Seattle has a goal of reaching zero traffic fatalities and serious injuries by 2030. We also have a vision of making Seattle the most walkable city in the nation; and of making riding a bicycle a comfortable and integral part of daily life for people of all ages and abilities. We have two new projects that fit this bill. They calm traffic, make it safer for people walking, biking and driving and fill gaps in our citywide bicycle network. The projects grew out of community requests and actions recommended in the 2012 Road Safety Summit Action Plan; the Pedestrian Master Plan and the Bicycle Master Plan. Continue reading to learn more.
SDOT recently striped half a mile of bike lanes and sharrows on Roosevelt Way NE between NE 75th and 85th streets. To the north and south, Roosevelt was reconfigured in 2010 to provide bicycle lanes. This project completes a missing link connecting the University District with Northgate and the future Link Light Rail Stations. It also required consolidating half of the on-street parking in the area. Parking continues to be available on the east side. We also heard that pedestrian improvements to Maple Leaf Park were needed, so as part of the project a new crosswalk at NE 83rd Street is being installed. The crosswalk supports the Maple Leaf Playground completed last spring and the transformation of 16 acres of open space on the reservoir lid. Overall, the project creates a safer and more comfortable travel option for people riding bikes and improves pedestrian access to the new park.
In 2010, the Green Lake and Wallingford Community Councils asked SDOT to study rechannelizing Green Lake Way N between N 55th and N 50th streets. The Pedestrian Master Plan highlighted the need for improvements in this area, so SDOT collected traffic volumes and collision data. The studies showed that traffic volumes and street width supported one travel lane in each direction with a center turn lane. Marking the street this way helps reduce speeding as demonstrated by projects like the Stone Way N Rechannelization Project. Making the change allows bike lanes to be added connecting to those on N 50th Street and Stone Way N and farther north on Green Lake Way N. It also makes it possible to add a pedestrian crosswalk at N 52nd Street so it is easier to access Woodland Park. On-street parking is not impacted along Green Lake Way N. However, to help improve signal operations for westbound traffic on N 50th Street, one block of parking on the north side of N 50th is being removed. Construction is scheduled to happen over the next two weeks.
We hope you enjoy these improvements as we make Seattle a safer and more comfortable place to move around.