Despite below freezing temperatures and a dusting of snow on the ground, major construction projects are underway throughout Seattle.  Major projects are occuring on 15th Avenue NE, Mercer Street, the southern segment of the Alaskan Way Viaduct, and along Spokane Street in SODO just to name a few.  And this is just the tip of the iceberg since we are still a few months away from the spring/summer construction season.  Throw in a Sounders or Mariners game and all of these activities have the ability to significantly affect your route through town.

Luckily, SDOT is here to help!  We offer a number of tools to help travelers make their way around the city before leaving the comfort of your own home. 

Our Traveler’s Information Map (affectionately known as TIM) is loaded with useful tools like construction alerts, details about planned events, traffic incident reports, traffic flow, and access to an array of traffic cameras.  Check out TIM for up-to-the-minute travel times on our major arterials and make an informed decision about your route before you go.  

Our Planned Transportation Construction Map allows users to view planned construction activities and events up to one year in advance.  This tool contains a plethora of information about activities across the city including specific project or event information, details about private construction projects, and detour routes to name a few.  SDOT provides a regularly updated look ahead at projects, events and activities that will impact traffic – from parades to major construction detours.  Our website allows users to view traffic impacts by geographic region of the city and easily acquire information relevant to specific routes.

Let SDOT chart your course and help you avoid congestion, construction delays, and save some gas.  There’s no reason you shouldn’t know before you go with these tools at your disposal.

You are heading home from a late night dinner on Aurora Avenue N and the traffic signals seem to be working in your favor. Cruising at the speed limit, you are getting through each intersection on green lights. If you are sitting at the light on a side street like N 77th Street , you may be wondering why the light isn’t changing for you since there is no vehicle in sight on Aurora and no pedestrian crossing Aurora from N 77th.

SDOT has begun changing the timing of lights on selected major corridors so that you won’t experience the delay from the side street as described above. How? Well, SDOT is taking away the guess work of signal timing by adding technology using wireless magnetometers which are embedded in the pavement. The magnetometers collect data and feed the information to SDOT’s traffic signal system as well as the department’s Traveler’s Information Map. [Read more…]

More than 960 people packed the Seattle Aquarium to kick-off an effort to re-shape Seattle’s waterfront post-viaduct. James Corner of james corner field operations gave an exciting slide presentation that walked people through their approach to redesigning the waterfront.

You can check out the slide show, and watch a video of the event by visiting the Waterfront Seattle homepage.

The event provided another opportunity to share comments on re-designing Seattle’s waterfront. There’s still an opportunity to comment on the homepage.

Whether you choose to honor George Washington, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, or all the American presidents, today is President’s Day and a holiday for city of Seattle workers. We will resume posting the SDOT Blog tomorrow, February 22nd.
Happy President’s Day!

Most of us are well aware that cell phone use while driving is a primary offense in Washington State yet we still see drivers violating this law daily.  One quick and simple way to make our streets safer is to put away the phone when we get behind the wheel and focus on the road.  Still need convincing?  Watch this video:

Interested in learning more about Seattle’s existing transit services, people’s travel patterns and new transit markets? Perhaps you’re curious about how other cities are dealing with transit challenges? Or want to find out about transit best practices around the US and the world?

If the answer to any of these questions is yes, our Transit Master Plan Briefing Book has something for you! With eight different chapters that cover the questions above and many more, the Briefing Book is a high-level snapshot of the state of the Seattle transit environment. It describes the system’s current condition and projects future conditions through a travel and transit market analysis.

The briefing book also summarizes the feedback that the project team received from our advisory groups, stakeholder interviews and other early outreach efforts. It examines pedestrian and bicycle connections to transit, considers the important relationship between land use and transit, and provides examples of policies that prioritize transit services.

Brought to you as part of the Walk Bike Ride effort, the briefing book is an excellent resource that provides a foundation for Seattle’s Transit Master Plan. Take a few minutes to learn a little more about transit by visiting the project Web site …and don’t forget to tell us what you think!