Date: 1/27/26 6:59 pm From: Karen Fardal via Tweeters <tweeters...> Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Ungratifying news from Montlake Fill
Hello Tweets, in case you’d like to share any thoughts with UW about the change to paid parking at UBNA/CUH, the time is now since they will likely be putting up signs this week. Maybe too late to stop it but you can still let them know this is tough for a number of reasons. Some I thought of, feel free to use or come up with your own:
- Equity/financial burden for frequent visitors, even $5/day adds up to over $1,750/yr.
- No bus line drops off there
- Currently 3 huge construction projects going on nearby (two are UW housing, Laurel Village and Blakely Village) and construction workers currently take up all the parking along 41st on weekdays by 8am.
- Disability access - UBNA trails are fairly flat and Yesler Swamp is designed to be ADA accessible. Extra walk from closest neighborhood parking could be too far for some disabled visitors.
- Not everyone has or carries a smartphone/credit card when going on a nature walk. Could be disenfranchising to older/unbanked visitors.
- Staff will also have to pay the daily rate. UW doesn’t pay staff that well to my knowledge so this is a huge hit, $1500 per year since the gardeners likely don’t live in Laurelhurst. We love our CUH gardeners, they work hard to care for this huge area as well as the botanic gardens, also the Miller Library and other CUH staff.
- Laurelhurst neighbors are not going to appreciate having everyone park there to avoid paying
- CUH previously negotiated keeping parking free. With the upcoming merger with the Arboretum Foundation, maybe something similar could be arranged or there could be community fundraising to keep this access open for all. Even postponing implementation might allow for a more creative solution.
- Walking there is a vital mental and physical health benefit for a lot of us. Also some of us volunteer and keep the place nice by picking up trash and removing invasive plants.
These are the emails I found to write to, Connie Sidles suggested including the Provost:
<provost...> - Professor Tricia Serio
<ucommute...> - UW Transportation Services
(If you are UW connected, there is a web form but requires a UW email and you must be faculty/staff/student and the comment field doesn’t allow for that many characters - https://www.washington.edu/provost/connect/)
I fully realize there are more dire things going on in the world and we all have many letters to write. Just in case you have time for one more in the very near future, I just wanted to share my thoughts.
Thank you and hope you’re seeing cool birds so far here in 2026,
