Friday Roundtable: RapidRide J Project Update

Crews install the new water main in Eastlake. (SDOT)

In January, the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) announced the RapidRide J project reached a significant milestone: completion of the Eastlake water main replacement. It may seem odd for a transit project to be celebrating utility work, but this is a great example of how city departments can work together to improve the built environment.

While branded as a transit project, the J Line project is more of an Eastlake corridor overhaul project. Wesley Lin shared a breakdown of the project in 2024. When construction finishes next year, crews from SDOT, Seattle Public Utilities (SPU), and King County Metro will have installed the following transportation, utility, and urban greening features infrastructure.

• Transportation
  • Transit
    • 2 miles of dedicated bus priority lanes
    • 20 bus stations
  • Biking
    • 3.7 miles of protected bike lanes
  • Walking
    • 2.87 miles of repaired sidewalks
    • 177 improved crosswalks
    • 131 upgraded curb ramps
  • Driving and freight
    • 2 miles of repaved streets
    • 33 intersections equipped with new traffic signals
• Utility
  • 1.7 miles of upgraded water main
  • 27 new fire hydrants
  • 174 new connections to homes and businesses
• Urban Greening
  • 190 newly planted trees

Given the scope of the project, numerous organizations have provided funding. These include:

• $64.2 million from the Federal Transit Administration's Small Starts Grant
• $43 million from the City of Seattle, mostly from the voter-approved Levy to Move Seattle
• $28 million from Seattle Public Utilities to build a new water main
• $10 million from King County Metro for bus station amenities and staff resources
• $9.6 million from the Federal Highway Administration
• $6 million from the Washington State Department of Transportation
• $6 million from the University of Washington

The wide range of new infrastructure speaks to close collaboration between SDOT, SPU, and Metro to improve the corridor above and below the road surface. While SDOT should not wait for utility upgrade projects to redesign arterial streets, the agency should coordinate with SPU to redesign the streetscape after every utility project that requires resurfacing the road.

The RapidRide J project is not the first time SDOT and SPU have worked together to upgrade their respective infrastructure at the same time. During SDOT's RapidRide G project on Madison St, SPU crews replaced a 120-year old water main and installed several new detention tanks to manage stormwater runoff.

Seattle Public Utilities maintains a map of all underground water and sewer pipes in their service area. This map shows the complicated, essential systems hidden below ground. Seattle's first water and sewer infrastructure were installed in the late 1800's to early 1900's and many of these pipes are still in use today. When these aging pipes need to be replaced, SDOT should use the opportunity to make the streets they run under safer and more efficient. A few examples of arterial streets with 100-year old utilities include Rainier Ave S, Aurora Ave N, 35th Ave SW, and NE 45th St between UW and I-5.

This is an open thread.