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Waterfront Seattle | Four-block section of Pine St permanently changing to one-way (westbound), between Melrose and 8th avenues, as early as March 9. 

by on February 29, 2024

Editor’s Note: This is a blog post from the Waterfront Seattle Program. The Waterfront Seattle Program is led by the City of Seattle’s Office of the Waterfront and Civic Projects, working closely with other City departments, external partners, civic leaders, stakeholders, and the broader Seattle public to create a “Waterfront for All.”

As early as Saturday, March 9, Waterfront Seattle will permanently remove eastbound vehicle access on Pine St, between Melrose and 8th avenues to make Pine St a one-way, westbound street. This is the next step in transitioning Pike and Pine streets to one-way roads from 1st to Bellevue/Melrose avenues. The traffic revision to Pike St was completed in November 2023.

Reconfiguring Pike and Pine streets into one-way streets creates more space for people walking and rolling to support a safe, welcoming and pleasant experience for all travelers downtown. When completed later this year, the protected bike lanes will follow the same one-way circulation pattern using Melrose to go north and south to access each street.

Improvements on the bridges over I-5 include expanded sidewalks, protected bike lanes, landscaping, and integrated art elements such as new railings with incorporated lighting, bike buffer texturing, and planter boxes designed by artists Derek Bruno and Gage Hamilton.

People driving north and south on 8th, 9th, Boren, Minor and Melrose avenues will continue straight or turn onto Pine St headed westbound. 

Map showing upcoming changes to Pine St. A purple line shows where Pine St will become one way to the west, between 8th Ave and Melrose Ave.
Map of upcoming changes to Pine St between 8th Ave and Melrose Ave.

Over the next few months, we will be constructing the following improvements on Pine St between Melrose and 8th avenues:

  • Paving, signals and signage for permanent reconfiguration to a one-way westbound street
  • Wider sidewalks to buffer pedestrians from freeway traffic and noise
  • Higher railings with integrated lighting on the bridge over I-5
  • Additional landscaping and improved protected bike lanes with concrete bike lane buffers
Photo of street with large buildings in the background. A person walks their dog on the sidewalk to the left while a blue car is in the lower right corner.
The current configuration on Pine St between Melrose and 8th avenues includes eastbound and westbound vehicle access. There is a bike lane on the north side and sidewalks on both sides.
Rendering of a future sidewalk and protected bike lane with large buildings in the background.
Rendering of expanded sidewalk and protected bicycle lane on the I-5 bridge overpass on Pine St, east of the 9th Ave intersection, looking west (upon project completion).

Progress made since the Pike St one-way configuration change

The one-way configuration of Pike St completed in November 2023 permanently removed westbound vehicle access between Bellevue Ave and Terry Ave / Hubbell Pl. This made space for construction of a new eastbound protected bike lane with concrete buffers and a wider sidewalk.

View of a bike lane under construction with concrete buffers and orange cones visible. Large buildings are in the background.
Pike St between Boren and Bellevue avenues will have a new protected bike lane with concrete buffers and an improved sidewalk when the project is complete.
View of a wider sidewalk under construction looking uphill with large buildings in the background.
A wider sidewalk on Pike Street over I-5 provides a buffer from the freeway traffic below making the journey between Downtown and Capitol Hill more pleasant for pedestrians.

Since November of last year, other key elements have been added to Pike and Pine streets between 8th and Bellevue avenues, including wider sidewalks, accessible curb ramps and bike leaning rails.

Construction workers installing new sidewalks and completing other work in the city, with large buildings in the background.
Work on Pine St east of 8th Ave.

Improvements on Pike and Pine streets kicked off in February 2023 and the project is expected to be completed in late-summer 2024. This project is part of the City’s downtown activation plan initiative to support a healthy, vibrant and greener downtown with improved multimodal access. As construction continues through the spring and summer, look for these changes as you are traveling through this busy area. The best way to stay informed about construction impacts is to subscribe to the weekly Pike Pine construction email.

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