FOLLOWUP: Mayor orders SW Wildwood bike lane by year’s end

| Safety | Transportation | West Seattle news

(WSB photo, Thursday)

Today, Mayor Katie Wilson signed an executive order she said was designed to speed up Vision Zero safety measures – one day after District 1 Councilmember Rob Saka held a committee briefing on his own package of transportation-safety proposals. We haven’t yet read both to see what’s different and what dovetails. But we did notice that the mayor’s order (read it here) refers very specifically to one West Seattle project: It decrees completion of a protected bicycle lane on SW Wildwood Place in Fauntleroy by the end of this year. That’s one of the safety upgrades urged by community advocates in the wake of the June death of bicycle rider Maridee Bonadea. Another one was installed just yesterday, permanent no-parking zones along the south side of Wildwood, where Ms. Bonadea died. The mayor’s executive order doesn’t mention any other specific West Seattle projects but does mention citywide plans to step up various types of street-safety measures, including lighting, signal, and signage upgrades.

Lucy August 21, 2026 (5:50 pm)

How about ORDERING the clean up and banishment of homeless encampments in public spaces?!?!

NotOnHolden August 21, 2026 (10:05 pm)

We can do multiple things at once. Have some respect for the life lost here on this road.
Alkistu August 23, 2026 (6:30 pm)

If you are concerned about that over the killing of a 76 year old cyclist you can join the volunteers of A Cleaner Alki who do most of the clean up in open spaces. If you can’t do that consider using the find it fix it app and make a report.

Alex August 21, 2026 (6:55 pm)

A two block bike lane? What about the rest of the area dominated by speeding ferry traffic?

Alki resident August 21, 2026 (7:19 pm)

Yes a bike lane to nowhere, genius ideas by Katie Wilson. Can’t wait for tomorrow’s trick

Foop August 22, 2026 (9:06 am)

This is more on SDOT but I am hoping our local government showing this amount of political will can give us this bike lane fully connected to Lincoln park. Maybe we’ll even finally get beach drive and maybe not have the bike lane suddenly end at LP on Fauntleroy and restart after the park.its insane to me how we get rid of it for street parking at a park.
- Platypus August 24, 2026 (9:29 am)
  
  I am liking her get stuff done and make progress attitude.

Steve August 21, 2026 (7:28 pm)

I wonder if having the bikes disembark last, rather than first, might be a good safety measure?

Foop August 21, 2026 (10:36 pm)

I wonder if it’s too much to ask drivers to exercise a little patience.
Admiral2009 August 22, 2026 (9:20 am)

Steve interesting idea, when I went to Vason Island a few weeks ago what I noticed was that the bike riders who had been let off 1st stopped riding when cars started to drive by, they simply waited on the shoulder. On the West Seattle side riders going south have a bike lane or can ride the trail through the park. As a bike rider it’s nice to get off 1st and have the choice of ride or wait.
Neighbor August 22, 2026 (4:38 pm)

Or better yet we could just ban bicycles! Then they wouldn’t be in your way!

Recall Katie Wilson August 21, 2026 (8:33 pm)

A 200 foot bike lane is Insanity.

PATRICK August 22, 2026 (6:14 pm)

Why?

Ka August 21, 2026 (8:35 pm)

Props to the mayor for actionable and specific items in her executive order. Transportation is a big strength of hers. Saka’s proposal is/was supposed to be finalized today, and it’s still just an acronym. I wish we had better council leadership for transportation.

Neighbor August 21, 2026 (10:49 pm)

Can you elaborate on this anticipated deliverable?
- KinesthesiaAmnesia August 22, 2026 (9:54 am)
  
  They’re probably referring to project mentioned in the title of the article we are commenting on, “Mayor orders SW Wildwood bike lane.” I think the short bike lane’s a good start! These little public safety changes make a huge difference to me as a frequent pedestrian there, with family and friends that cycle through there. I’ve been begging the city and state for changes like this since I used to push my cousin’s baby stroller here years ago. People doing u turns to cut into the ferry lane would jump the curb and almost plow into my stroller on that narrow, outdated sidewalk. I literally still have nightmares every night about that. I can’t even begin to imagine what it would be like to actually lose a loved one there because of infrastructure we deliberately built to favor freight and vehicle drivers. My husband was driving the speed limit there the other day at lunchtime but so many speeding cars were riding his bumper or trying to dangerously pass us. There was a scooter driver in front of us with a watermelon strapped into a basket. I thought we’d have a Gallagher smashed melon moment due to my neighbors (I recognize your faces and cars) trying to save some time or punish us for driving the posted speed limit. I really hope this bike lane gives scooter users like that more room to safely maneuver. Most of all I hope it’s a visible and real reminder to all to share the road.
K August 22, 2026 (4:41 am)

Wilson has been working on the EO for some time, whereas Saka made a last-ditch effort to steal her thunder and get some credit for things that were going to happen anyway under her plan. Saka’s legislative record is not good because he’s focused on optics and playing political games rather than improving the lives of Seattleites.

KBear August 21, 2026 (9:01 pm)

That’s a lot of whataboutism. There are more than one problem in Seattle. Trying to fix this one does not imply that other problems don’t matter.

Kyle August 21, 2026 (9:32 pm)

Happy to see a bike lane here. Will the mayor be doing the same safety improvements for the 3 motorcycle deaths in West Seattle this year?

Jeff August 24, 2026 (10:16 am)

What would you want her to do? I see a lot of bad faith comparisons in this thread, including this one seemingly, so please enlighten as I am wondering what city-owned/city SDOT related efforts could be made to help motorcyclists…

Steven August 21, 2026 (9:36 pm)

This stretch is where a woman was killed in a bike accident. You can make a bunch of short sided statements and blame the Mayor for everything in the city but I appreciate the swift action in making this stretch safer for bikers.

North Admiral Cyclist August 22, 2026 (6:39 am)

To re-emphasize for some commenters, the hatch marked areas painted on the side of the street do not constitute a “bike lane”. As noted in the WSB post, SDOT installed a temporary “no parking” zone. By Washington State law, bicycles are classified as a “vehicle” and are encouraged to ride in the travel lane, not on the cross hatch. Traffic engineers use cross hatching to discourage parking or driving! An experienced bicyclist knows riding on the cross hatch is more dangerous, not less. They know that’s when a driver that hit a bicyclist exclaims “they appeared from no where!”. When an experienced cyclist rides in the travel lane, as they should, uninformed drivers of cars and trucks can now become infuriated and more aggressive. Apparently, SDOT leadership installed the no parking as a temporary measure while they work on a permanent solution with a bike lane. Since our city is littered with temporary solutions that become permanent, we will all need to continue to follow this issue to ensure SDOT completes the task at hand.

TreeHouse August 22, 2026 (9:36 am)

Rob helped kill bike safety improvements in West Seattle last year on the 26th Ave SW Neighborhood Greenway. He defended it with more of the same consulting corporate babble similar to defending his personal multi-million $$$ pet project Curby on delridge. It’s so refreshing to see politicians like Katie actually do something for the community and standing behind her campaign promises! I’m genuinely surprised how much I really like our new mayor.

Alli August 22, 2026 (12:04 pm)

I’m genuinely surprised how much I dislike her and every day realize that she is in over her head. Resign ms mayor , this is a request from someone who voted for you and contributed to your campaign. I made a horrible choice
- foop August 22, 2026 (4:19 pm)
  
  Alli – genuinely curious of examples you have of her being in over her head and what changes you are unhappy with?I keep seeing these same phrases used over and over again but no one seems to be able to explain what she’s doing that shows her as in over her head?One small example, earlier this year Traffic Safety was polled as our highest concern, yet here she is acting on that. The Shooting at the Seattle Center was horrible but I struggle to properly lay that at her feet.https://westseattleblog.com/2026/04/what-are-your-biggest-public-safety-worries-see-if-they-match-this-citywide-surveys-results/
  - k August 24, 2026 (10:27 am)
    
    Was some next-level naivete involved here: https://theneedling.com/2026/08/03/inexperienced-seattle-mayor-apologizes-for-naively-assuming-police-knew-how-to-do-their-job/
- Heet August 22, 2026 (10:03 pm)
  
  Weird non sequitur response. What exactly is there to dislike here? Community wanted action on this unsafe stretch of street and she acted. The Seattle Bike Blog has a long story with more info on the wider packagenof safety improvements that are coming – this particular one is just one early step. I supported her, and on this issue she’s delivering despite a lot of bad faith outrage from people who never supported her.
- WS since 2008 August 24, 2026 (12:36 pm)
  
  I didn’t vote for her due to her lack of relevant experience and it’s nice to hear someone actually admit voting for her was a mistake.

M. August 22, 2026 (10:58 am)

Another knee jerk reaction by an incompetent fool.

Jeff S August 24, 2026 (10:44 am)

Oh come on this whole city has catered to ignorant car drivers for decades. It’s high time we changed course and stopped being okay with preventable deaths! Absurd comment.

anonyme August 22, 2026 (2:19 pm)

You can install all the lanes, lights, bumps, stripes, and signs that you want, but without enforcement it is practically useless. Enforcement is a dirty word in Seattle, and boy does it show. Anything involving a car is a free pass to do whatever the hell you please. The only time drivers pay attention is when they think something might happen to their car.

Heet August 22, 2026 (10:06 pm)

Wrong. Enforcement is part of the equation, but in no possible world will any residential street have constant enforcement. Far better to design streets with protected bike lanes and physical traffic calming (bumps, bollards, etc – not just signs). Those infrastructure improvements work 24/7, and they prevent unsafe driving rather than just punishing after the fact.

snowskier August 22, 2026 (4:33 pm)

More reactionary work from the city and our incompetent mayor. When can we hear about plans to add sidewalks in the area (especially on routes to schools) for kids on bikes, scooter, walker, strollers, pets, etc. Or maybe plans to fill potholes and smooth the streets rather than installing more speed humps, bikers like smooth pavement even more than cars. Oh wait, probably never. Please resign now.

PATRICK August 22, 2026 (6:19 pm)

As a bicyclist (and motorist), I applaud any and all safety measures.

Ivan Weiss August 23, 2026 (8:25 am)

When I drive over from Vashon, I always go via Wildwood, then south to Roxbury, to shop in White Center or Burien. I am intimately familiar with this stretch, and drive slowly through it. Removing the parking to create a bike lane there is only common sense, and those who dump on the mayor for ordering it show us that they don’t have any.

Mom of a student commuter. August 24, 2026 (1:05 pm)

I would like to see more traffic thoughts for those who are dropping off passengers (i.e. Vashon school commuters). There needs to be safer load/unload zones for those quick morning drop offs of many, many commuter kids. With the two blocks of no parking, it makes even more difficult for parents to drop off or pick up their kids. All those people looking for parking will be crowding up the side streets now. The ferry’s tiny parking lot is not set up to handle high volume traffic.

foop August 25, 2026 (12:20 pm)

Genuine question: What’s preventing you from allowing your kids to bike onto the ferry and bike home?
- aa August 25, 2026 (5:06 pm)
  
  That’s an odd question when this post is about how dangerous this area is for people on bikes.

TheresaH August 25, 2026 (11:07 am)

The day after the FCA meeting on Aug 11th, there was a comprehensive article in the WS Blog, reporting safety improvements SDOT had already decided to make on Wildwood Place. In addition to removing parking on the south side of the street, the article mentioned installing stop signs at Fauntleroy and Wildwood to slow traffic down. I haven’t seen anything since then indicating that installing stop signs is included in the master plan for traffic improvements. Is it?