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City sets aside $500,000 for Westlake street-end pilot to improve lake access; public art panels under consideration
Summary
Parks staff outlined a street-end pilot on Westlake Avenue at Lake Silicom with design, parking and public-art features; $500,000 in ARPA funds is allocated for design and construction.
Parks staff presented preliminary plans for a Westlake Avenue street-end pilot on Lake Silicom intended to increase public access to the lake. The project has $500,000 set aside for design and construction from ARPA funds, and staff described a design that balances neighborhood impacts, ADA access and possibilities for public art.
Debbie, the city's parks capital project manager, said the Westlake site was chosen from a longer list of more than a dozen street ends the city has evaluated. The project team has completed earlier planning steps, including a 2022 update and a 2024 priority matrix, and hired a consultant for preliminary design this year. The city aims to complete design in the current year and move to construction the following year.
Design objectives include an ADA parking stall, limited non-ADA parking stalls (staff said possibly two non-ADA stalls and one ADA stall for the pilot), improved bicycle parking, site signage and low-maintenance furnishings. To address privacy and property-line concerns, staff proposed using artistic panels or sculptural elements as a visual barrier between the public right-of-way and adjacent private yards rather than standard chain-link fencing.
Staff said the street-end program seeks to improve equity of water access across the city (there are more than a dozen street ends across Lake Silicom, Gravel Lake and American Lake), create clearer wayfinding and incorporate environmental-education features about watershed health. Neighborhood concerns raised during early engagement focused on mailboxes, driveway access and on-street parking; staff said designers are working to minimize impacts.
On funding, staff said the $500,000 currently allocated is ARPA money. The parks presenter suggested the project budget could incorporate an artful barrier in place of a purely functional fence, and commissioners discussed pursuing additional public-art funding sources (for example, Arts Commission support or separate grants) if a permanent art installation is desired.
Next steps include further community engagement, confirmation of parking and ADA stall locations through permitting, and developing final construction documents. Staff indicated the project team expects to return to the commission in spring with refined designs and permitting updates.
