WEEKEND ROAD WORK: More on West Marginal/Highland Park Way intersection plan

Earlier this week, we mentioned that SDOT will do its West Marginal Way/Highland Park Way restriping this Sunday; the changes (shown above) were previewed in our West Marginal story two weeks ago. Now, the specifics are in:

What to expect during this work:

·Crews will work Sunday, October 4 from 7 AM through the evening

·There may be some prep work happening on Saturday, October 3 during the day

·You will experience some travel delays beyond the usual traffic for a Sunday

·There will be crews, trucks, and equipment in the road

·There will be traffic control signs and devices set up for your safety and the workers safety

·The bus stop on the east side of the intersection will be impacted during this work

Kyle October 2, 2020 (10:54 pm)

I wonder if the relocated bus stop will mean that stretch of sidewalk actually gets maintained now? That section of sidewalk was unearthed by some West Seattle volunteers earlier this spring (thank you), after years of neglect from Seattle Parks (The sidewalk abuts park land and is their responsibility). I even emailed Parks after the discovery of the neglected sidewalk to see if they would maintain that sidewalk now, but they said they didn’t have the money and wanted to discourage use.

Craig October 3, 2020 (7:32 pm)
- Do we know if SDOT moving the bus stop to the base of the hill without improving the sidewalk or adopting the existing crosswalk to integrate with the new stop? I’ve been down there and know that there is no existing sidewalk for final 60 feet to the crossing which I would think would need to be added if the stop is to be moved(?).
- Personally, I don’t think that moving the bus stop to the base of the HP Way is a good idea for several reasons. For one, moving the stop from the future turn lane is great for northbound traffic but will simply shift the stopping of a lane to the lane heading west on HP Way creating an unnecessary bottleneck for south end residents. Secondly, because there are stops further up hill, the stop only serves the business to the east and Southpark. Moving the stop to the base of the hill makes for a longer walk for these users and dangerous crossing, given that one will have to cross the slip lane.
- A better option , I think, would be to move the stop to the east into the wide portion of right of way where Michigan Street meets HP Way. Buses could pull off the drive lane to a spacious and flat stop near surrounding business. (Would be a crossing of the Duwamish trail and another across the turn lane) Or just move the stop to the east and keep it in the arterial as it is now, just further east.
- I submitted questions along with the suggestion and got a message that I’d get an answer to any questions in two weeks. Not great timing given that the work has apparently started.

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