Shoreline Moves 145th Street to Final Design

Cross Section of 145th St at I-5

With Sound Transit about to break ground on a station at 145th St as part of ST2 and planning for BRT from SR 522 to 145th as part of ST3, the City of Shoreline has taken the lead on an extensive re-design of the 145th Street corridor, with an eye to improving bus, bicycle and pedestrian access. As noted in a recent news roundup, the redesign has arrived at a final design concept. It adds BAT lanes and widens sidewalks, while moving bicycle access to parallel streets.

Today, 145th is a relatively narrow 4-lane right of way, with narrow (or nonexistent) sidewalks and no bus or bicycle lanes. It carries 31,000 cars per day in its busiest sections. With that traffic level, a road diet was rejected, so the plan is to widen the road to accommodate more ped/bus/bike access.

At Lake City Way

The approved design assumes BAT lanes with queue jumps between SR 522 and I-5, consistent with the length of the ST BRT corridor. West of I-5, buses would move in mixed traffic. A new pedestrian bridge across I-5 would provide access to and from the train station. Bikes would have exclusive lanes only on the Western end of the road, with parallel infrastructure in other places.

For riders coming in from the Lake City side, the bus lanes are a clear win. If you're connecting to Link from the West, however, your bus might have a harder time slogging through traffic (Metro sees 145th as a frequent corridor in their 2040 vision). Thanks to advocates in North Seattle, you'll also have the option of connecting to Link on the less-congested NE 130th as well.