West Seattle’s first greenway: Miss the meeting? See the plan

| Delridge | Transportation | West Seattle news

(WSB photo from February 21st meeting at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center)
One week after interested residents gathered to hear firsthand about the plan for a Delridge Neighborhood Greenway – first one in West Seattle – the graphics and Q/A are all online, so you can see them and find out more about the greenway plan, even if you missed the meeting. The graphics show the planned route – from the north end of Delridge by the bridge, turning onto 26th from Andover, and heading south to Graham – while the Q/A document details how the greenway will work. For example: Stop signs on side streets that intersect with it; no bike lanes, but sharrows would be used (and on eastbound Andover, bicyclists will be routed onto the “wide sidewalk” to avoid truck traffic); no new sidewalks, but there’s a chance to designate set-aside pedestrian areas. This will be the first greenway in West Seattle, with completion expected before the year’s over; the area to be studied for a second one is expected to be further east, along 21st SW.

P.S. What’s a greenway, you ask? An alternative route with safety features focused on walking and biking, as explained on the project page.

k2 February 27, 2013 (11:27 am)

26th from Brandon to Juneau needs a traffic calming device. people try to avoid the light on delridge and brandon so they fly down 26th (which has no sidewalks), there are so many kids on this street i’m surprised nothing has happened yet.

Ken February 27, 2013 (11:42 am)

Save some money. 26th is already undriveable due to massive traffic circles and curb bulbs and I think I spotted some speed bumps last time I was detoured down it.

Repave Brandon and build some sidewalks or at least put some paint on Brandon between 30th and Delridge to keep people out of the deep ditch where there is no shoulder. Come to think of it there are no street lights or anything in that section since the only landowners in that space are various departments of the city government. No taxpayers to ding for the cost.

The city spent thousands (millions?) repainting, rerouting Delridge just 100 yds away, to make IT a bicycle friendly street. I suspect the residents would rather have a bus route that went somewhere useful without taking two transfers and 3 hours.

Ken February 27, 2013 (11:58 am)

k2:
Both this proposal and sidewalks will remove most of the parking your neighbors are using the city right of way for right now, It that a good trade off in a really low traffic area like that?
Do you want 26th to become a 20 ft wide street with parking on both sides so every one has to wait for any car going the opposite way to clear? School buses have to saw back and forth and visitors have to park in your front yard or blocks away? They did it to my street years ago and it really is a cut through from Delridge to 35th that avoids two miles of driving to the next “official” arterial route.

WSB February 27, 2013 (12:26 pm)

Please read the fact sheet. The city says parking will NOT be removed on 26th:
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Does the proposal remove parking on 26th Ave SW?
No. However, there will be a small change to the side streets where they cross the greenway. Currently,
legal pedestrian crossings exist at these intersections, and parking is not allowed within 20’ of these
unmarked crosswalks. When stop signs are installed on the side streets, the parking restriction will
increase by 10’ to make sure the signs are visible at all times. For information on parking changes on SW
Genesee Street associated with Metro Route 50 safety improvements, see
http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/transit_projects.htm

Orca February 27, 2013 (11:59 am)

Where in the world do these people come up with these crazy expensive ideas???
What does this do to improve anything in a way that actually matters?
There always seem to be money in the “budget” for these feel good projects..but never enough to fix potholes or other needful things.
There are just too many people working for the city that do not have meaningful jobs.
Disgusting waste of time and money.

helridge February 27, 2013 (12:44 pm)

Seriously a greenway when they can’t even keep the sidewalks cleared?

Al February 27, 2013 (1:15 pm)

Great! I use 26th often on my way to work via bike and applaud these improvements.

The changes should make 26th a better street for EVERYONE, not only cyclists, but drivers (with clearer street markings, improved traffic circles and easier to see pedestrian ways and intersections) and pedestrians.

26th is often used as a cut-through by non-neighborhood speeding motorists and maybe this could actually help slow things down a bit. I think the neighborhood will actually like these changes.

Delridge Mom February 27, 2013 (4:43 pm)

As a 26th ave. resident I am really excited for these changes, especially the speed bumps and added stop signs. Anything to slow down speeders. I am hoping my blood pressure will decrease now when I attempt to take my kids on a bike ride in the neighborhood. Brandon needs improvements, too, and I hope that happens sooner rather than later.

Mel February 27, 2013 (9:03 pm)

What a waste of money.
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26th is going to add a bike/walk street no one will use to the two parks no one uses. We could hire police officers with that money!
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Look at the presentation if you want a good laugh: it admits that almost no traffic travels 26th, and what does averages the speed limit (30 for arterials, which 26th is repeatedly called) – but we need to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to “calm” it? And the reasoning: “lots of people will try biking” (no study cited, just “lots of people will try biking”).
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There should be a vote on this.

Jeff March 1, 2013 (9:39 pm)

I’m excited to see the commitment to completing this before the end of the year! I bike and run through (and around) there a lot, see lots of others biking through there, and I play around in the parks occasionally. Such nice amenities to have so close!
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There was a “vote” that got this implemented. It was a group of passionate people who presented this to their neighborhood (and others) and got approval. Those who are proactive in their community wanted this. I’d love to see more people with this same passion for their neighborhoods.
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Plenty of research has been done regarding greenways…
http://seattlegreenways.org/resources/research-reports
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This is a great “active-living enhancement” that will encourage people to get outside and be active in the community. I can’t wait to experience this and more greenways going in around Seattle!

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