Some Melrose upgrades like these “Poem Dazzle” community crosswalks have been in place for years while the neighborhood has waited for SDOT to begin construction on the rest of the project

Here are a few notes on street and sidewalk work around Capitol Hill:

• This time they mean it on Melrose: Earlier this year, CHS reported on work finally ready to begin after years of community planning to give Melrose Ave a pedestrian and bike-friendly overhaul. Now that summer is nearly here and issues like the concrete workers strike have been addressed, construction really can begin on the Melrose Promenade vision. “We’re excited to start construction of the Melrose Promenade next week,” SDOT said in an update on the project sent last Friday. “Starting next week and continuing into the following weeks, we’ll be building new accessible curb ramps at E Roy St and repairing sections of the street and sidewalk on Melrose Ave between E Roy St and E Republican St.” SDOT said contractor crews were being planned to start from the north near E Roy and work south toward E Republican.
  
  
  

  

  

  

  “We’ll be cutting and breaking pavement, and then pouring concrete to restore the areas,” SDOT says. “People can expect noise and vibrations during the pavement cutting and breaking.” The changes coming to Melrose include a redesigned intersection at E Olive Way with a new signalized crosswalk on the west end of Melrose as the Seattle Department of Transportation reconfigures the I-5 on-ramp. New protected bike lanes between Denny and Pine are hoped to improve safety on Melrose. They will be one-way lanes on each side of the street protected with plastic posts and pavement markings. The total project budget for the Melrose Promenade including design and construction is $4.3 million including a $3 million grant through the Federal Highway Administration. The project is hoped to be wrapped up by this fall, transforming the Melrose Promenade into a “front porch” for Capitol Hill. You can learn more and sign up for updates on the project webpage.

• Lake WA Blvd closure: Starting Friday, Lake Washington Blvd near the 520 construction zone will be closed for 17 days, WSDOT says. During the closure, crew working on the Montlake Project component of the 520 bridge replacement will install drainage and conduct electrical work along the route.
  Traffic exiting westbound SR 520 to Lake Washington Boulevard won’t be able to turn east; drivers will detour west to Montlake Boulevard and then south to Boyer Avenue East. Lake Washington Boulevard and the on-ramp to eastbound SR 520 are scheduled to reopen at 11:59 p.m. Sunday, July 3.
  The $455 component of the $5 billion 520 replacement including creation of a new Montlake lid won’t wrap up until 2023. More construction will follow. By 2030, this new Roanoke Lid and a new segment of 520 over Portage Bay are planned to be completed.
  

  (Image: CHS)

• 15th Ave E bus stop work: We’re checking with SDOT for more information on the work underway to create an expanded stop for northbound Metro buses on 15th Ave E at E Republican. A new pullout could ease traffic through the area’s commercial zone but the project doesn’t show up on any of SDOT’s usual construction bulletins. The stop is in front a collection of businesses including the street’s Rudy’s and the Shop Rite store. The stop and sidewalk also fronts the still empty grocery emptied by QFC when it decided to shutter the location in 2021. Several other pedestrian and biking changes have been made in the area as part of a city program to improve street safety around the connecting areas between schools.

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