If you’ve been traveling near the South Spokane Street and 4^th Avenue South area, you’ve likely noticed some rubble…and something missing. The old 4^th Avenue South ramp, off of the West Seattle Bridge – with its precarious 90 degree turn – is no more (or at least in chunks and on its way out).  

The old sharp-turn ramp had to come down for crews to begin work to widen the South Spokane Street Viaduct that leads to the West Seattle Bridge. The upper Spokane roadway will nearly double in width to the north. Meanwhile, the new 4^th Avenue off-ramp is expected to open this fall.

For all the details about the closures and detours, please click here.

SBAB in Action!

Have you ever wanted to get involved in shaping Seattle’s future pedestrian and bicycle system?  Then SPAB or SBAB may be right for you. 

SPAB, otherwise known as the Seattle Pedestrian Advisory Board, is a committee of volunteers that advises the Mayor, City Council, and SDOT on the city’s pedestrian programs, projects, and policies.  The board participates in the planning of projects big and small – from new sidewalk projects to the Alaskan Way Viaduct Project.  One of SPAB’s greatest responsibilities is supporting the implementation of the Pedestrian Master Plan. 

The board’s meetings are open to the public so come down to City Hall to see what SPAB is doing to make Seattle the most walkable city in the nation.  SPAB meets the second Wednesday of each month from 6 to 8 p.m. in City Hall room L280.  SPAB will be looking for new members in 2010.  Check out their website for more information.

SBAB, or the Seattle Bicycle Advisory Board, also advises the Mayor, Council, and SDOT on matters related to bicycle facilities, safety, access, and mobility.  Board members rely on their experiences as cyclists to achieve their goal of making Seattle a world-class city for bicycling.  The bike board contributes to project development, evaluates city policies, design guidelines and regulations, and supports the implementation of the Bicycle Master Plan.

Meetings are open to the public and are held from 6 to 8 p.m. on the first Wednesday of every month in room L280 in City Hall.  SBAB will also be recruiting new members in 2010.  See their website to find out how to get engaged.

SDOT Staff along with many other city agencies will be on hand to discuss the department’s budget plans Sunday, January 31, at the 2010 Citizen’s Budget Conference on the third floor of the Seattle Center House from Noon until 5:00pm. Mayor Mike McGinn and City Council Budget Chair, Jean Godden, will welcome attendees at 12:30 p.m. and wrap up the event after a panel discussion among City Councilmembers on their spending priorities. Show up and learn why budgeting matters and how to get involved in the decisions that affect you.

…So do we and we’re here to help fill them. SDOT’s street crews respond to requests to fill potholes regularly and try to get to requests quickly. You can report a pothole online here or by calling 206-684-ROAD (7623).

Southeast Seattle’s Chief Sealth Trail is about to be extended. This will be the newest addition to our regional trail system. It will be built entirely along the northern portion of the City Light Transmission lines corridor from Beacon Ave S to S Angeline Street/15^th Avenue S. Construction is estimated to start in July 2010 and to kick off things off, SDOT is hosting an open house to discuss the project. Information about the project was recently mailed to community members but this will be another opportunity to learn the details.

The open house will be tomorrow, Wednesday, January 27, 2010  from 6:30 to 8:30pm at Mercer Middle School (1600 S. Columbian Way Seattle, WA 98108). We hope to see you there!

For the past two months, we’ve been surveying some of the art that has been installed in Seattle in response to the SDOT Art Plan, jointly developed in 2005 with the Seattle Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs and written by Daniel Mihalyo. We’re wrapping up our survey today by showcasing some of the biggest items in the Art Plan’s toolkit: signature sculptures. 

Historically, stand-alone sculpture was the primary way art was incorporated into public street spaces in Seattle.  While today we focus more on integrating artistic elements into infrastructure, there is still a place for signature works of art in our right-of-way, as the pictures below attest.  Enjoy!

Paul Sorey, "Coffee Pot Pergola", Lake City Multi-Modal Project

Brian Goggin, "Traffic of Ideas", University Way Multi-Modal Project

Tom Askman and Lea Anne Lake, "Ballard Gateway"

As we look forward to a new round of new sidewalk construction this summer, we thought we’d take one last look at some of the new sidewalks constructed in 2009.  Today we feature three projects.

The first, on 37^th Avenue S, completed a missing link in the sidewalk network between S Thistle Street and S Rose Street.  The new walkway connects to Wing Luke Elementary School .

New sidewalk approaching Wing Luke

The next project built new sidewalks on S Walden Street between Martin Luther King Jr Way and 27^th Avenue S.  This walkway also completed a missing link in the sidewalk network and provides access to Metro Transit and Link Light Rail.

S Walden Street Sidewalk

We travel to northeast Seattle for the third project.   This new sidewalk connects to an existing sidewalk on the east side of 8th Ave NE between NE 92nd and NE 94th Streets and continued the walkway to NE 95th Street.  Curb was also installed along the existing sidewalks on the west side of the street.  8^th Avenue NE now has sidewalks and curb on both sides of the street providing a safe walking route to Olympic View Elementary.

New Sidewalk on 8th Avenue NE

Click here to read our previous posts about sidewalks constructed in 2009.

With the new 4^th Avenue Off-ramp construction on schedule to open this fall, the long-awaited Spokane Street Viaduct Widening project is now breaking ground.  The $168 million viaduct effort is the largest project the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) currently has in construction.  It is expected to be finished by May of 2012. When complete, the project will have nearly doubled the width of the elevated roadway. Seattle commuters and the freight community will enjoy improved access between I-5, the area south of downtown (SODO) and West Seattle, and benefit from significantly improved traffic flow and safety on this key east-west route.

Spokane Street Detour Map

The work by SDOT and its contractor to widen this 60-year-old elevated roadway that connects I-5 to the West Seattle Bridge will have traffic impacts beginning Friday, January 22. If you are driving into or out of the SODO area or West Seattle this weekend, allow yourself extra time!  The ramps leading to the West Seattle Bridge from northbound I-5 and Columbian Way will be closed this weekend; the westbound Fourth Avenue S off-ramp will be permanently closed and Spokane Street westbound will close from Sixth to First Avenue for the duration of the project. 

For all the details about the closures and detours, please visit our website.

Photo by VeloBusDriver

King County Metro has announced plans to equip all of its buses with new bike racks designed to hold three bikes instead of the current racks that only hold two. Installation is scheduled to be complete by Spring 2010. The new racks are a little different from the current racks so they’ve prepared a short video to help users understand how to properly load and unload their bikes. They have also provided helpful information on the kinds of bikes approved for loading. This is another good opportunity to make your daily commute or trips a little more multimodal. For more information on how to ride your bike on Metro, click here.

Today people of all ages and backgrounds will come together to improve lives, bridge social barriers, and move our nation closer to the community that Dr. King envisioned. By spending the day volunteering, Americans will make today a day ON and not just a day OFF.

Volunteer with Americans across the nation on the 2010 King Day of Service and make a real difference in your community.  

For more information on the day of service, click here.  The Carlson Center at the University of Washington has great ideas on how to get involved locally, check them out here.