Join us on October 2 for the grand opening of the Northgate Pedestrian and Bicycle Bridge and ribbon cutting ceremony. Visit our website for event details.
First up: designing for accessibility.
The City of Seattle strives to make city programs, services, and activities equally accessible to all.
The Northgate Pedestrian and Bicycle Bridge is no exception. Our bridge design complies with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Standards.
The bridge includes a variety of features to support people of all ages and abilities.
The bridge is sloped at 4.3%, except between the Sound Transit mezzanine and the NE 100th St level, which is 8.1%. There are ADA-compliant handrail grips and 1.8%-slope landings every 30 feet to provide resting places for those walking or rolling.
Below is a visual representation of the difference between these various slopes, and how they compare to a typical stairway.
There is elevator access via the Northgate Station Garage, including where the bridge connects to the Northgate Link light rail station, during normal hours of operation.
There are curb ramps along 1st Ave NE and NE 100th St, where the part of the bridge that leads down to the ground level lands. There are also accessible pedestrian signals at the intersection of 1st Ave NE and NE 100th St, which will offer push-button activation, audible signals, and vibrations to let people with limited vision or hearing know when it is safe to cross the street.
We have built accessible pedestrian signals in over 100 locations since 2018, and about one-quarter of the traffic signals in Seattle now have an accessible push button.
Learn more about our pedestrian-first signal policy update, which guide our approach to operating 1100 traffic signals in the city. The policy update:
- Gives people more time to cross the street safely.
- Reduces pedestrian wait times at signals.
- Creates more automatic walk signals so people don’t have to press a button.
- Builds on other recent pedestrian-first policies and projects.