. But we and perhaps others would like to know why the National Park Service has not made any improvement at their end of the seawalk in the ten years since it was opened. The narrow sidewalk ends at what appears to be a privacy fence that funnels walkers into a steep vehicle roadway to the side entrance of the visitor center.
We’ve stated some of our concerns about the Phase II planning, but it’s appropriate that we mention here the disaster that the community avoided those many years ago in a similar situation. At that time the same local, state and federal agencies now planning Phase II were finishing Phase I of the Sitka Seawalk.
Briefly, or not briefly, it is this: A city official made a talk to the Chamber of Commerce about the upcoming call for bids on construction of the seawalk through Crescent Harbor Park. The audience listened politely but expressed no interest in seeing the construction drawings the official had with him.
At the end of the meeting a member of the audience walked up, and without asking, picked up the roll of construction plans. This woman, who lives on Lincoln Street across from the park, called a friend and asked if he could come to her house and help her interpret the drawings. The friend was amazed when he saw the plans, drawn by an eminent Northwest landscape architect, showed a sinuously curving walkway running end to end through the center of “the grassy strip.”
The friend went immediately to the office of the official who had talked to the Chamber. “You’ve got to stop this,” he said. “Tourists are not going to keep on this walkway when they only want to get to Totem Park as fast as possible.” The plans also called for removal of the narrow concrete sidewalk bordering the harbor. Even without the sidewalk, it was obvious that local people would make a path there walking to their boats in the harbor.
“I’ve got no choice, Thad, ” the official said. “Mr. Dinley (the administrator) said he wants this done soon as possible. Sitka needs the jobs.” He paused and then said, “Please close the door.” Out of hearing of people in nearby offices the official said, “I’ll see what I can do.”
Bottom line: a hasty public meeting was called on short notice, the 20 or so people who attended agreed without exception that the plan was awful, and that the seawalk should keep the route of the old narrow sidewalk. The prominent landscape architect’s plans were scrapped, and when the bid was awarded it was for the seawalk that we have in the park today.
In response to the invitation for comments on Phase II as they now stand, we’ll add this, from a personal standpoint: Please don’t change the location of the Harbor Drive crosswalk at Maksoutoff Street, and don’t remove any on-street parking.
