Even more about Phase 2 of 35th Avenue SW Safety Project, now mingled with West Seattle Neighborhood Greenway project

greenway-map-1
If you’re interested in the next phase of the 35th Avenue SW Safety Project and that August 4th meeting we’ve been telling you about – check your US Postal Service mail closely when you get home (etc.). Ours today brought a mailer that includes even more details than were on the SDOT Blog preview we featured last Friday night, the website information we featured. We subsequently just found this PDF of the mailer linked from the West Seattle Neighborhood Greenway project page, but not (yet) the 35th Avenue SW project page.

Here’s how it begins:

35th Ave SW Road Safety Corridor
In 2015, we redesigned the southern segment of 35th Ave SW to reduce speeding, collisions, and injuries, and enhance conditions for everyone that uses the street. Phase 2 of this project begins later this year and continues into 2017 to address safety and mobility issues in the northern segment.

Join us on Thurs., Aug. 4, when we will share preliminary data from Phase 1 and draft plans for Phase 2. We want to hear about your observations and experiences along the corridor.

The project team will also host a walking tour of 35th Ave SW on Tues., Aug. 9. For more information, visit our website.

West Seattle Neighborhood Greenway
We’re studying routes for a new north-south neighborhood greenway parallel to 35th Ave SW. The new West Seattle Neighborhood Greenway will prioritize people walking an biking on residential streets.

At the meeting, we can share traffic data, and you can help us learn where people want to walk and bike in the neighborhood, and what barriers stand in their way. Neighborhood greenways are safer, calmer streets for you, your family, and neighbors. For more information, visit our website.

That website indicates the greenway isn’t slated for construction until 2019. Meantime, we asked SDOT about the starting time/place for the aforementioned walking tour, since that’s not on the website yet, project manager Jim Curtin says it’ll start at 6 pm August 9th on the east side of 35th at Avalon and will proceed to end at 35th/Holly at 7:30 pm; you’ll be able to join/leave along the way if you can’t make the entire walk. We also asked him about the distribution of the mail flyer – some complained last year that they didn’t receive a mailing; we received this one despite being at least half a mile west of 35th. His reply: “The flyer went out to a rather large swath of the neighborhood from the Junction/Avalon corridor on the north to the city limits on the south and from the Puget Sound waterfront to Delridge.”

23 Replies to "Even more about Phase 2 of 35th Avenue SW Safety Project, now mingled with West Seattle Neighborhood Greenway project"

  • chemist July 18, 2016 (5:52 pm)

    Interesting how 35th’s phase 2 might get done with “move seattle levy” funding before the admiral project slated to begin in summer 2016 and funded by bridging the gap will be.

    • WSB July 18, 2016 (5:57 pm)

      Timelines lately seem to be just “guidelines.”

      • Eric1 July 18, 2016 (7:18 pm)

        Lol.  You got me to click on that and I needed a laugh.  So appropriate….

  • arbor heights July 18, 2016 (7:22 pm)

    This road diet will drive me to side roads.  As it is now, it only barely makes sense to stay on 35th.  You know some statistics I’d like to see?   Incidences of domestic violence pre and post road diet.   Seriously.  Can we see those numbers? 

  • Heather July 18, 2016 (8:04 pm)

    I appreciate the changes and look forward to more.

  • Trickycoolj July 18, 2016 (8:15 pm)

    Just got this in the mail today. Lots of typos in it. Including listing that Metro Route 5 services the meeting. Route 5 services Downtown to Bitter Lake via Greenwood. 

  • Bob July 18, 2016 (8:53 pm)

    Arbor Heights – You threaten and then speculate on violence after reading about a road project?  There’s help available for you.  You don’t have to feel this way. 

  • Overthere July 18, 2016 (9:17 pm)

    This is what happens when you give SDOT more money, more pet projects.

  • Sunny.206 July 18, 2016 (10:13 pm)

    For some reason they are trying to remove as many miles of travel lanes with road diets and curb bulbs as they can. I wonder if they are getting more federal money the move lanes they remove?

  • Paul July 19, 2016 (1:19 am)

    How about they work on coordinating the lights.  Just today I got every red light again while traveling north on 35 the from 106th to the bridge.  This happens to me every other day.

    • DumplingGirl July 19, 2016 (7:49 am)

      What @Paul said! It leaves me sitting at lights, wondering how much carbon emissions could be avoided if the city would just get the lights in sync.

  • TheKing July 19, 2016 (5:31 am)

    Officials are crying that we are beyond road capacity…….so we take away lanes. I’m going to go out on a limb here…..no forget it. 

  • Matt July 19, 2016 (8:01 am)

    I can’t wait for this to be one lane all the way to the bridge, then I won’t have to worry about people passing me when I’m trying to text or Facebook.  I have those 8 car lengths in front of me so I don’t have to pay attention not so you can go around me, sheesh. 

    • Courtney July 19, 2016 (8:52 am)

      So true! and then when they rear end someone, there will be NO getting around that accident!

  • Courtney July 19, 2016 (8:43 am)

    Why in the world are we reducing lanes when there are millions of people moving into the already small neighborhood? With all those new apartment buildings full and all the cars that brings, we are doomed! it will now take 30+ minutes to get from arbor heights to the junction…

  • WS Traffic Sanity July 19, 2016 (8:48 am)

    35th SW Phase 1 is a nightmare, causing road rage and extra pollution while creating a continuous traffic jam and the new danger of turning cars striking pedestrians. 

    SDOT effectively manages 24th NW in crazy-busy, pedestrian-heavy Ballard.  Constantly crossing pedestrians successfully use brightly flashing  crosswalks.  Louder citizen voices in affluent Ballard?

    STOP PHASE 2 and restore 35th SW Phase 1.

  • Nancy Folsom July 19, 2016 (8:59 am)

    Because…science. http://www.westerncity.com/Western-City/February-2015/Road-Diets-Make-Streets-Leaner-Safer-and-More-Efficient/

    I’m always a bit stunned by the lack of consideration SOV users have for pedestrians and cyclists. For each cyclist and pedestrian I see, I see one less car. Now, that’s too simplistic, certainly, but it’s true that cyclists, in particular, help me. It’s the least I can do to support better access for cyclists, and better transit for mass transit users. It fits a selfish viewpoint perfectly if one is incapable of supporting it for a greater good and because one is a civilized human being. If one doesn’t want to be around other people, get  a trailer in the boondocks and go off-grid. Please.

    • chemist July 19, 2016 (10:09 am)

      That’s very helpful Nancy.  I noticed this line from your link.

      The Federal Highway Administration has determined that road diets do not
      cause congestion on roads that carry fewer than 20,000 cars daily

      The 35th presentations from back in March 2015 show average weekday traffic on 35th over 20,000 cars north of Myrtle (this Phase 2 area).  Therefore, I conclude science says this project is designed to cause congestion.

  • Amanda July 19, 2016 (1:39 pm)

    I live in Arbor Heights and it now takes me 25 minutes to get to the Admiral Junction. It was a 15-minute drive prior to the “diet.” Its absurd, and I feel less and less part of the West Seattle community as it takes me longer to get there. 

    My husband is a cyclist and doesn’t dare take 35th, even after the road “diet.” The road rage there is just too risky.

    If pedestrian traffic is truly the issue at hand, why are we not putting pedestrian bridges over 35th, like other Seattle neighborhoods have embraced? 

    Couldn’t agree more with the comments above. As West Seattle continues to grow in population, why are we taking roads away? 

  • Stephen July 19, 2016 (2:05 pm)

    The so-called road diet was a bad idea and should be undone.  This was a self-inflicted black eye that never made sense in the first place.

  • Ruprick July 19, 2016 (4:50 pm)

    If safety is the real concern here, they need to put in more lights and have shorter distances between cross walks.  The problem is that people are constantly crossing 35th where there are no crosswalks.  The lighting is so poor at night that it is difficult to see them.  Going down to one lane does not solve this problem.  Seems like they have the wrong solution to the problem and now we have more congestion and frustration with the same old safety issues.

    I’d also like to see the stats on rear-end collisions since the change on southern 35th.  I’ve seem more than I remember since they’ve made the change. Traffic stops out of nowhere…definitely makes it harder to text and drive.

  • Space Dust July 19, 2016 (6:27 pm)

    Let’s move Seattle….In the wrong direction!

    Why don’t they WIDEN the road way.

  • Myles July 19, 2016 (8:54 pm)

    I have generally found 35th changes ok.  But today I for first time experienced left turn from Barton to 35th.  What is that about?   

    Tuesday at 1:00pm watched 15 cars right turn from west bound Barton north to 35th   No chance for my left turn   Second light cycle brought 20 cars turning north, 14 got thru and I said screw it and my left on red   Where is the turn arrow !

Sorry, comment time is over.