West Seattle road work: What’s planned for the west end of Avalon

| Transportation | West Seattle news

If you drive the road above – the westernmost stretch of Avalon Way, between Fauntleroy and 35th – you might have noticed pavement markings indicating some reconfiguration ahead. WSB Forum members have been discussing it, too. We asked SDOT, and spokesperson Marybeth Turner has just provided an extended explanation:

This bicycle and pedestrian improvement is on Avalon starting approximately 100′ east of 35th Ave SW and extending to Fauntleroy.

There are no bike facilities in this area currently. We are installing bike lanes on both sides of Avalon. The north side/uphill side of Avalon will now have a continuous bike lane from Spokane St to Fauntleroy. The south side of Avalon will have a small stretch of bike lane starting at 36th Ave then changing to a shared lane as you pass by 35th Ave SW.

The lane widths and configuration will be: one 6-foot bicycle lane on each side of Avalon, one 12-foot eastbound lane narrowing to 10 feet, one 10-foot two-way turn lane, and two 10 foot westbound lanes.

We are also remarking the crosswalks at the intersection of Fauntleroy/36th/Avalon and also at Avalon and 35th. There will be large crosswalk warning signs at the side of the street for drivers approaching Avalon from Fauntleroy.

As they do now, drivers coming and going from off-street parking areas will need to watch for pedestrians and bicyclists.

This does not affect parking, since there’s no on-street parking in that area now. But the area unquestionably is getting busier, with one development finally completed (The Residences at 3295), one about halfway done (3261 Avalon), another one likely to start later this year (4435 35th SW), and a microhousing project next to the 7-11, not to mention three other projects further east/northeast on Avalon.

LWC June 11, 2013 (3:34 pm)

Why is it taking so long to go from the on-road sketch to the full implementation? I almost got in a head-on collision last week when I was in the eastbound left-hand turn lane, because a westbound driver was following the new spray paint across the intersection (visible in the photo above) rather than the old, worn-away intersection markings. It’s pretty confusing and potentially dangerous.

WSB June 11, 2013 (3:41 pm)

LWC, we will follow up, perhaps not too much longer – a different stretch of WS, 63rd near Alki where temp markings were in for a bike lane, has gotten its perma stripes. Since Avalon is so busy, they tend to do work on weekends, I’ve noticed.

Azimuth June 11, 2013 (3:43 pm)

Ugh, I agree with LWC. Half the drivers are using the temporary lane and bicycle markings, the other half are using the existing markings. Come on SDOT!

wsn00b June 11, 2013 (4:04 pm)

Are there any surface improvements or they just going to paint over the messed up surface? The bad bumpy surface on the intersection between 35th and Avalon is going to break somebody’s suspension (if it already hasn’t).

Jack June 11, 2013 (4:30 pm)

So, are car drivers losing a lane?

Linda June 11, 2013 (4:41 pm)

Just came through here on my way home. SDOT has painted the bike lanes, removed the old striping and marked out where most of the new striping will be (had plenty of time to observe while waiting for the light). And so of course, cars which were eastbound on Avalon were backed up into their now single lane and two SUV’s passed them on the right in what is now the bike lane so they could turn right onto 35th. SDOT is going to have to put up some signage there so folks know they no longer have that right lane.

WSB June 11, 2013 (4:55 pm)

Thanks, Linda – our photo is from yesterday evening (note the sun glare), will go back for an updated photo – TR

Mickymse June 11, 2013 (4:57 pm)

I believe the eastbound, right-turn lane from Avalon to 35th is going away to accommodate all the moving around of lanes.

trickycoolj June 11, 2013 (5:30 pm)

EB single lane on Avalon is backed up very bad right now and there’s a few cars trying to make right turns to 35th from the bike lane and now non-existent right turn lane. Going to be ugly until folks adjust. I’m trying to figure out my new route home from TJ’s since I normally loop down Oregon to Avalon and 35th from the upper garage.

Sunny.206 June 11, 2013 (7:23 pm)

Where are they going to put a new bus bulb? because with all the new traffic the buses will have to wait to long to get back into traffic.

Jeff H June 11, 2013 (7:35 pm)

There’s now 6 lanes instead of 5 in this short section. I see no problem sharing the eastbound bike lane for those few impatient drivers who want to turn southbound (right) onto 35th, pending there isn’t anyone riding a bike in that lane and there’s enough room.
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It’s such a short distance that I wonder what difference in time it will be to get up to 35th in that lane to turn right. Once you reach 35th, there will be consistent traffic flowing through, occasionally with a bus stopped in front of The Bridge, so a right turn won’t be possible anyway until the light turns green.
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There’s an alternative for drivers who want to go southbound on 35th: turn south on 36th to Snoqualmie or Alaska, then connect to 35th. Seems pretty simple to me. ;-)
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Eastbound car traffic gets backed up because most everyone continues down Avalon. This is nothing new. The improvement here was to get a westbound bike lane that continues from 35th to Fauntleroy. The existing 5 car lanes could not be kept, even if only a single westbound bike lane was added.
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I imagine people will be upset at this because it is a change that they “feel” is causing the traffic problem that’s been there for a while. Adding more car lanes won’t solve this problem…less cars will.
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I am hoping to see a re-configuration of the intersection at Fauntleroy & Avalon, not just re-striping. There needs to be more traffic calming (other than traffic itself) for those who like to speed around the sweeping turn from Fauntleroy to Avalon heading east. This is where most people cross on bikes (using the ped signal) to get to 36th and it can be a limited-visibility spot for drivers. There is no ped signal to cross this one section, so I hope something gets put in.
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The bottom line is to please be patient while you’re driving a car. Isn’t being in a car enjoyable and fun, like the commercials I see? ;-)
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I’m excited about West Seattle Brewing opening up too, so this intersection will likely be busier with people once that happens. :-)

JanS June 11, 2013 (8:50 pm)

a sign saying “No right turn”, would help….

george June 11, 2013 (11:07 pm)

Yeah sure, Jeff, the YMCA needs more cross traffice brewing in front, with all the kids and runners with an unmarked intersection where people already almost collide. Brilliant thinking, kiddo! But then again, I’m not suprised by a snarky biker comment. More lanes, less bikes.

S June 12, 2013 (8:22 am)

SDOT is F—ing dumb. I left the YMCA yesterday at 7:15 went north to turn on Avalon to get to 35th. The traffic was back-up around the corner onto Fauntleroy there is no reason to have traffic this bad at that time of day.
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Every road diet they do only make traffic worse. Look at Alaska and Cal – Cal and Morgan. Everything they do only makes it worse. Rather then changing it, leave it be traffic seams to get around much better.
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There needs to be some heads rolling and I think we should start with Mayor McSchwinn and work are way down.

JAT June 12, 2013 (9:48 am)

Lord help us! Complex intersections is where bicycle facilities as understood by SDOT fails every time. My prediction is they’ll either put in bike lanes on the far right which will pin non-savvy cyclists right where they’re most likely to be right hooked by oblivious turning drivers, OR they’ll put in a serpentine super narrow lane that routes cyclists away from the far right at exactly the point where right turners shift right and pin those cyclists between the right turners and the drivers proceeding straight as close to 30mph as they possibly can.

Ugh!

Now every cyclist doing the prudent thing and taking the lane through the intersection will look like a selfish scofflaw!

Of course I pre-judge, but I’ve been cycling in this city for 42 yrs and I’ve yet to see a piece of cycling infrastructure that made a situation unreservedly better.

kay June 12, 2013 (3:24 pm)

“The south side of Avalon will have a small stretch of bike lane starting at 36th Ave then changing to a shared lane as you pass by 35th Ave SW.” This makes it sound as though a right turn (from Avalon to 35th) is permitted as the lane is “shared”. Is there any signage indicating what’s what? A bit confused…