The median under the railway trestle on Auburn Way South, its brother on 15th Street between West Valley Highway and the Valley Freeway, its sister between State Route 164 and the Muckleshoot Casino.

What links them?

Well, once among the ugliest, scruffiest, most awful of their kind on Auburn streets, they all have new dos, after the City’s adoption of fresh standards for median care and cleaning.

Daryl Faber, director of Auburn Parks, Arts and Recreation, suggested on Monday that members of the City’s Municipal Services Committee might even go out and eyeball them.

“If you go down there now you’ll see new, drought-tolerant plants that look great and a mix of bulbs and plants,” Faber said of the sites mentioned.

The effort began in December 2011 on the heels of departing councilmember Sue Singer’s plea to committee members to do something about the mangy medians.

“A number-one priority for the council is to maintain our assets, and it’s very frustrating to me that it is just not considered an important thing,” Singer said on that occasion.

Singer had made the plea repeatedly throughout her four terms in office, directing it into the ears of two mayors and into those of a changing cast of characters on the City Council.

Where until now, some damp squib always managed to snuff it out.

This time the City took standards from Olympia and other cities, made sure all the parts fit together then worked with parks, planning and public works staff to make a working document, a set of master guidelines.

Auburn Planner Gary Yao marshaled the tidying forces.

Private developers or the City must consult and follow the guidelines whenever they are improving what’s already out there or building new medians.

Committee members on Monday were delighted to see the end of the median issue, which had even prompted a derisory letter or two to the Auburn Reporter, chiding the newspaper for writing about it and the City for concentrating on it.

“This is something we needed, and now we have it, and now we can move on. Basically, I consider this closed now,” said Councilmemeber Wayne Osborne.

Not so fast, said chairman Bill Peloza, summoning the specter of the former deputy mayor whose consistent complaints about the post-office-wall-worthy medians finally set the shovels and clippers in motion.

“Remember how she used to beat her fists at this table about street medians?” Peloza said light-heartedly about Singer. “Seriously, though, this is a great effort and we all appreciate it. I know the citizens will appreciate it.”

“I think I should have yelled a little harder about it before,” Singer said later. “It’s good to work amicably, but sometimes you have to get mad about things. This was unfinished business for me. I got (Councilmember) Largo Wales to work on it for me. I am excited. It reflects well on the community.”