SDOT will upgrade 4th Ave bike lane barrier to concrete

Images from SDOT.

The 4th Ave bike lane is getting concrete barriers to replace the paint and post style barrier it has had since opening in 2020-21. The upgrade should bring the 4th Ave bike lane up to the level of quality of the 2nd Ave lane. It will be constructed within the existing buffer area of the lane from Vine Street in Belltown to Jefferson Street on the edge of Pioneer Square.

Work will begin as soon as March 18 and be completed by July. The southbound lane against the curb will remain open, but sections of the northbound lane one or two blocks long will be closed as work progresses.

SDOT initially said that they would extend the bike lane from Jefferson to Main Street in 2023 or 2024, but that work is not part of this plan. The excuse at the time was that too many buses use those blocks of 4th Ave currently, but that they would finish the connection once Link light rail extensions to Northgate and the Eastside open. The 2 Line to the Eastside has been delayed due to issues building the tracks across the I-90 Bridge.

We still envision a bike network with a direct connection down 4th to S Main St, but the impact to bus travel times at this point is too significant," according to the SDOT project page. As an interim solution, we're routing the south end of the protected bike lane through Dilling Way to Yesler for a connection to 2nd Ave. When buses are routed off 4th Ave in the future, we intend to make this direct connection as funding allows."

Ridership on the 4th Ave bike lane won't reach its full potential until this connection to Main Street is complete. As it is, there's not a big reason to take 4th to and from the south instead of 2nd if riders need to detour to 2nd anyway. I have found that it is a lot faster heading northbound than 2nd Ave just because you get stopped at fewer red lights when traveling in the same direction as car traffic, and it is a great connection for destinations on 4th or 5th Avenues. Though 2nd and 4th look close together on a map, the two blocks between them are extremely steep through much of downtown, including near the Central Branch Library, City Hall and Municipal Court.