SDOT unveils ‘most promising route’ for West Seattle Neighborhood Greenway

Via postal mail, SDOT has announced the next step in yet another project planned to start in 2019:

That’s what the city is calling “the most promising route” for the West Seattle Neighborhood Greenway, which has previously been discussed mostly as a side note at meetings about projects such as 35th SW (such as this one almost a year ago). The mailer arrived at WSB HQ (marked “resident” – we will be asking tomorrow about the distribution area among other things) with Saturday’s mail, and we found the map in a PDF version of the mailer on the project page. As is standard for projects these days, an online survey is coming up, but the SDOT website says that it won’t be available until next Saturday. Also that day, according to the mailer – the first of two “drop-in meetings” for comments about this, near the start and end of the “promising route”:

Saturday, June 17th
Uptown Espresso in The Junction
4301 SW Edmunds
10 am-11:30 am

Wednesday, June 21
Southwest Library
9010 35th SW
5:30-7 pm

We’ll be following up with SDOT tomorrow.

P.S. West Seattle has one greenway already in place, stretching from North Delridge to South Delridge.

39 Replies to "SDOT unveils 'most promising route' for West Seattle Neighborhood Greenway"

  • orcmid June 11, 2017 (1:58 pm)

    Eek!  June 10th already happened when I learned about this on Twitter. Oh wait, typo in the article. it is June 17, not June 10 at Uptown Espresso. Sheesh.

    • WSB June 11, 2017 (3:29 pm)

      Fixed, thanks for pointing it out.

  • Oakley34 June 11, 2017 (2:46 pm)

    Looks good.  The proposed crossing signal at 35th and Graham would be amazing.

    • Kim June 11, 2017 (4:26 pm)

      That was the only question mark area for me. We already have crosswalks and lights on the blocks directly north and south of Graham. Why not utilize one of those? And also crossing Morgan at 34th will be super dangerous, that intersection is so busy. It will just add one more component to a complex busy intersection. Otherwise I think this plan is solid! (And I live on the route, bonus for me!)

      • KM June 11, 2017 (6:25 pm)

        I think the Graham signal may be part of the plan for growth in that area (Upton Flats) already? Not sure though. Adding a signal will be safer for pedestrians and drivers through there, I always see so many cars flooring it from the Morgan light on north, it might help with traffic calming. I also live on the route and I too am excited!

    • Chemist June 11, 2017 (7:03 pm)

      And was previously marked as “potential” in the 35th Ave phase 2 plan.

      http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/35thSW.htm

  • seaopgal June 11, 2017 (5:44 pm)

    The indicated stretch of 42nd is nice now and appropriate … wonder if it will still be so in a few years under the new zoning. But I’m sure they have considered that.

  • dsa June 11, 2017 (7:16 pm)

    Finally a light at 35th and Graham, … two years from now.     Be careful there  always.

  • Heather June 11, 2017 (8:49 pm)

    Woohoo! Just a block from my house! I’m thrilled!!!

  • TheKing June 11, 2017 (9:43 pm)

    More lights??? There are 4-5 consecutive lights through that area. If we are serious about safety there would already be pedestrian overpasses there. 

    • Jort Sandwich June 12, 2017 (3:38 pm)

      Pedestrian overpasses allows cars to drive even faster, unimpeded on their journeys. This decreases street safety in incredibly impactful ways.

      The reality is that cars have had it pretty good on 35th for a long time. That’s going to change. They’re going to start slowing down, and the road is going to become safer for people walking and biking.

      35th is not a freeway. It’s a residential street. Cars will slow down.

      • sam-c June 16, 2017 (10:04 am)

        Sure, 35th is a residential street, but it also IS AN arterial.

        (and no, not a freeway)

  • K8 June 12, 2017 (6:53 am)

    It doesn’t seem like the different areas of the city are working together. If they are boulevarding Fauntleroy why do they want the bike route to go down 42nd?  Also, the HALA proposal is to make from Dawson up part of the Junction and preliminary talks about light rail put it closer to the triangle. The right hand is not talking to the left for the beginning of this route.

  • John June 12, 2017 (9:31 am)

    The portion on 42nd is full of parked vehicles.  Will they remove parking on one side?  If so where will all those vehicles park?  Oh wait I know……41st.  41st Ave SW is already choked full of parked vehicles.  Traffic is currently one car at a time on 41st.

    But wait…City of Seattle says no one will have cars soon so it’s all good. 

  • Mr. J June 12, 2017 (10:30 am)

    I’d prefer to see something on 40th verses 42nd and can we please get a light on Edmonds? That street is dangerous for crossing pedestrians. 

  • sam-c June 12, 2017 (10:39 am)

    If the project is starting in 2019, they should have EC Hughs indicated on the plan as well.  I mean, just copy/ paste the Roxhill school symbol.  

  • wendell June 12, 2017 (1:17 pm)

    Pretty lukewarm response in the comments field, folks don’t want to be shot down in flames…

    IMHO I’m guessing whoever came up with this have not spent much time on the streets that straddle the part of the route between Findlay and Edmunds. Or the Edmunds/42nd four way almost stop.

    • dawsonct June 12, 2017 (4:47 pm)

      If you have a problem with people not stopping at 42nd/Edmunds, try walking up to it. I can’t remember a time approaching that intersection on foot but still some number of feet away, where some driver already at a full stop didn’t panic and try to wave me across in front of them.

      Friggin’ NO! You were here first, GO!

  • DarkHawke June 12, 2017 (1:22 pm)

    @John: not knowing myself what a “greenway” was, I clicked through the SDOT link above for the Delridge one.  Allegedly, greenways don’t affect parking much or even (surprisingly) add a bike lane.

    WRT the new light proposed at 35th/Graham, seems to me changes like this will effect fewer car/pedestrian accidents and/or fatalities than this Zero Vision, er, VISION ZERO nonsense.  Speed limit signs are mostly a suggestion, but folks do still tend to pay attention to a red light at an intersection.

  • Paul June 12, 2017 (2:31 pm)

    This is beautiful!  Finally a safe place for bikes that can keep them separated from high/dangerous traffic regions of 35th, California, etc.

    The light on 35th & Graham is a huge necessity on the corridor for bikes and peds who want to cross 35th without needing to mix up with cars coming across 35th at Morgan.

  • dawsonct June 12, 2017 (4:34 pm)

    Darnit! Missed it by THAT much! Count me as a PIMFY, PLEASE in my front yard!
    41st through the JCT makes more sense than does 42nd anyway.

    And sure, I understand that some people have gotten used to having a car to match their moods, and can’t figure out where they’ll park all of them, but it is not just Seattle politicos who foresee a future without so many POV’s. Multi-vehicle owners in urban settings are verging on becoming dinosaurs.
    Accept change, it’s about the only thing in our lives that is inevitable.
    Work to create a change you can support. Understand that as a member of a society, not ever single action taken by that society will be one you agree with or for which you receive any obvious direct benefit.
    If you are not involved in guiding those actions, you are guaranteed to be forever dissatisfied.

    • Matt June 12, 2017 (5:35 pm)

      Property owners shouldn’t have changes such as “now you will become a single car / no car family” forced upon them. I say the city should be obligated to buy them out at far market price if the change is not compatible with their lifestyle. Stop jamming stuff down people’s throats. The idea seattle will not have many POV cars is frankly pretty impractical.

      • Tsurly June 12, 2017 (7:56 pm)

        Perhaps NIMBYs who own multiple cars should be obligated to put in the requisite infrastructure (driveway, carport, etc) to park their vehicles on their own property?

      • George Costanza June 16, 2017 (8:21 pm)

        lol, dude, wow, aren’t you the entitled one. Reality check here:

        1. No one is telling property owners or anyone else that they can’t own as many cars as they want.

        2. The street is not your property.

        3. It’s not the city’s or the taxpayers’ responsibility to reserve parking spots on public places for your personal property.

  • RCS June 12, 2017 (7:16 pm)

    This city is so backwards. With the rate that West Seattle is exploding with new residents, the city aggressively starts slowing down roads, reducing lanes and making it more difficult to get around. Oh and that C-line Rapid ride is great… Blocks all traffic at the Morgan Junction so drivers are forced to wait while an aloof bus rider asks the driver 50 questions. I live on 35th, and all the road diet did was frustrate drivers. Now we have to deal with honking 24 hours a day.

    Way to plan for the city’s growth. What will city planners do for an encore? Gargle peanut butter? 

    • Jon Wright June 13, 2017 (1:45 am)

      Seattle is running out of public capacity for personal motor vehicles: parking in neighborhoods, driving on roads and freeways, and parking downtown. The only way to maintain mobility is to make allowances for other more efficient modes. That Rapid Ride C slowing down a few cars has 50 people on it. Bikes and pedestrians have a much smaller footprint than cars. I’m afraid expecting the city’s transportation infrastructure to favor personal cars is backwards.

  • Kathy June 12, 2017 (9:41 pm)

    West Seattle Neighborhood Greenway is a misnomer for this project. There is a huge portion of western West Seattle not covered on this map, from Edmonds to North Admiral. I would maybe call it the Central/Southern West Seattle Greenway. Lest they forget, we do exist up here, with lots of destinations, schools, parks and commercial businesses.

  • TreeHouse June 12, 2017 (10:51 pm)

    This is exciting!

    I’m confused why people think this changes the parking situation though since it doesn’t take away any parking. 

  • Don Brubeck June 12, 2017 (11:14 pm)

    Looks like a good choices for the route.  A  number of members of West Seattle Bike Connections did test rides of various possible routes that are basically parallel to 35th Ave SW, and these residential streets were among our top recommendations. These streets connect places that people want to walk to or go to on bikes, including several schools, parks, and shopping areas, at reasonable grades. People already ride these streets to commute from the south end of WS to Morgan and Alaska Junctions.  The Greenway route avoids the need to add bike lanes that would require removing car parking from 35th Ave SW.  It simply adds traffic calming like speed humps to residential streets, without removing car parking, and improves intersections to make it safer for people of all ages and abilities, including kids, to walk and ride bikes for transportation. This may not be the final route selection, but it is great to see the planning coming along. 

  • Jort Sandwich June 13, 2017 (1:37 pm)

    I am happy to see this compromise solution come out. I, of course, would strongly favor closing 35th Avenue entirely to cars and allowing only cars and bikes on it, but as you can see, there’s room for compromise. And I even live near 35th!

    My biggest concern with this route is the question of terrain. I’m looking forward to visiting the open houses to learn more about whether this is the flattest/easiest routing for the greenway. I’ll also be hoping for additional traffic control measures that will forcibly reduce the amount of vehicle through traffic and cross-traffic. 

    • Jort Sandwich June 13, 2017 (1:58 pm)

      I missed the edit deadline. I meant to say, “closing 35th Avenue entirely to cars and allowing only buses and bikes on it.”

      • RCS June 13, 2017 (5:36 pm)

        With or without the edit, it’s still a ridiculous idea. Closing a main arterial route and only allowing buses and bikes? That’s just dumb.

  • West Coast Nomad June 13, 2017 (8:49 pm)

    I live on 30th and am wondering how well this is going to work as cars sometimes fly down the street (since it’s parallel with 35th and has very few stoplights).

    And there are parked cars on both sides of the street. Sometimes cars coming from opposite directions end up “playing chicken” as it’s not clear who will lose their nerve first and pull over. Hopefully traffic will be calmed by this. 

  • Pdid June 14, 2017 (8:49 am)
    How does this greenway plan, who’s stated purpose is to “connect residents with schools, parks, local businesses,” totally circumvent Camp Long? Currently, there is a crosswalk every other block between Morgan and Findlay, then 3 consecutive streets without crossings along 35th – including one at the park’s main entrance on Dawson. It’s as if we’re trying to deter people from frequenting the 68 acre park that is Camp Long. The parking at which is already very minimal, so creating more options for north and south pedestrian access seems like the best way to connect residents with the massive park. 
    • Kathy June 14, 2017 (10:31 am)

      PDID,

      If you will look in the Your Voice Your Choice District 1 Voter’s Guide you will see the following statement: “The Vision Zero 35th Ave SW Safety Corridor Project intends to
      install a new crossing at the intersection of 35th Ave SW and SW
      Dawson St. The Vision Zero project will construct new curb ramps at
      the intersection as well as a new crossing signal to facilitate the
      movement of pedestrians and bicyclists to and from Camp Long.
      • Design costs including survey and labor would be mostly absorbed
      by the 35th Ave SW Safety Corridor Project”

      So you see there is hope for safety improvements at the Camp Long intersection if SDOT can get on with the project, despite opposition from some people to traffic calming on 35th Ave SW.

      By the way, everybody don’t forget to vote for your top three Your Voice, Your Choice projects. The voting deadline is 30 June. You can vote by paper ballot or online.

  • zark00 June 14, 2017 (10:55 am)

    Camp Long comment is spot on – SDOT are idiots.  And still no proposed signal at 35th and Juneau.  So they made Graham a right turn only, what, two years ago?  and now that didn’t work, another complete fail by SDOT, so now they’re proposing a full signal there.  SDOT are just completely useless.  We’d honestly be better off if they did nothing.  Just left everything as is and spent 100% of their time and budget fixing potholes and paving.  Someone tell me something good SDOT has done in the past 20 years.

    • Pdid June 14, 2017 (1:42 pm)

      Thank you Kathy! Just voted. ;)

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