Packer: SDOT delays 2-block Yesler bike connection to waterfront
Just gave directions to this woman who was coming from the waterfront trail and trying to get into the rest of the downtown bike network. It's ludicrous that this 1.5 BLOCK GAP exists between the most popular ferry terminal in the state (and new waterfront trail) and the downtown bike network!
- Gordon Padelford (@gordonofseattle.bsky.social) 2025-04-04T22:21:40.426Z
The 2-block gap between the glorious new waterfront bikeway and the city's primary downtown bike artery on 2nd Ave will remain incomplete until 2026, Ryan Packer at the Urbanist reported.
It's honestly amazing that even with $803 million to revamp the waterfront area following the removal of the Alaskan Way Viaduct, the Waterfront Seattle team managed to not connect the bikeway they were building to the city's oldest and still most-traveled downtown bike lane just a few blocks away. They built a sea of concrete with nine (!) lanes for every imaginable car, truck or bus use at Yesler Way, but didn't care to create even one connection between these two major bikeways.
Luckily others at SDOT with far fewer resources at their disposal are trying to fill in this obvious gap that the megaproject left behind, but they can't even find the funds to replace or update a single traffic signal at 1st and Yesler. The historic signal cannot even handle walk signals (people are just supposed to know they can cross with a green light), so it definitely can't take on a new dedicated bike signal. Without a bike signal, the only way to make a two-way bikeway safe would be to restrict all turns across the bike lane. That's a worthwhile trade-off if it's the only way to get the bike connection now, but obviously that's going to annoy some people and cause confusion. But it's the best SDOT can do without the funding to upgrade the signal, and it could be done quickly. So until recently, this was the plan, and as of publication time the project webpage still says they would be starting construction in spring 2025.
Diagram of the now shelved version of the bike lane with turn restrictions for maintaining safety without signal upgrades at 1st Ave.Now Packer reports that the city has bailed on the lo-fi design and will keep this gap in place until at least next year when there's a chance they can use some funding associated with the FIFA World Cup to upgrade the signal.
From the Urbanist:
This project is moving forward, but we're exploring using FIFA-related funding to make changes to the signal at 1st & Yesler first. Signal changes could benefit the protected bike lane (PBL) project as it would not require new turn restrictions and also improve safety for pedestrians," SDOT spokesperson Amy Abdelsayed told The Urbanist. Should the signal project be feasible it would be constructed in advance of the PBL. As signal design proceeds, we will have a better information on construction timeframe."
Replacing the outdated signal, which doesn't include any pedestrian signals, much less accessible crossing infrastructure for blind or low-vision residents, would be a step forward, but why not come back and install a new signal after building the bike lane connection?
We've heard concerns about the turning restrictions that would be introduced by the project, especially so soon after major changes to street directionality and turn access," Abdelsayed said. To provide the best version of the project possible we have elected to phase it so that work is done at close to the same time."