We’ve heard from many people advocating for safer ways to travel in NE Seattle.
Since planning for the 35th Ave NE Project began in 2016, we’ve heard from many people advocating for safer ways to travel in NE Seattle. We’ve welcomed every comment, phone call, email, and conversation and taken those into consideration. We appreciate everyone who has reached out to share their thoughts, concerns, and support for the proposed safety enhancements.
Moving forward with a new design for 35th.
When the project began, the goal was to better organize the street, increasing safety for everyone. To meet this goal, we proposed a design that included bike lanes consistent with recommendations from the Bike Master Plan adopted by City Council in 2014.
In response to the feedback we heard about the design, and based on industry best practices, data analysis, and continued conversations with the community, we’ve chosen to move forward with a new design that includes 1 travel lane in each direction, a center turn lane (north of 65th) and parking maintained on the east side of the street (between NE 47th and NE 85th streets). In addition, we’ll be making enhancements to the neighborhood greenway on 39th Ave NE.
Better street design can lead to safer streets.
The new design helps us improve safety and operations for all travelers on 35th by providing a dedicated space for turning vehicles. We’ve seen decreased vehicle speeds and decreased collision rates on streets with one lane in each direction and a center turn lane. Examples include NE 75th St, NE 125th St, and Nickerson St. By slowing vehicle speeds and better defining the travel lanes, this helps increase safety for everyone on 35th, including people crossing the street.
The new design will also allow efficient transit travel through the corridor with southbound buses making in-lane stops at the curb. Based on community feedback, the new design keeps the northbound and southbound bus stops at NE 68th St for riders wanting access at this important location.
New design elements:
NE 47th St to NE 65th St
- Parking will be maintained on the east side of the street, instead of both sides
- One lane in each direction
- No center turn lane given the narrow width of the road
NE 65th St to NE 85th St
- Parking will be maintained on the east side of the street, instead of both sides
- One lane in each direction
- Center turn lane
NE 85th St to NE 89th St
- Parking will be maintained on both sides of the street
- One lane in each direction
- Center turn lane
Throughout the corridor
- Pedestrian crossing improvements at 60th St and 80th St, with further evaluation of additional requests after the project is complete
- New left-turn pockets at NE 75th St as well as space for left-turning vehicles to pull out of the travel lane at many other intersections
- Signage and crossing enhancements on the 39th Ave NE greenway
- New load zones and short-term parking changes, in coordination with nearby businesses
We’ve heard consistently that safety along this corridor is the neighborhood’s number one priority.
Throughout the lifetime of this project, we have continued to receive feedback about the original design and participated in additional conversations with community members for and against this project in an attempt to find common ground. We have heard consistently that safety along this corridor is the neighborhood’s number one priority.
With a year’s worth of comments, targeted outreach, and additional analysis, we have chosen a new design that reflects the neighborhood priority to enhance safety along 35th. While there would be no protected bike lanes on 35th, people riding in the street would still benefit from slower vehicle speeds and clearly defined travel lanes. We will also be making enhancements to the parallel neighborhood greenway on 39th Ave NE that provides a route for people that prefer to bike on a quieter street.
To make space for the center turn lane, parking will be maintained on the east side of the street, instead of both sides. Throughout this project, we’ve worked with businesses and religious organizations along 35th to better understand parking, loading, and access needs. With the new design, we have decided to prioritize parking on the east side of the street. This decision is based on community feedback and the location of several existing load zones and ADA parking spaces on the east side of the street. We’ve heard that these spaces are critical for people with limited mobility that are attending services at the religious institutions on 35th.
We’re moving forward to implement this new design in order to improve safety for everyone.
The design is conceptual and still needs to be further developed. We’ll share additional details with the community in the coming weeks.
The new design addresses many concerns we’ve heard from the community, however, we’ve also heard requests for additional enhancements along the corridor. SDOT is evaluating these requests and will share more information as we have it. We hope to continue developing a strong relationship with community members to help us take a holistic look at future transportation and mobility projects in northeast Seattle.
We anticipate construction, including final paving and striping, to resume this spring. If you have questions, please contact us at 35thAvePaving@seattle.gov or 206.512.3950.