Work underway to build missing Yesler Way bike lane

Crews are already working on some underground utilities needed to build two key blocks of missing bike lane on Yesler Way between the Waterfront bikeway and the rest of the downtown bike network, including Occidental, 2nd and 4th Avenues.

It was frustrating when the waterfront bikeway opened with such a small-but-crucial gap. People are constantly confused about where to go after crossing Alaskan Way because the existing two-way bike lane simply ends, stranding people on the wrong side of the road with no clear indication about how they are supposed to reach the rest of the bike network. The only bike symbols in view are the old sharrows on Western Ave, but that's not the way to get to the 2nd Ave bike lane.

The Yesler Way bike lane project will extend the existing two-way bike lane on the north side of Yesler from its current Terminus at Western to the decade-long bike lane terminus at Occidental Ave. The bike lane will be protected using precast concrete barriers. There will also be new turning restrictions blocking left turns from eastbound Yesler to James Street and right turns from westbound Yesler to 1st Ave.

The one block bike lane stub from 2nd to Occidental was part of the 2014 pilot project on 2nd Ave, the first significant protected bike lane in the city's downtown core. Extending this connection to the waterfront has been a dozen years in the making.

SDOT hopes to open the bike lane and activate the new signal as early as March or April," according to an SDOT blog post.

Building the two blocks of missing bike lane have been complicated due to the need to design modern traffic signals that fit with the look and feel of the historic neighborhood. It's also always a bit complicated to work in Pioneer Square because much of the street is actually a bridge one floor above the old street level. Painting lines on the street is easy enough, but installing a new traffic signal post at 1st and Yesler, for example, isn't as simple as digging into the ground. A large part of the work and the timing of the project centers around the traffic signal, which will also include a new all-way walk and bike phase.

Building this connection has been a major advocacy point for both Cascade Bicycle Club and Seattle Neighborhood Greenways, both of which have representation on Mayor Katie Wilson's transition team and have been pushing for this project.