We’ve heard from our neighbors that the new bike lanes on SW Avalon Way have been getting use, especially on warm, sunny days. One of our neighbors recently shared this video of his young son who now feels safe and comfortable riding his bicycle along SW Avalon Way.
Summary
- We’ve completed work along SW Avalon Way! The result of our Levy investment on the 35th/Avalon Project supports safety, accessibility, and efficiency for everyone on this important West Seattle street.
- The $13.3 million investment on SW Avalon Way through the Levy enabled improvements including repaving, new bike lanes, transit islands, improved curb ramps, and more to support efficient and safe travel across all modes.
- Our hardworking crews and contractors tackled multiple paving projects this construction season, completing the entirety of our 2020 planned accomplishments: to repave 16 total lane miles in parts of West Seattle and North Seattle.
- These changes also help us all reach our Reconnect West Seattle mode-shift goals by making biking safer and easier.
- Big thanks to all the local businesses, property managers, residents, students, teachers, and congregants for their patience as we built this project! (And thank you to you for making this work possible through the Levy to Move Seattle).
Back in 2015, Seattle voters approved the $930 million Levy to Move Seattle to provide funding to improve safety, maintain our streets and bridges, and invest in reliable, affordable travel options for our growing city.
We’re delivering on our commitments to voters. The results of our Levy investment on the 35th/Avalon Project supports safety, accessibility, and efficiency for everyone on this important West Seattle street.
Every year, we pave arterial streets to keep you moving, whether you’re biking, walking, riding the bus, or driving. Paving projects help to move people and goods more safely and efficiently. Approximately 80% of the funding for these paving projects comes from the Levy to Move Seattle.
Projects like these are guided by our transit, freight, bike, and pedestrian master plans. These “modal master plans” serve as our framework for keeping everyone moving as safely and efficiently as possible as Seattle grows. We revisit these 20-year plans about every five years to make updates and make sure we’re on track to maintain and grow a safe transportation system for everyone.
On SW Avalon Way, we brought together 4 Levy programs (Arterial Roadway Maintenance, Bike Safety, Sidewalk Safety Repair, and New Sidewalks) to fund enhancements to upgrade Avalon Way in support of safe, affordable, multimodal transportation options.
The $13.3 million Levy investment on SW Avalon Way enabled these improvements:
Over 5 lane miles of repaving.
Lane mileage is the total amount of miles covered by a road’s lanes. This means that if there were 2.5 miles of repaving across two lanes, there were five lane miles of repaving. See the map for where the 5.3 lane miles of repaving took place on and around SW Avalon Way.
New protected bike lanes.
Before the project. 
After the project was complete. 
After the project was complete.
We added protected bike lanes to create a bike route for people of all ages and abilities. This helps connect West Seattle to the West Seattle Bridge Trail and beyond – including the SODO Trail and Downtown Seattle. (Read more about how this supports our Reconnect West Seattle mode-shift goals below).
Transit islands to support the RapidRide C bus line.
These transit islands reduce conflicts and risks of collisions between people biking and buses, enhancing safety. They also help buses stay in the flow of traffic, which reduces merging delays.
Closure of 30th Ave SW at SW Avalon Way and the slip lane at Fauntleroy Way SW/SW Avalon Way.
This change helps increase safety and reduce cut-through driving behavior. Many cities are actively removing slip lanes, which can be unsafe for people walking and rolling because people driving enter them at high speeds.
High friction surface treatment on SW Charlestown St and SW Genesee St.
High friction surface treatment is a skid-resistance measure which helps people driving maintain control in both dry and wet conditions.
Enhanced curb ramps and sidewalk corners.
These support accessibility and ease of travel for people of all ages and abilities.
Outside of the Levy, SDOT supported Seattle Public Utilities to add a new water main and make important drainage improvements. This work totaled $1.3 million.
Our hardworking crews and contractors tackled multiple paving projects this construction season, completing the entirety of our 2020 planned accomplishments: to repave 16 total lane miles in West Seattle and North Seattle.
The Levy provides almost 30% of our transportation budget and funds hundreds of projects across the city. Since the Levy to Move Seattle began funding work in 2016, we’ve repaved over 100 lane miles of busy arterials across the city.
This means that only halfway through the life of the Levy, we’re over halfway to our nine-year repaving goal. (Take a look at our 2020 accomplishments across all Levy programs in our annual reports.)
We work to make every single tax dollar count, which includes partnering with other agencies, competing for grant dollars, and leveraging levy dollars to make them go further. For every $1.00 of Seattle property taxpayer dollars we receive through the Levy to Move Seattle, we’re benefiting from an additional $1.29 in local, grant, and partnership dollars.
Having safe spaces to move – especially outdoors to walk, roll, or bike – has become especially important during the COVID-19 pandemic. Not only that, but these changes also help us reach our Reconnect West Seattle mode-shift goals by making biking safer and easier.
With support from us (SDOT) and our transportation partners, we’re looking to people in and around West Seattle to – within their means – consider changing how they travel when it’s safe to return to regular travel routines.
One way we support this is by making it easier and safer to ride bikes. Our collective goal for how people get around in 2021 during peak commute hours includes an additional 940 people switching from driving to riding bikes.
Construction is disruptive so thank you for your patience as we worked to invest your tax dollars in a smoother, safer trip along SW Avalon Way.