Highland Park Way lane-conversion project online meeting

February 23, 2026 12:54 am

| 5 COMMENTS

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Calendar

When:

March 4, 2026 @ 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm

2026-03-04T17:00:00-08:00

2026-03-04T18:00:00-08:00

Cost:

Free

Community Meetings

SDOT has scheduled an online public meeting March 4 for the most controversial West Seattle project on their drawing board, the plan to convert the outside downhill lane on the Highland Park Way hill to a multi-use path. The possibility of rechannelizing the hill – which was a busy detour route during the West Seattle Bridge closure – first came up in the 2010s, then went on hold in 2020, then turned up again in a city application for federal funding in 2022, and then moved onto the path toward finalization a year ago despite loud opposition. SDOT recently told WSB that construction is at least a year away; the department says it’ll have design updates at the March 4 meeting, which is scheduled to start at 5 pm, and will be at this Zoom link.

5 Replies to "Highland Park Way lane-conversion project online meeting"

Rochelle March 4, 2026 (3:46 pm)

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What a stupid idea to take out a very important lane for NO good reason!
McKenzie March 4, 2026 (5:29 pm)

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In the March 4 zoom call, they said the main reason they’re doing this project is because of safety prioritization (collisions taking place bc of cars speeding down the hill in those two lanes). And so with this as the impetus, they said there was no way to offer an SDOT option that DIDN’T remove one lane…as (apparently) having two lanes is what’s at least partially causing the speeding / lack of safety.
- Ms. Noem March 4, 2026 (6:22 pm)
  
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  I posted five questions and they answered four of them. In one question, I mentioned that is speeding is a problem they are trying to solve, then that’s a police issue, not SDOT. To tell everyone that this will slow down traffic is beyond a rhetorical statement. We’re not THAT dumb. The very last guy’s statement hit the problem on the head, “there use to be a motorcycle cop there all the time. Now people speed because there’s never police”. For those of us that live in the area, we can hear cars street racing on the weekends at that intersection. Police is the only solution for the problem SDOT wants to solve.
  - Car Brian March 5, 2026 (1:15 pm)
    
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    This is absolutely an SDOT issue and not an SPD one, people drive faster on wider streets because the street was designed to be sped on. Reducing the lanes is one relatively simple way to help remedy that issue, and in comparison to fixing the underlying problem, a guy with a gun sitting in an SUV permanently idling on the hill is a band aid, and a poor, and wildly expensive, one at that.As someone who drives it every weekday during rush hour, it absolutely does not get backed up either. Its busy but its not overwhelming or anything near when the bridge was closed. You know what is overwhelming? Biking up and down that hill with people blazing past at 50mph+, which I used to do from time to time, and will do again when the path is installed with hardened barriers. It’s just too dangerous right now. I do wish they were putting the bike lane on the other side of the street, the current design means we will have to cross the street three times to get to the Duwamish trail, and I don’t trust people driving to be alert. The current safe route requires going all the way north to the bridge to then come back down south to continue to south park and beyond. This is a necessary bike connection.
sharon March 5, 2026 (6:42 am)

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I have lived in this area four 70+ years, and the hill previously known as Boeing Hill is a one of three main roads out of West Seattle. Highland Park Way is the middle one of the three, and it serves south Delridge and middle West Seattle. We all know when the high-rise bridge went down how the back up affected this route it was horrible. Even now with the 2 lanes of the First South bridge closed it backs up. If WDOT thinks taking a lane is good there is now sane reason for it. The area where the sidewalk is has enough space to upgrade for a bike path. And lets be real bike usage on that hill is almost null for the amount pf people in the area, I feel SDOT is framing that as a need when it most certainly is not. Speeding will continue without ticketing. Why not put a speed camera up and make some money instead of this insane lane option. Even right. now at this time trying to get onto Holden during rush hours is hard with the two lanes down the hill one will make even harder. We as tax payers and drivers pay for road improvements and this plan is not an improvement, far from it. There are times Holden is crowded that at the light on 12th ave people literally have someone get out their car and push the walk button so they can get onto Holden or just cross the street, this plan will make it even worse!