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Best of the Month | Healthy Streets updates, Seattle Transportation Plan outreach, tips for fall and winter weather, and more! 

Community members engage with Seattle Transportation Plan outreach staff.

In case you missed it, we’re sharing highlights from the SDOT Blog each month. Here are some of our top posts from October. 


SDOT Blog Monthly Highlights – October 2022  

  1. Find out what’s next for Healthy Streets in Seattle 
  1. Seattle Transportation Plan | More ways for you to share your thoughts with us in Phase 2 
  1. We’re evaluating expanded bus lane hours in Interbay on 15th Ave W and Elliott Ave W. Take our survey & learn more! 
  1. Take our survey: Help design Lake Washington Boulevard to enhance safety for all users of the street, and promote walking and biking 
  1. Fall is here, and we’re sharing important reminders to help keep sidewalks, planting strips, and gutters clear! 

Please note: You can click on the headlines to go directly to any specific blog post (#1-5) – or just read on for a shorter recap of each post and a photo.  


1) Find out what’s next for Healthy Streets in Seattle 

We started October off with planned updates to our Healthy Streets, which were first launched during the pandemic in 2020. 

People enjoy riding bikes and jogging with their dog on a Healthy Street in 2021. Photo: SDOT.
People enjoy riding bikes and jogging with their dog on a Healthy Street in 2021. Photo: SDOT.

We introduced Healthy Streets during the pandemic in 2020 as a way for Seattleites to get outside safely and stay active in local neighborhoods throughout the city. Healthy Streets are open for people walking, rolling, biking, and playing, and closed to pass-through traffic. 

We’re updating our Healthy Streets across Seattle based on the trends we’ve seen in terms of community use and public feedback. Next, we will: 

  • Make some locations permanent Healthy Streets 
  • Return some locations to neighborhood greenways, which they were prior to the pandemic 
  • Further review some Healthy Streets and conduct more outreach to determine next steps. These locations will remain Healthy Streets until further notice. 

2) Seattle Transportation Plan | More ways for you to share your thoughts with us in Phase 2 

We collected more feedback (and still are!) from Seattle communities for the Seattle Transportation Plan. We partnered with Smash the Box, a community-based organization, for fun, inclusive outreach at community events.  

Community members providing input for the development of the Seattle Transportation Plan.
Community members providing input for the development of the Seattle Transportation Plan. 

The Seattle Transportation Plan is our commitment to building a safe, efficient, and affordable transportation system. The plan is an opportunity for us all to imagine how we want to move around the city in the future. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us so far. We have heard you and started planning. 

Visit the Online Engagement Hub to get involved and share your ideas.   

We will use your answers to these questions to inform the development of the Seattle Transportation Plan. By taking part in the creation of the plan, you will help us build a transportation system that works better for everyone! 

3) We’re evaluating expanded bus lane hours in Interbay on 15th Ave W and Elliott Ave W. Take our survey & learn more! 

Bus lanes help buses move more efficiently by separating them from other vehicles. Especially in heavy traffic, bus lanes can reduce travel times for people riding transit. We’ve been evaluating potential expanded bus lane hours on 15th Ave W and Elliott Ave W. 

A bus travels in the existing curb lane on 15th Ave W. When not restricted to buses only, the curb lane is used for parking and loading access. Photo credit: SDOT
A bus travels in the existing curb lane on 15th Ave W. When not restricted to buses only, the curb lane is used for parking and loading access. Photo credit: SDOT 

We’re working in partnership with King County Metro to improve transit reliability on 15th Ave W and Elliott Ave W. These streets provide frequent bus service for King County Metro routes 24, 32, 33, and the RapidRide D Line. 

Today, the curb lane on Elliott Ave W and 15th Ave W in Interbay operates as a bus lane at certain times of the day. These times vary along different sections of the street. When the curb lane is not restricted to buses, it is used for parking and loading access. To help improve transit reliability and provide more consistency in how people can use the curb lane, we’re evaluating changing the bus-only hours to 7 – 9 AM and 3 – 7 PM in both the northbound and southbound directions.   

4) Take our survey: Help design Lake Washington Boulevard to enhance safety for all users of the street, and promote walking and biking 

We also requested additional community feedback for Lake Washington Boulevard. If you have thoughts or feedback to share, please consider taking the survey! 

People biking along Lake Washington Boulevard on a bicycle weekend in 2020. Photo credit: Jeanné Clark.
People biking along Lake Washington Boulevard on a bicycle weekend in 2020. Photo credit: Jeanné Clark. 

In May, we announced the start of a community visioning process for Lake Washington Boulevard. This process, in partnership with Seattle Parks and Recreation and the community, will co-create design concept(s) that promote pedestrian and bicycle uses and increase safety for everyone that travels along Lake Washington Boulevard. 

We want to hear directly from you – please take our brief survey. Your input will help us better understand what’s working well for you along Lake Washington Boulevard, what could be improved, and how we can enhance safety and the overall traveler experience. We’ll share the survey results with the community this winter. 

5) Fall is here, and we’re sharing important reminders to help keep sidewalks, planting strips, and gutters clear! 

Finally, fall arrived, bringing cold temperatures and rain with it. Here are some tips and reminders about how we can all support our local communities, so that we can keep sidewalks clear and accessible for people of all mobility needs. 

Clearing fall leaves from the sidewalk, a planting strip, and a curb area in Seattle. Photo credit: Jeanné Clark.
Clearing fall leaves from the sidewalk, a planting strip, and a curb area in Seattle. Photo credit: Jeanné Clark.

Removing leaves keeps the sidewalk safe and accessible so that everyone can travel, particularly people who have accessibility needs or have a harder time getting around. It’s not only the right thing to do – it’s also the law. The area between your curb and property line, including sidewalks, planting strip areas, and vegetation, is your responsibility to maintain and keep in a state of good repair. 

Here are some specific tips on what you can do to make sure people in your neighborhood are safe when they walk, roll, bike, or drive by. If you are unable to do these things, please consider asking someone to help you. 

  • Cut back vegetation adjacent to your property to a minimum of 8 feet above the sidewalk and 14 feet above the street. (Read more about tree pruning). 
  • Trim back vegetation that overhangs any portion of the sidewalk. 
  • Remove fallen leaves from the sidewalk. 
  • Remove moss and debris from the sidewalk. 
  • Don’t forget about unblocking clogged gutters.