(WSB file photo)

SDOT says it’s giving a “comprehensive review” to a letter three community groups sent regarding the Highland Park Way hill lane-conversion proposal. We’ve been reporting on the proposal since May; SDOT says it plans to convert one downhill driving lane into either a bicycle lane, a new multipurpose path, or both. Here’s the letter sent last month by HPAC, West Seattle Bike Connections, and the Morgan Community Association, spelling out concerns and offering two additional options. Here’s the letter in its entirety:

Dear Highland Park Connection Team, SDOT, & Seattle City Council Transportation Committee Members –

Thank you for the initial round of presentations aimed to improve public safety infrastructure on Highland Park Way SW, AKA Boeing Hill. We appreciate the robust effort you all made to get out into the community of users of this route.

Highland Park Way SW is a major transportation route from West Seattle. Capacity and transportation options for travel by bus, car, truck and bike are critical for resiliency of the transportation network, as we have painfully learned from the recent extended closure of the West Seattle high bridge. Added to the corridor is increasing Single Occupancy Vehicle traffic from the Vashon/Southworth/Fauntleroy ferry route and growing housing density in the region.

Highland Park Way SW is also a key segment of a potential mid-peninsula east-west bike route over the ridges and valleys connecting Morgan Junction, High Point, Delridge, Highland Park and the Duwamish Trail and South Park.

From speaking with SDOT staff and our constituencies over the last month of outreach we all agree with the perception that the hill:
• Encourages vehicle speeding and unsafe driving practices due to the 11% grade.
• Needs better facilities separated from vehicle traffic for those walking, biking and rolling.

We also heard numerous remarks regarding the lack of solutions offered by SDOT for improvements. All options put to the public so far were variations of a single idea. Will the agency be listening to the feedback from the public and pivoting to responsive design options, or just checking the “outreach completed” box in their workplan? Working in true partnership with community is a two-way communication.

Concerns we have heard about the design to date:
• Loss of vehicle carrying capacity and lanes needed to stack vehicles at the bottom of the hill as drivers self-sort to access West Marginal, the First Ave South Bridge, SR599 and SR509.
• Unsafe bus/bike/vehicle interactions as coaches stop to serve transit riders.
• Driver fear of head on interactions with opposing traffic.
• Loss of capacity for large semi-trucks, garbage trucks, emergency vehicles, snowplows,
tandem gravel trucks, and the like. While not designated as a “freight route”, the fact of the matter is that it is frequently used as such by delivery vehicles of all sorts and sizes.
• Reduction in resiliency of the route (which is prone to interruption by landslides, downed trees, accidents, etc.) The five lanes at the base of the hill are needed to route traffic around these short and historically long term interruptions as noted by Seattle Police Department.
• As has been stated numerous times in public conversations, this route is an essential option for folks living on the West Seattle peninsula at large to access the rest of the City, providing redundancy in emergency situations such as the closure of the West Seattle High Bridge, low bridge maintenance, etc.
• Pedestrians and drivers fear of road rage incidents from choked off traffic produced in a single lane of downhill traffic.
• Adverse Impacts to egress/ingress for residents on the east side of Highland Park Way who rely on SW Othello St. There are at least 79 households currently that rely on that route to get out of the neighborhood.
• High volumes of runoff water on the roadway surface during rain events causing unsafe conditions for bike-riders.
• Non-intuitive bike riding on the “wrong side”, riding on the left of oncoming bike riders instead of on the right in two-way bike lanes.
• This type of roadway design should not be considered as ‘one size fits all.’ The improvements should be related to the unique hillside conditions as well as the needs of the project.
• We have seen multiple examples of this sort of bicycle mitigation done as “paint-and-post” protected bike lanes on other city streets. Protection for cyclists is minimal, and much of it appears as clutter to our city, with frequent vehicle damage breaking off white poles and creating garbage in the roadway. This is an entry portal into our area, a beautiful greenspace and natural corridor. Any work done should complement this in design and materials and provide robust protection for people biking and walking.
• Our area has been overlooked for decades by the City and lacks infrastructure taken for granted elsewhere. We expect this project to be a step to rectify this in a quality manner.

In conclusion, given these concerns, we are not satisfied that this is the best solution that can be attained for the two problems above. We urge SDOT to go back to the drawing board, and suggest study of the following ideas:

Option 4:
• Replace the existing narrow asphalt sidewalk with a wide multi-use path on south side, outside of existing roadway, with a curb separating downhill bike from uphill bike/pedestrian traffic. Unlike the SDOT concepts, put the downhill bike lane on the right of uphill lane (as is the custom in the US).
• Avoid the dangers of bus pullouts into a downhill bike lane as in SDOT concepts. There is plenty of right-of-way width for a good design. Toward the top and at the base of the hill some retaining walls will be needed, some poles will need to be relocated and a small number of trees would need to be removed. It is worth funding a project that meets safety standards and is intuitive, comfortable, and predictable for all users.
• Maintain existing vehicle lane configurations.
• Enforce speed limits with enforcement cameras and police patrols.

Option 5:
• Narrow HP Way SW to one vehicle lane at the top of the hill as cars start downhill from the Highland /Holden intersection. Convert the right-hand lane for downhill bike traffic and replace the existing sidewalk with a multi-use path for uphill bike and uphill and downhill pedestrian use.
• As traffic reaches Othello St, move all bike and pedestrian traffic off road to the right onto a widened and improved off-road bike/pedestrian pathway. This allows the bus coaches to pull over to serve the Othello bus stop while letting vehicle drivers pass them to the left. It also keeps this area wider where the most active landslide slopes are on the uphill side.
• As the roadway opens up into two downhill lanes, vehicles will be approaching the curve, where most drivers naturally slow down, keeping traffic speeds down.
• The right of way below Othello Street is much wider at this point and can support a widened bike path without retaining walls until near the base of the hill.

Note that Option 5 would cost less than option 4, but is less intuitive for bike riders, requiring either a bike crossover at Othello, or riding on the “wrong side” on the lower section as in SDOT’s options.

We understand that solutions retaining the lower three eastbound downhill traffic lanes may require more work like drainage and retaining walls on the trail, but feel that the option should be studied. We also suggest consideration of automated camera enforcement of the speed limit in any solution proposed.

We also suggest a pilot of any design(s) chosen to go forward that would reduce vehicle roadway width. By installing temporary orange traffic buffers like those recently placed on the 4th Avenue South Bridge drivers can experience the conditions and make further improvement suggestions.

We look forward working together in authentic collaboration to develop a safer route for all.

Highland Park, Riverview & South Delridge Action Coalition (HPAC)
West Seattle Bike Connections (WSBC)
Morgan Community Association (MoCA)

SDOT’s James Le sent the groups an acknowledgment of the letter yesterday, six weeks after they sent it to SDOT; he wrote, “We want to assure you that we have received your letter and we’re taking a comprehensive review. Thank you for your understanding. We’ll get back to you with our response soon.” HPAC’s Kay Kirkpatrick confirmed that was the first they’d heard from SDOT since sending the letter (which you can read in PDF here).