Based on observations and feedback, the opening of Keep Moving Streets to people walking, biking, and rolling will continue along Lake Washington Blvd, Golden Gardens, Green Lake, and Alki Point.
This spring, we upgraded over 25 miles of Neighborhood Greenways to Stay Healthy Streets, which makes it easier and safer for people to keep six feet apart and creates more open space for people to recreate.
We also opened 4 Keep Moving Streets to support physical distancing around destination parks in coordination with the Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation (Parks).
- W Green Lake Way N (0.4 miles)
- Golden Gardens Dr NW (0.7 miles)
- Alki Point (0.7 miles)
- Lake Washington Blvd (3 miles)
These are located on streets with higher speed and traffic volume than Stay Healthy Streets and are temporarily closed to cut-through traffic (people driving from outside of the closure to a location beyond it). This allows people to continue to recreate close to home while staying physically distanced and healthy while some parking lots are closed to reduce crowding in the parks.
Pictured (with permission): Boomerang of three family kids partaking in a Keep Moving Street happy dance along Lake Washington Boulevard.
We announced in July that based on community feedback and observations from a pilot in late June, the Keep Moving Street along Lake Washington Blvd would stay open to people walking, rolling, biking from July 24 to September 8, 2020, with the chance of extension.
We’re continuing to partner with nearby communities to make sure these Stay Healthy and Keep Moving Streets are safe and helpful, while acknowledging there are some short-term impacts of changing traffic, parking patterns, and potentially longer vehicular commute times.
Roller skating brigade along Seattle’s Keep Moving Street on Lake Washington Blvd.
Here’s a snapshot of what you can expect next:
| Lake Washington Blvd | This 3-mile stretch will remain a Keep Moving Street through the week of October 5! Parks continues to limit parking and biking at Seward Park and other locations along Lake Washington Blvd to prevent overcrowding and the spread of COVID-19. After the week of October 5, we are considering taking the community suggestion of reopening the Keep Moving Street on the weekends only if funding is available. |
| W Green Lake Wy N | The Keep Moving Street at Green Lake will stay open through the re-opening of parking lots at the Small Craft Center. This street, as well as the use of the inner loop pathway, will continue to be assessed in coordination with Parks. We anticipate that we’ll keep this Keep Moving Street open longer than others, because Green Lake is a popular destination even during the fall and winter. With bikes currently restricted on the loop inside the park, this will help you walk, bike, and roll into the colder seasons at a safe distance. |
| Alki Point | This Keep Moving Street will remain through Phase 3 of reopening in King County. We hear you asking us to consider permanent closure and sharing your associated concerns, and we’ll be reaching out over the next few months with more conversation on possible future configurations. |
| Golden Gardens Dr NW | Golden Gardens Dr NW remains a Keep Moving Street through the week of October 5, too! |
We’re continuing to listen to the community and take measures to keep people safely moving. Here’s a snapshot of the feedback and observations that informed these plans.
Much of the Lake Washington Blvd feedback and data is located on our Stay Healthy Streets web page.
Lake Washington Blvd
What we heard:
- Concerns about speeding bicyclists and cars along the street when it first opened up
- Concerns about extra traffic and illegal on-street parking on some of the adjacent streets
- Concerns about increased littering and noise
- Requests to extend the closure to through traffic, especially while schools are closed
- Requests to consider weekday openings and weekend closures throughout the winter months
Highlights:
More substantial barriers were placed along the route early in the opening, which reduced complaints about speeding. “Street Closed Ahead” signs were added at several locations to reduce driver confusion. Parks is working with their crews to help manage extra garbage in public right-of-way. We continue to see an increase in the number of people biking along this three-mile stretch, and Parks’ Social Distance Ambassadors have reported increased compliance with social distancing guidelines in Seward Park.
Near S Angeline St, there were an average of 43 vehicles per day on weekdays and 26 vehicles on weekend days, with a median speed of 17 MPH.
Traffic volumes in general have been increasing near Lake Washington Blvd. Traffic on S McClellan St and Wilson Ave S have both increased slightly since the Keep Moving Street was implemented, but remain below pre-pandemic traffic volumes. S Genesee St saw a significant increase in traffic, but remains below pre-pandemic levels and has seen no associated increase in reported collisions.
Green Lake
What we heard:
- Concerns about increased commute times
- Concerns about how a permanent Keep Moving Street would affect recreation in and around Green Lake
- Support for the additional room to recreate
- Interest in reforming a complete loop around Green Lake, because bikes and other wheels are temporarily restricted from the loop within the park
Highlights:
This location remains popular with Green Lake Park visitors, and has been the second-most utilized Stay Healthy or Keep Moving Street in Seattle.
Golden Gardens
What we heard:
- Enthusiasm about having more space to recreate around Golden Gardens, especially with the constraints of the staircase
- Concern about limiting access to Shilshole Bay Marina residents
- Concern about on-street parking impacts to adjacent streets, ADA access to the off-leash park, and mapping apps that direct people to use residential streets
Highlights:
Parks opened two parking lots: one in the south end and one near the off-leash park for ADA use. The closure was extended to NW 85th St and 32nd Ave NW, and we are requesting the placement of directional signs at NW 65th St and 32nd Ave NW to discourage detours off of designated arterial streets.
Most people walking and biking in the street are doing so between View Ave NW and the pedestrian underpass beneath the railroad tracks.
We’ve seen an average of 33 vehicles per day, with a median speed of 20.7 MPH.
Alki Point
What we heard:
- A desire for permanent closure! Over 1,000 of you signed a petition to keep this Keep Moving Street open permanently
- This street was especially helpful for wheelchair users, because the sidewalks are too narrow for wheelchairs
- Concern about “privatization” of the beach by limiting car and parking access
- Concern that the Keep Moving Street limits the capacity of people who cannot walk, bike, or roll to enjoy the view by driving by
- Concern about the shifting of speeding/noise south between Mee Kwa Mooks Park and Jacobsen Drive
Highlights:
The original closure was extended from Beach Dr to a portion along Alki Way to make it easier for people driving to avoid the area closed to thru-traffic. Barricades were also bolted in place to reduce displacement.
We’ve seen an average of 415 cars per day, with a median speed of 17.5 MPH.
Photo credit: Emily Reardon
Stay Healthy Streets and Keep Moving Streets can only be an asset to the community with input and support from the people who live along and use them, so we want to hear from you.
Over the next few weeks, we’ll launch outreach about the Stay Healthy Streets to gather input on making 20 miles of these streets permanent. Our efforts will focus on:
- Centering equity
- Respecting the cultural significance of neighborhoods to those that live there
- Evolving the streets into the neighborhood fabric
- Hearing what is working, and what isn’t
- Ways to replace the current “Street Closed” signs
We are currently designing the engagement plan. We’ll look to the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods and community leaders to identify good forums for talking to you.
In the meantime, you can express your interest and feedback by emailing StayHealthyStreets@Seattle.gov.