Advocacy

Public safety challenges have continued to escalate in Ballard and throughout the City. The Alliance has advocated relentlessly for more attention from the City to help ensure that our streets are safe for our residents, businesses owners and employees, and visitors.

To that end, the Alliance:

• Partners with the Mayor’s office, Councilmember Strauss, the Seattle City Attorney’s office and other key agencies to problem-solve for some of the most impactful individuals in our community. The solution is often a combination of identifying needed resources, diversion and enforcement.
• Successfully advocated for the Storefront Repair Fund that offers business owners small grants to help offset the cost of property damage and repairs.
• Contracts with a private security company to provide overnight security throughout the Ballard District.

As the Alliance works to renew the Ballard Improvement District, we expect to enhance our focus on safety through the addition of more private security and/or safety ambassadors.

The Ballard Alliance has been at the forefront of the planning process for Sound Transit’s West Seattle to Ballard Link Extension which will provide light rail service to Ballard. Serving on various advisory and community stakeholder groups, the Alliance was successful in securing a tunneled approach to Ballard, avoiding both moveable bridge and fixed bridge options with elevated tracks and a station in the right-of-way.

Currently, the Alliance is working to secure an underground station location at or West of 15^th Avenue NW to ensure that it serves the existing and growing density of residents within the Ballard core.

Transportation is a critical issue in Ballard, particularly with a thriving business district intermixed with major arterials and freight corridors. The Alliance works to advocate for policies and transportation decisions that benefit the community.

In 2018 and 2019, the Alliance provided needed support for business owners struggling with impacts stemming from a significant SDOT construction project on NW Market Street between 24^th Avenue NW and the Ballard Locks.

In 2020, during the midst of the pandemic, the Alliance actively worked to delay a massive repaving project on Market Street that would have narrowed traffic to just one travel lane in each direction and caused massive sidewalk and intersection disruptions. Had this project moved forward as scheduled, it would have created extensive impacts to businesses along the corridor just as they were working to survive and recover from the pandemic shutdowns.

The Alliance worked successfully in 2021 and 2022 with Councilmember Strauss, the Mayor’s office and SDOT to secure a thoughtful lane reconfiguration on Ballard Avenue that allowed for the continued and successful operation of street cafes along Ballard Avenue.

The Ballard Alliance partners with REACH to provide a homelessness outreach worker that focuses on making connections with unhoused individuals within the Ballard core. This resource has been critical for our community and provides a balance of connecting people with needed resources while also working to meet the needs of our residential and business community.

When Ballard Commons Park became populated with encampments during the pandemic, our outreach staff made contact with every individual living in the park to understand their needs and the resources and services they would accept. At a critical juncture, the Alliance convinced the City to provide shelter and housing resourced for Ballard Commons Park. Over a 3-month period in late 2021, our outreach worker was able to methodically refer a vast majority of the park’s residents to shelter and housing, culminating in a closure of the park in December of last year. Ballard Commons Park is currently being restored and plans for a new children’s play area is underway with constructions scheduled for 2023.