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The Gateway to Ballard: We’ve refreshed the Ballard Bridge and 15th Ave NW to provide safer, more reliable connections for years to come | LEVY DOLLARS AT WORK

by on November 5, 2025
View of 15th Ave NW in Ballard looking north, including a repaved street, new crosswalks, and a new landscaped median to provide a safer, more comfortable pedestrian experience. Photo: SDOT

Blog stats: 750 words | 4-minute read

At-a-glance:

  • It’s official: the 15th Ave W/NW & Ballard Bridge Paving & Safety Project is now complete!
  • This project, which began construction in summer 2024, provides many important upgrades to our city’s infrastructure, while making it safer and easier for everyone to walk, roll, bike, or take transit in and around the Ballard and Interbay area.
  • We’ve preserved and repaved the 108-year-old Ballard Bridge, strengthened the Leary Way Bridge to better withstand earthquakes, and built new sidewalks, crosswalks, ADA-accessible curb ramps, and more.
  • You can learn more in this blog post about what we’ve completed and how it will help you get around this vibrant community full of local businesses, parks, schools, and other destinations.
  • This project was funded by the voter-approved 2015 Seattle Transportation Levy (Levy to Move Seattle) and Seattle Transit Measure. Thank you, Seattle!
  • And thanks to everyone who helped shape the project’s design and navigated construction and bridge closures while the project was built.

Check out our short video below to learn more about the project!

Enjoy this short video highlighting key elements of the project. Video: SDOT

Have you noticed how much smoother 15th Ave NW looks lately when you travel around Ballard? We’re proud of these significant upgrades that make getting around the neighborhood more comfortable for everyone.

You’ll see a new planted median along 15th Ave NW, between NW 50th and NW 54th St, to help calm traffic and improve travel safety, a new signalized crosswalk to make getting across the street easier, new and upgraded curb ramps to improve accessibility, and much more.

It’s now easier to get to bus stops on 15th Ave NW and NW Market St, thanks to new and improved crosswalks that provide greater accessibility for everyone, with funding support from the Seattle Transit Measure.

A person walks across a street at a marked crosswalk, and a person biking crosses the street nearby on a sunny and partly cloudy day. Trees, buildings, street lights, electrical poles, signals, and other elements are also in the photo.
A person crosses the street at 15th Ave NW and NW 53rd St, where a marked crosswalk and planted median help make the crossing safer and easier. Photo: SDOT

We also built a new bike and pedestrian signal and crosswalk at NW 51st St, creating a better connection to the east and west sides of the street on 15th Ave NW. This connection will make it safer for people to walk, roll, and bike across 15th Ave NW and provide greater accessibility for people to travel between the Ballard Ave Landmark District and Ballard Brewery District.

On top of this, significant upgrades to the Ballard Bridge included replacing expansion joints and repaving the bridge, while strengthening the Leary Way Bridge just to the north. The changes help ensure the Ballard Bridge remains operational for the over 50,000 vehicles that travel on it per day. This is one of the many phases in our work to preserve and maintain one of Seattle’s oldest and most heavily used bridges.

An aerial view of the Ballard Bridge across a waterway, looking toward a hillside and houses and buildings in the background on a sunny day. Cars travel across the bridge and a boat travels toward the bridge in the background.
View of the freshly repaved Ballard Bridge, looking south toward Interbay. Photo: SDOT

Together, these upgrades make travel safer and ensure you can enjoy this neighborhood’s one-of-a-kind community destinations and connect to other areas of the city, such as riding the popular RapidRide D Line into Downtown Seattle.

Here’s a quick snapshot of some key project upgrades, by the numbers:

An infographic showing improvements made by the project, including 22 expansion joints replaced, 1.1 miles of asphalt paved, 3,050 feet of upgraded sidewalks, 59 upgraded ADA-accessible curb ramps, 2 new or upgraded sidewalks, 18 trees planted, and 8 columns seismically reinforced.
Graphic: SDOT

You can find additional details about key project features in the map below:

A map of the project area shows where various improvements were made along 15th Ave NW and the Ballard Bridge in Seattle. They include things like new crosswalks, a new walk/bike signal, a bridge retrofit, new sections of bus lane, a new landscaped media, new trees, and more.
Graphic: SDOT

Here are a few more photos of the project area. We hope you check it out for yourself soon!

A person walks across the street on a sunny fall day, with a large public bus stopped at the intersection. Large buildings are in the background.
A person crosses the street along 15th Ave NW, next to a King County Metro Route 44 bus. Photo: SDOT
One person walks across the street at a marked crosswalk on a sunny day. People driving cars wait for him to finish crossing the street. Businesses, trees, sidewalks, and accessible curbs ramps are also visible.
A person walks across the street at a new crosswalk at 15th Ave NW and NW 53rd St. Photo: SDOT
Several people walk across the street at a marked crosswalk on a sunny fall day. Street signs, trees, buildings, cars, and a bus are in the background.
People crossing the street at 15th Ave NW and NW Market St. Photo: SDOT

This work is funded by the voter-approved 2015 Seattle Transportation Levy (Levy to Move Seattle) and Seattle Transit Measure – thank you, Seattle! This is an important investment to maintain and modernize this busy area that connects vibrant neighborhoods and business districts on both sides of the Ship Canal.

The Leary Way Bridge seismic retrofit project also included funding from a federal grant. We thank our federal partners for their support, including Senator Patty Murray, Senator Maria Cantwell, and Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal.

Thank you again for your support, patience, and participation in this major project.

Filed Under: Accessibility, Busses, Community Involvement, Funding & Levies, General, Move Seattle, Pedestrians, Safety, SDOT, Signals, Traffic and Construction, Transit Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,