Green Lake neighborhood
Where we’ve been
Two years ago, we set out with a goal of creating better and safer streets and imagined what improvements for people walking, biking, driving and taking transit could look like in the Green Lake and Wallingford neighborhoods. Over 50,000 people move through the Green Lake and Wallingford neighborhoods by car, bike, bus, and on foot each day, and we wanted to make improvements that would keep Seattle moving in, to, and through the area.
About a year later – in July 2018 – when we had draft designs to share, we headed online, out into the neighborhood, held 4 public meetings, and sent out mailers to hear from you what you wanted improvements to look like along the corridor. We heard that you wanted to create better and safer streets for people walking and biking, reduce delays at key intersections; and pave the aging streets. We incorporated as many comments as we could and developed a final design that was shared this past spring, which included:
- Paving over 6 miles on N 40th St, N 50th St, the Green Lake Loop, and N 80th St
- Adding nearly 4 miles of new, enhanced, or upgraded bike lanes
- Upgrading or adding 500 curb ramps
- Repairing and replacing sidewalks
- Adding signalized improvements at many intersections
- Consolidating bus stops for better transit speed and reliability
What’s happening now
Here we are in July 2019 – two years later – and we are ready to break ground on the Green Lake & Wallingford Multi-Modal Improvements Project with our newly selected contractor, Ceccanti, Inc. But before we start construction, we want to make sure you know what to expect.
The first work you’ll see taking place on the corridor as early as Monday, July 29 is utility work on N 50th St, closely followed by curb and sidewalk work. Ceccanti plans to start curb, sidewalk and utility work on N 40th St in August, followed by the same work on the Green Lake Loop later this fall. We don’t anticipate starting work on N 80th St until the end of this year or early next year.
You’ll also notice from this schedule that we don’t anticipate repaving this year – in fact, we don’t anticipate repaving any of the streets until later next spring. If you’ve lived here for even a few months, you know that our fall, winter AND spring are wet, or dry and cold. Since contractors can only pave and stripe in dry weather that is also above freezing, this gives them a limited window to complete work, especially on larger paving projects. Contractors work to phase work so they can complete less-weather sensitive work during the rainy and colder seasons.
You’ll see crews on the corridor from 7 AM – 7 PM, Mondays through Fridays to start but as we are working on major arterials, we will need to do some of the construction on the weekends and at night to keep traffic moving through the area.
We thank you for your patience as we take care of the basics and invest in the future by upgrading pavement on roads across the city through our 9-year, $930 million Levy to Move Seattle.
How to stay informed
As you may know, construction schedules are subject to change due to weather and as contractors phase work to keep people moving in, and through, the area. To stay up to date on the latest schedule:
- Join us for our pre-construction open house at the Wallingford Senior Center (4649 Sunnyside Ave N, Ground floor, room #140) on Thursday, July 25 from 6 – 8 PM with a short presentation at 6:30 PM.
- Join us for our online open house for the same information as our in-person open house and periodic schedule updates throughout the project.
- Sign up for email updates so you can learn the latest information weekly throughout construction.
- Email us at greenlakepaving@seattle.gov or call us 206-693-4151 with your questions during construction.