Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell, Sound Transit CEO Julie Timm, SDOT Director Greg Spotts, and more gathered for the groundbreaking at Sam Smith Park. Blog Stats: 1,300 words | 7-minute read
On Friday, October 6, 2023, we broke ground on the MLK Jr Way Safety Project in South Seattle with an event at Sam Smith Park which brought together City leaders, partners, and community advocates to celebrate the start of construction on an important Vision Zero project.
At-a-glance
- We’ve officially broken ground on the MLK Jr Way Safety Project, which will add a mile of protected bike lanes to MLK Jr Way S in addition to ADA improvements, wider sidewalks and crosswalks, upgraded crossings, and vehicle lane reductions to calm traffic and prioritize safe walking and rolling in this high-injury corridor.
- This project is guided by our Vision Zero Top to Bottom Review and the USDOT’s Safe System Approach to help us achieve our commitment to ending traffic deaths and serious injuries on Seattle streets.
- We celebrated this milestone with a ceremony at Sam Smith Park, where we heard from City leaders and partners including Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell, Sound Transit CEO Julie Timm, SDOT Director Greg Spotts, and Franklin High School Principal Erik Weiss.
- Construction on the MLK Jr Way Safety Project is expected be completed by late 2024.
October 6th Groundbreaking Event
Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell, SDOT Director Greg Spotts, and community partners celebrated the groundbreaking of the MLK Jr Way Safety Project with a ceremony and press event at Sam Smith Park near the I-90 Trail. This event marked the official start of construction on this exciting project, which aims to improve safety, accessibility, and access to transit and local destinations for people walking, rolling, and biking between Mount Baker Station and the future Judkins Park Station north of I-90.
At the event, Mayor Harrell and Director Spotts were joined by a line-up of speakers from partner agencies and organizations who were instrumental in helping us finalize the plan for this project, including Sound Transit CEO Julie Timm, Franklin High School Principal Erik Weiss, and Cascade Bicycle Club Executive Director Lee Lambert.
“As we continue to design and deliver transformative investments to strengthen Seattle’s transportation system, safety is our top priority. Informed by the community and with critical help from local, state, and federal partners, we are continuing to deliver on our One Seattle commitment to create a transportation system where every person can travel safely – no matter how they get around. This thoughtful plan and targeted investment will increase safety for everyone who uses Martin Luther King Jr. Way S.”
– Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell
“Breaking ground on MLK is a great milestone – it’s the first of many bike safety projects SDOT will be constructing over the next two years in the South End. We are committed to creating safe, convenient and enjoyable cycling routes across South Seattle in close collaboration with community.”
– SDOT Director Greg Spotts
With this project, we are not only building a necessary, protected bike connection in South Seattle, but the reconfiguration of the road, widening of sidewalks, and addition of upgraded pedestrian crossings will help slow driver speeds, increase visibility, and ensure safety for people walking and rolling – particularly for youth at several schools near MLK Jr Way S.
Our final project design was guided by the Vision Zero Top to Bottom Review and the USDOT’s Safe System Approach, to help us achieve our commitment to ending traffic deaths and serious injuries on Seattle streets.
“Many people get around Seattle by bike, for recreation or commuting, and the number of cyclists is growing along with the city. The number of people who bike to work climbed nearly 20 percent last year. The new protected bike lanes along Martin Luther King Jr. Way will help them all ride safely. I was glad to support increased federal funding for local governments in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, to make important safety projects like this possible and save lives.”
– Senator Maria Cantwell
“The MLK Jr. Way Safety Project will make our transportation system in Seattle more safe, efficient, and reliable. The improvements made to this notoriously busy and dangerous corridor will reduce speeding and collisions to improve safety for people in the neighborhood. The MLK Jr. Way Safety Project also plays an important part in building a more sustainable and interconnected transportation system by improving crosswalks, sidewalks, and bike lanes and creating connections to other important destinations in the region. Today’s groundbreaking is another exciting example of the investments being made in Washington and across the country to upgrade and modernize our transportation and infrastructure to build stronger, more resilient communities.”
– Representative Adam Smith (WA-09)
Thank you to Representative Adam Smith, State and City leaders, our partners, funders, community members and advocates for your collaboration and help in reaching this milestone. Once complete, the reimagined MLK Jr Way S between S Winthrop St and S Judkins St will prioritize pedestrian movement, bicycle safety, transit options, and a more connected Southeast Seattle.
“Today’s groundbreaking is coming at the conclusion of the 3rd annual National Week Without Driving challenge and there could hardly be a better time to celebrate this new mile-long protected bike lane. This investment will create a safer, more accessible, more direct connection to the new Judkins Park Light Rail Station opening for this community in 2025 as part of Sound Transit’s new 2 Line to the east side.”
– Sound Transit CEO Julie Timm
“Cascade is excited to see this investment in South Seattle. This new bike connection will open the doors for youth to safely travel around, explore, and experience their communities and the city.”
– Cascade Bicycle Club Executive Director Lee Lambert
The MLK Jr Way Safety Project is funded by the Vision Zero program, Bicycle Master Plan, Accessible Mount Baker Project, Connecting Washington Grant, and the 9-year Levy to Move Seattle.
More about the MLK Jr Way Safety Project
When construction is complete in late 2024, you will see the following changes to the street:
- One lane in each direction with a center turn lane between S Holgate St and S McClellan St, instead of two travel lanes in each direction. Reducing travel lanes to two-way is a NACTO-recommended tool for encouraging drivers to drive the posted speed limit.
- Wider sidewalks and crosswalks to better separate pedestrians from traffic and encourage walking.
- New crosswalks at the south and east crossings of MLK Jr Way S & Rainier Ave S, and at the south crossing of MLK Jr Way S & S Bayview St.
- One mile of protected bike lanes connecting people to destinations like I-90 Trail, Rainier Valley Neighborhood Greenway, Franklin High School, Mount Baker Transit Center, and the Mount Baker and future Judkins Park Link light rail stations.
- Bike detection at the following intersections of MLK Jr Way: S Judkins St, S Massachusetts St, S McClellan St, and Rainier Ave S.
- Adding or upgrading 30 curb ramps throughout the project area to meet the most current ADA design recommendations.
- Updated pedestrian walk signals between S Judkins St and Rainier Ave S.
- Some parking revisions and parking removal to support bike lane installation while maintaining access to local businesses.
- A fresh coat of roadway paint to improve visibility and safety conditions for pedestrians, vehicles, and bicycles.
Project Map
To explore this plan in detail, visit the Final Design section of our project web page.
This project is an important step toward making our roads calmer and safer while building a more connected, citywide bike network!
MLK Jr Way is currently a high traffic, multi-lane arterial in South Seattle and part of our city’s high-injury network. According to data analysis from our Vision Zero Top-to-Bottom Review:
- 93% of pedestrian fatalities in Seattle occur on arterials.
- 74% of pedestrian fatalities in Seattle occur on arterials with more than one lane in each direction.
- 80% of people killed while biking in Seattle were biking where no biking facility was available.
This project will make it safer for everyone traveling along MLK Jr Way S, but especially for those walking, biking, and rolling. The updated street design will reduce driving lanes to slow down cars, as well as build protected bike lanes, new signalized pedestrian crossings, and wider sidewalks and crosswalks to better separate pedestrians from cars.
Once complete, these facilities will enhance the rider network throughout Seattle by creating safer pedestrian and bicycle connections to transit between S Judkins St (the future Judkins Park Station) and S Winthrop St (Mount Baker Station). The completed bike lanes will also connect to present and future bike facilities — including the I-90 Trail and Neighborhood Greenways — growing an all ages and abilities network between South Seattle and Downtown with infrastructure that offers more transportation choice in a fast-growing city.
Map of Existing and Future Bike Lanes in South Seattle
More than half of our new, fully funded bike lane miles are being built in South Seattle. We are scheduled to have completed or nearly completed 7.5 miles of new bike lanes in South Seattle by the end of 2024, including the MLK Jr Way Safety Project protected bike lanes. You can also see how these new protected bike lanes will connect with existing and future facilities to build a safer, more connected bike network by looking at our Bike Web Map.