April 26, 2016

Two events here look at putting lids on freeways

Courtesy of John Feit/LID I-5 [enlarge]

The area in Seattle that LID I-5 wants to cover is shown here in yellow. Freeway Park and Plymouth Pillars Park are shown in green. Image courtesy of LID I-5

Photo by McCarthy Building Companies [enlarge]

Klyde Warren Park in Dallas sits above a recessed freeway.

A group of Capitol Hill residents called LID I-5 and the Urban Land Institute Northwest will hold events here in May and June about putting lids on freeways.

LID I-5 is sponsoring a free design charrette May 7 to kick off a campaign to fund a lid over Interstate 5 in downtown Seattle, from Madison Street to Denny Way. The charrette is from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 1620 12th Ave., Suite 205.

The ULI event is from 7:30 to 10 a.m. June 1 at the Grand Hyatt, 721 Pine St. Jim Burnett, the lead architect behind Klyde Warren Park on a lid in Dallas, will give the keynote talk, and a local panel will explore opportunities for urban freeway lids.

Burnett is president of The Office of James Burnett landscape architecture firm. The 5.2-acre Klyde Warren Park won the 2014 ULI Urban Open Space Award. Cost to attend the event is $50 for ULI members and $70 for non-members, and includes breakfast. Register at http://tiny.cc/ar5zay/.

At the May event, people from LID I-5 will describe their vision, and designers and community members will brainstorm, sketch and map ideas. Participants will also be asked about park and street improvements needed near I-5, Freeway Park and the Convention Center.

R.S.V.P. at http://tiny.cc/guqway/.

LID I-5 said it has four active participants and a mailing list of about 400. For more information, contact mail@lidi5.org.

The LID I-5 campaign is different from a proposal by Patano Studio Architecture to cap I-5.