35TH AVENUE SW: Some south-end repaving planned; newest north-end Phase 2 timetable


(WSB photo from March 2017, as repair crews tackled a sizable hole on 35th near Webster)

New information about the 35th Avenue SW Safety Project today – including word of some repaving along part of the Phase 1 stretch, and a timeline update for Phase 2.

We asked SDOT about 35th SW in connection with the West Seattle Neighborhood Greenway project “outreach” that’s under way right now, since the greenway discussion has been linked to the 35th planning, including at the last major public meeting about 35th, last summer.

There was a small 35th update last month, as reported here, as part of a Vision Zero briefing for the City Council.

Now, more details – here’s what SDOT says will happen next:

*The before-and-after study of 35th SW’s Phase 1 is expected to be released in mid-July.

*SDOT tells us some repaving will follow: “After that, we will conduct pavement-restoration work in the Phase 1 project area where three segments of 35th Avenue SW, roughly between SW Trenton and SW Myrtle, will be repaved.”

*Design for 35th SW Phase 2 is under way, “and takes into account resident feedback collected in 2016.”

*More outreach for Phase 2 this fall.

*Then SDOT will “implement street-design changes north of SW Morgan” next year.

And as reported earlier this month, the “most promising route” for the separate but connecting West Seattle Neighborhood Greenway (to be built in 2019) proposes a crossing signal for 35th at Graham, where two people have been killed.

You can find out more about that and the rest of the greenway route at another drop-in event this Wednesday (June 21st), 5:30 pm-7 pm at Southwest Library, 9010 35th SW. We’re working on another greenway followup for tomorrow. No dates yet for 35th SW project-specific events, but you can watch that project’s page.

21 Replies to "35TH AVENUE SW: Some south-end repaving planned; newest north-end Phase 2 timetable"

  • Jort June 19, 2017 (3:16 pm)

    This is great news, and couldn’t come fast enough. 35th is a dangerous freeway, and people have paid the price with their lives. I look forward to interacting with a safer street in the future.

  • Chemist June 19, 2017 (4:34 pm)

    Right turn only + raised turn guidance as well as speed humps ? I guess the speed humps are also needed to slow down cyclists who won’t be forced to turn, kind of like the humps added to 2nd avenue downtown.

  • PE June 19, 2017 (5:31 pm)

    I was on Graham a few minutes ago. Both cars in front of me turned left to 35th despite previous accidents and the right turn only sign. This intersection like many others could be enforced by SPD all day. And yes I have let them know.

  • KM June 19, 2017 (5:34 pm)

    The 35th and Graham design looks great!

    • Chemist June 19, 2017 (5:47 pm)

      They could do a bit better with intersection sightlines and coming up with a way to prevent parking within 20 ft of the crosswalks, especially since even the mock-up shows theoretical parked cars too close on the N side of 35th.

  • Mark June 19, 2017 (6:10 pm)

    Back when SDoT had engineers they used to have turn restrictions during certain hours of the day, such as the AM and PM peak periods and during other hours no restrictions.  Compliance to pragmatic restrictions is better; for example at 5 PM its difficult to turn left anyway, but at 1AM it is not!

  • Jort Sandwich June 19, 2017 (7:15 pm)

    Hi Mark,

    SDOT certainly has engineers; they just don’t have engineers whose sole focus in life is in moving as many vehicles through a street as quickly as possible. 

    The new new generation of engineers looks at the overall safety of the street — how it will impact pedestrians, transit users and cyclists — and sometimes trade-offs are made that adversely impact those who choose to drive. 


    That can certainly be a source of frustration for drivers in blog comment sections, but on the bright side, fewer people are seriously injured or killed on our roadways. So that’s a plus!

  • Marooned in Arbor Heights June 19, 2017 (8:06 pm)

    Ill-considered and dangerously promoting of road rage.  Leave the rest of 35th SW alone, for heaven’s sake.

  • Bradley Zefkeles June 19, 2017 (8:08 pm)

    Oh, this looks great. Now we can’t drive down the hill to Home Depot and to access the freeway to Burien and SeaTac airport. What a wonderful plan. I hope the city didn’t spend more than $300,000.00 for any studies for this epic upgrade.

     

  • Canton June 19, 2017 (10:16 pm)

    Sounds like they need to hire fresh blood, as the entire world uses cars. Yes the 3% need safe infrastructure too, but like it or not, cars will still be driven. We need engineers that consider all forms of transportation.

    • dsa June 19, 2017 (11:20 pm)

      Unfortunately on these designs autos have zero priority.  Look at access to the car wash from the north.  You have to go around the block for petes sake.   And even in the drawing you’d have to wait for the bus to move, so it’s completely blocked.  If the city cared on whit, they would not have drawn in the bus.

      I’ve been in favor of a light at Graham  for years, and that would have been a great compromise, not this.

  • PE June 19, 2017 (10:48 pm)

    I appreciate efforts by the city to improve intersections but putting up a sign and calling it good is not really a solution. I realize this post is about more improvements but I think we need more enforcement to drive the message home. I see people flaunt laws every day in WS and never see enforcement. Expecting people to follow the law or obey a sign isn’t working. When we’re talking about people’s lives and the cities vision zero goal, putting up a sign seems like an empty gesture. I realize we’re low on officers. But it seems the city is trying to substitute officer enforcement with signs. Not working, not going to work.

  • Greystreet June 19, 2017 (10:59 pm)

    Looks like Fauntleroy is about to get even busier, until they add more lights there which I’m sure is inevitable >:( 

    I’m all about safety but I’m not all for promoting road rage, “shortcuts” that will be created and the inability to get anywhere in a timely manner 

    • PE June 19, 2017 (11:35 pm)

      Totally agree. Also, I really don’t like it when people use side streets so much making them almost as busy as the arterial.

  • Bubbasaurus June 20, 2017 (8:28 am)

    If this is really about safety, why don’t we consider building a pedestrian/bike overpass that goes over 35th? By the time we add in all of the costs of the lights, bumps, signs, etc., it’s not going to be that much more expensive.

    There are already lights one block north and one block south, so adding a light is going to create a huge backup during rush hour having lights at 3 straight intersections, and 4 out of 5 if you keep going north.

    • Mat June 20, 2017 (12:49 pm)

      $$$. Those are super expensive. Money is also why they haven’t repaved until now and I’m surprised they’re even repaving as much as they are (even though it is very much needed). 

  • Jort Sandwich June 20, 2017 (8:30 am)

    Hi Bradley,

    SDOT is making changes to Graham, not Morgan. Access to Home Depot remains unfettered and uninterrupted. 

  • Jort Sandwich June 20, 2017 (8:30 am)

    If slowing down a few mph in order to save lives and prevent injuries causes people to get road rage, then it’s time to hang up the keys. 

  • Carol Wagener June 20, 2017 (10:19 am)

    As someone who lives on the Phase 2 stretch of 35th Ave SW, I’m really looking forward to the proposed “road diet”, slowing of the speed limit, and addition of crosswalks…especially to Camp Long.    I’ve lived in West Seattle for 33 years and have seen a lot of growth.  Opinions vary over whether this is a good or bad thing…. but the fact remains that our population has greatly increased and we can’t continue to do things as we used to without some serious consequences.  I think in the long run, we’ll have smoother running traffic throughout heavily residential West Seattle if we slow everyone down a bit, and eliminate the multi-lane driving of the freeways.  With more and more “distracted drivers” (cell phones) the likelihood of lane drifting is a real danger and I am happy to see more “buffer zones” and lane widening.   If SDOT did nothing, we’d all still have a harder time getting where we’re trying to go because of fender benders and more serious accidents clogging the roads and injuring our fellow citizens who are also just trying to get where they’re going via walking, biking, bussing or driving their cars.  

    • Mat June 20, 2017 (12:48 pm)

      I agree, optimize flow!

  • Mark June 20, 2017 (12:08 pm)

    The City needs to look at 5 lanes for the North section.  The curb lanes would be parking off peak and be travel lanes during the peak travel peak direction.  Numerous streets in Seattle use this pragmatic approach.  Traffic volume on the north stretch justify looking at this option.

    And Jort Kubly is not a licensed engineer!

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