"Fauntleroy and Morgan Junction" Stairway Walk Update

Thistle stairs on a rainy day

Starting in February 2014 and continuing for the next two years or so, walkers on the "Fauntleroy and Morgan Junction" stairway route (Chapter 16) will encounter a large construction project, soon after exiting Lincoln Park. We think the route will stay walkable, despite major impacts on either side of Beach Drive where the route passes next to Lowman Park. 

The project will add storage capacity to the King County system that transports sewage and drainwater, from residential areas along the Sound all the way up to the sewage treatment center near Magnolia's Discovery Park. There are pumping and storage stations all along the way, including at Lowman Park. A huge tank will be built across the street from the park, adding a million gallons of storage. This means that, during heavy downpours, "combined sewer outflows" (sewage plus stormwater) will be much less likely to overwhelm the carrying capacity of the transport system. When that happens, the combined sewer outflow has nowhere to go but into Puget Sound.

It's been a controversial project. On the down side, the storage facility will occupy formerly private land that just months ago contained rental housing across the street from Lowman Park. On the upside, there'll be much less chance of polluting Puget Sound during heavy storms, and the new facility will add landscaping and stairways atop the underground tank and the control station, offering new panoramas of Puget Sound.

 

Fauntleroy and Morgan Junction

Here's a wide-ranging stairway walk in the northern part of the Fauntleroy neighborhood. On this walk you'll step down the second-longest Seattle stairs, at Thistle Street. You'll also see wonderful examples of neighborhood art; take winding timber stairs down the Lincoln Park bluff to the cobblestone beach below; and "discover" a well-hidden stairway as you near Morgan Junction. There's also a stop at Solstice Park, where you'll visit a giant earthen astrolabe - an instrument that predicts where on the horizon the sun will set with each solstice. Where your stair walk nears the end, you'll find ample opportunities for food or drink - such as the excellent pub in Morgan Junction that specializes in craft beer and cider.

The slideshow marked by the "www" icon below contains the extra pictorial content referred to in the book. 

Looking back up the Thistle stairs, midway down

Here are a few more pictures: 

Detail of the Thistle Street stairs: note the recycled electric streetcar railing
After walking to Solstice Park, with its astronomical earthworks, you'll make your way over to Lincoln Park. To get down from the top of the bluff in Lincoln Park to the beach, you'll have two choices. The main route takes a bluffside path right. Or, you can turn left to walk along the top of the bluff south, until you arrive at the alternate bluffside pathway down to the beach, pictured below:

Midway down the alternate south bluff stairs

At the base of Lincoln Park bluff: looking across the Sound to Blake Island