SDOT says the SW Avalon Way/35th/Alaska repaving and rechannelization project will begin as soon as April, now that it’s reached final design. They’ve added some major new elements to the plan. They’re part of the toplines from SDOT’s Dan Anderson:

The latest design changes based on community feedback and city policy include:

*Closing 30th Ave SW at SW Avalon Way to reduce cut-through driving [see postcard, with map, here]

*Adding a new RapidRide transit island with a separated bike lane at SW Yancy St

*Shifting the northbound bus stop about 150 feet [north] for routes 50, 55, and 21 to remove bus/bike conflict at Luna Park

*Reducing speed limits on SW Avalon Way and 35th Ave SW by 5 mph

*Installing skid-resistant surface treatment on SW Charlestown St [outside project zone] and SW Genesee St

*Adjusting the curb line and adding a new planting strip at 3246 SW Avalon Way

*Closing the slip lane from SW Avalon Way to Fauntleroy Way SW

*Installing a new water main

*Continuing conversations with business stakeholders about the hours of operation for the inbound bus lane

That affects parking; here’s the map showing the parking inventory, reported here in November. Meantime, more details on many of the newly announced changes are on the project website. As shown on the map atop this story, the full project zone is all of Avalon from the bridge to Fauntleroy, plus 35th between Avalon and Alaska, and one block of Alaska west of 35th.

(WSB file photo)

Back in August, when we last updated the Avalon/35th/Alaska repaving and rechannelization plan, SDOT said it was re-crunching the numbers on current and proposed parking. The assessment – with numbers – is finally ready, and SDOT says:

Our parking update findings show:

*Net loss of 67 parking spaces on SW Avalon Way between 35th Ave SW and SW Spokane St

*Net loss of 9 parking spaces on 35th Ave SW between SW Avalon Way and SW Alaska St

*39 remaining on-street parking spaces in the Luna Park business district between SW Spokane St and SW Yancy St. Today, there are 53 on-street spaces (24 on the west side and 29 on the east side). Our project design removes 14 spaces total (the sum of removing 16 on the west side and adding 2 on the east side). The east side spaces are “no parking” 6-10AM, Monday-Friday, as they mostly are today.

*13 remaining spaces in the off-street public parking area between Luna Park Cafe and The Shack. Today, there are 14 spaces here distinguished by privately-painted line markings. We remove one that’s been marked across the sidewalk/pedestrian area.

*3 remaining spaces in the off-street public parking area next to Luna Park Cafe and Avalon Glassworks. Today, there are 3 spaces here.

*31 parking spaces will be restricted Monday through Friday, 6-10 AM, to create a bus lane on the east side of SW Avalon Way between SW Spokane St and SW Yancy St. Today, there are 18 spaces restricted weekday mornings.

*We’ve kept load zones and a disabled zone to meet high-priority needs like business deliveries, and pick-ups and drop-offs at busy apartment buildings

*We’re planning to implement 2-hour parking time limits on SW Avalon Way in the business district north of SW Yancy St to improve customer and visitor access

Why the new design includes fewer parking spaces than today:

*We’re redesigning SW Avalon Way with a focus on safety. This will result in narrower travel lanes to lower overall speeds, reduce high-end speeding, and reduce crossing distances for people walking and biking to get around the neighborhood and catch the bus.

*We’re separating people biking from moving traffic with protected bike lanes, mostly between the curb and a “floating” parking lane. The floating parking lanes will have buffer areas, so car doors don’t hit people biking and there’s space for people parking to walk to and from their car. This design pulls parking farther back from intersections and driveways than today. Twenty-foot parking setbacks allow people driving to see people walking and biking better – their vision isn’t blocked by a parked car – to make collisions less likely at driveways and cross streets.

*We didn’t count spaces 5 feet from driveways, 15 feet from fire hydrants, 20 feet from crosswalks, and 30 feet from intersections, which are not legal parking areas under state and local laws, but may be considered legal parking today.

*Most street space for the protected bike lanes came from removing the center turn lane, but in narrower areas at the north end of the corridor we had to restrict morning parking on the east side to allow for the bus lane that moves thousands of people a day on RapidRide and other routes

*On 35th Ave SW, we removed parking spaces where we’re adding pedestrian crossing islands to help people get across the street at SW Alaska St to the West Seattle Stadium and transit

Next steps:

*We’ll post the 100% street channelization plans online with parking areas noted. We’ve already done that at 30% Design and 60% Design. Specifically, the community will see the number of spaces in each parking area and notes where we think load zones and a disabled zone will be located.

*We’ll post this information and this parking changes graphic on the website

*We’re scheduling a meeting with the Luna Park Merchants Association to discuss the latest update. Please let us know if you need a phone call or meeting with our project team to discuss this information.

*We want to continue to hear from the people who live, work, travel, and visit the neighborhood with requests for information, questions, and if there are any errors in our maps or analysis that need to be fixed

*We’ll then follow-up with the community this winter to share the final design, and pre-construction information since we’re expecting construction to start in spring 2019 and last 2 years

According to previous conversations with SDOT, that’s not two continuous years, but rather two construction seasons – roughly April through October each year. The project includes repaving of Avalon in its entirety, from the bridge to Fauntleroy Way, as well as about three blocks of 35th SW between Avalon and Alaska, and a block of Alaska west of 35th. The 60 percent design documents are all on the project website; the parking update we received today isn’t there yet.

(WSB photo from June open house)

In early June, SDOT held an open-house meeting to talk with community members about the SW Avalon Way repaving/rechannelization plan once it reached the “30 percent design” phase. They promised they’d be back in the fall once it hit the next milestone, “60 percent design.” That’s apparently running a bit ahead of schedule, because SDOT says it’s there now and they’ll be here next Thursday (August 23rd) to talk about it at another open house. The updated design hasn’t been made public yet – we’re expecting to see it in the next few days, before the meeting – but a postcard sent to area homes and businesses to announce the open house says in part:

Based on your feedback, we’re providing more parking on SW Avalon Way and taking some measures to reduce peak-hour neighborhood cut-through traffic.

The “30 percent design plan” shown in June proposed removing about a dozen street parking spaces on the west side of Avalon in the Luna Park business district. In addition to repaving/rechannelizing Avalon, the proposal also would pave three blocks of 35th SW between Avalon and Alaska, and one block of Alaska between 35th and 36th. This Thursday’s open-house meeting is set for 5:30-7:30 pm at American Legion Post 160 (“the building with the cannon out front”), 3618 SW Alaska.

One more meeting from last night to tell you about – the open house for the SW Avalon Way rechannelization/repaving plan. No new information emerged – it was meant as a chance to comment on and ask questions about what SDOT recently revealed, the “30 percent design” version of the project.

Above center is Luna Park entrepreneur John Bennett, who is concerned about parking – while the proposal has changed from an early version that removed dozens of spaces uphill, where now a weekday 6-10 am transit lane is proposed, this one takes out a dozen spaces on the west side of Avalon, and Bennett fears The Shack coffee shop will be especially hard-hit. Councilmember Lisa Herbold has been working with SDOT to try to minimize the parking loss; above left is her legislative assistant Newell Aldrich (Herbold was at the HALA hearing a few miles away).

Also there, West Seattle Bike Connections‘ Don Brubeck (second from left above). The design incorporates protected bike lanes on what is a fairly busy route to and from the “low bridge” as well as Alki. Various concerns along the corridor included helping buses move more smoothly and dissuading drivers from using side streets. There were also requests for turn signals at the Avalon/Genesee light. Here’s an “aerial view” of what’s in the 30 percent plan, as previewed here last month:

WHAT’S NEXT: Project spokesperson Adonis Ducksworth says that after this open house for the 30 percent design, they hope to have the project up to 60 percent for another round of commenting in the fall. Construction is expected to happen next year, starting in the spring. Along with rechannelizing Avalon as shown here (PDF), the project will repave it all the way from the bridge to where it ends at Fauntleroy, along with 35th SW south of Avalon to Alaska – where reconstruction is needed due to water damage – and Alaska from 35th to 36th too. Beyond last night’s open house, here’s your chance to comment through June 24th – an online survey about the project.

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

SDOT has unveiled its new in-progress plan for the SW Avalon Way repaving/rechannelization project, one year after it first came to light.

This time last year, SDOT had a community meeting after announcing it would repave/rechannelize Avalon plus a few blocks of 35th “after the Fauntleroy Boulevard project.”

Though Fauntleroy Boulevard is on hold pending Sound Transit light-rail decisions, SDOT confirmed this week that the Avalon/35th plan is moving ahead, and the project zone has expanded a bit. We met with two key members of the project team, project manager Bill Clark and communicator Dan Anderson, to get the rundown on what’s now in the plan.

Before we go any further – take note that SDOT does plan an “open house” community meeting, and a mailer; the former is set for June 5th in The Triangle, the latter will be on its way to project-area mailboxes soon (see it here now).

The project now calls for repaving the entirety of Avalon, from where it begins at Fauntleroy, to where it ends at Spokane. Plus, along with the stretch of 35th between Avalon and Alaska that’s to be repaved (and in some spots rebuilt), the repaving also will extend a block onto Alaska west of 35th.

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