(Image: SDOT)
(Image: @Spottnik)
The Seattle Department of Transportation still has a long road ahead to meeting the city’s “Vision Zero” goals but new street projects are addressing some of the most notoriously dangerous intersections around Capitol Hill.
Over the weekend, SDOT crews tackled work to finally overhaul the busy 23rd and John intersection, adding new protected turn signals and new pedestrian safety elements to one of the crossings with the most red-light crashes in the city.
“The new intersection will have protected left turns for northbound, southbound, and eastbound traffic,” SDOT said about the work. “People making a left turn from northbound or southbound 23rd Ave E and from eastbound E John St will have a separated turn lane and dedicated turn signal.”
SDOT said the work to repaint lanes, add new walk and bike signals, improve curb ramps, and add “protected northbound, southbound, and eastbound left-turn signal phases” while adding a few new curb bulbs and bus stop amenities nearby on 23rd Ave was being completed over the weekend. By Sunday night, the new signals were turned on and operational.
The project comes as part of work planned for years as part of a Vision Zero overhaul of the 23rd and 24th Ave corridor stretching from the Central District across Capitol Hill to Montlake. CHS reported here on the project and plans for 23rd and John in the summer of 2019. The pandemic and delays related to labor issues and shortages have backed up the department’s projects across the city. Money saved up out of concerns for a possible loss of funding from what turned out to be a nothing burger legal threat from Tim Eyman is also helping. Meanwhile, new SDOT director Greg Spotts is busy showing off the effort.
https://twitter.com/JoyHollings/status/1136864717073338368?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1136864717073338368%7Ctwgr%5Efacfb5992c211f4ac2a8b2a3200c5747de85f28e%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.capitolhillseattle.com%2F2019%2F08%2F23rd-ave-vision-zero-work-ready-to-move-into-fifth-year-of-construction-including-23rd-and-john-overhaul%2F
While some projects take on huge timelines and scale thanks to piggybacking utility work like the near warzone like construction wasteland along E Madison as work continues on the multiyear RapidRide G project, smaller, simpler work is starting to pick up pace to make needed changes.
Another notorious crossing will be addressed in coming months when SDOT completes its overhaul of Pike/Pine traffic flow with new 4-way stops on E Pine — including a new set at the dangerous intersection with Boylston. That work is hoped to be completed by early next year.
Back along the 23rd/24th Ave corridor, there are more projects still underway as part of a Vision Zero “road diet” that has been in process for years. A set of improvements geared around improving pedestrian access and experience for transit riders is slowly taking shape on the Montlake end of things. It can be agonizingly slow. New curb setups and a new signal at E Lynn have finally been put into place but are not yet operational. Meanwhile, Montlake Boulevard is also in the midst of major changes as the 520 replacement project and new Montlake Lid construction projects continue. Next weekend, work to move bus trolley wires to the new poles at the intersection and remove the old poles around E Lynn is scheduled to take place.
SDOT says the remaining projects of the 23rd and 24th Ave overhaul are expected to be finally fully completed in spring 2022.
In the meantime, officials — and neighbors — hope the red-light collisions at 23rd and John will finally be a thing of the past.
A full roster of the new changes between E Madison and Montlake and near 23rd and John from SDOT is below:
Curb bulbs
Curb bulbs reduce the number and severity of traffic collisions by increasing the visibility of vulnerable users – people walking and biking – and decreasing the distance they have to travel to get across the street.
High friction surface treatment
HFST adds a thin layer of coarse material on top of the street to improve skid-resistance to the pavement. We’re adding HFST at intersections where collision rates are high when road conditions are wet and slippery.
Signalized crosswalk
Install signalized crosswalk. Walk/bike signals stop car traffic to allow people who walk and bike to safely cross the intersection.
Protected left turn signals
Protected left-turn signal phases (northbound, southbound, and eastbound) will reduce opportunities for collisions.
Upgraded traffic signals
New signal heads and upgraded signal arms will enhance safety and improve visibility.
Lane Rechannelization (complete)
Data shows that people driving northbound between Boyer Ave E and E John St on average speed 10 MPH over the speed limit. The posted speed is 25 MPH. The chances of someone being fatally or seriously injured increase significantly being struck at 40 MPH versus 30 MPH.
Modeling and experience indicated we could rechannelize these lanes without having a significant impact on capacity and that it will encourage speeds closer to 25 MPH. We will continue to monitor these changes and traffic patterns as the project is completed.
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Finally… When they first made the changes there a few years ago this was part of my daily commute. I saw and had so many near misses with people panic merging. I emailed the city talking about how dangerous this new layout was and got a response about how their models and studies show it’s fine. Thanks for that… Glad they finally did something, but our streets have way too many weird zig-zags and pinch points.
Unfortunately, the “weird zig-zags and pinch points” are only increasing, as the city moves to implement “creative” solutions to adding bicycle lanes, bus-only lanes, mid-roadway parking lanes, etc. It’s becoming impossible to drive more than a block without having to realign your vehicle to match the myriad painted lines on the opposite side of an intersection.
My other personal favorite has been the construction for the convention center near Olive and Howell. They diverted traffic a lane over at an intersection with a lightly painted S line in the intersection to lanes with old paint on the convention center side of the street. Every single time I’ve been through there you have people driving straight through ignoring the shift one lane to the left and honking like crazy at anyone following the painted lines. I wonder how many crashes there have been there… I avoid the area.
It’s almost like making driving super unpleasant, slow and dangerous is the point..
Thank Christ. That non-protected left turn from NB 23rd to WB John has been a nightmare for years. I get that they wanted to keep 23rd as a double lane during Rush Hour, but outside those hours that lane was bad with people not signaling they’re turning left or signaling after they stop.
I live a block from here around 23rd and Thomas, and even as an auto enthusiast, I am absolutely STOKED to see the changes to this intersection. Not only does this make it safer for pedestrians by reducing the amount of drivers hastily punching it through a left turn before the never-ending oncoming traffic arrives, it alleviates the need for me to have to lane change in the single block between John and Madison when I drive south on 23rd, as the turning vehicles have their own space to be now as opposed to holding up the left lane. I have plenty of complaints about the Montlake project (for the love of god bring back the 520EB offramp slip lane or rechannel drivers going straight into one of the left turn lanes) but this may be the best improvement to this corridor I’ve seen in the 7 years I have lived in the neighborhood!
The city didn’t add any signage of the change, so I guess a few more accidents as you figure out the lane has disappeared and you can’t go straight. It doesn’t help having a traffic camera which makes people panic and accelerate to make sure they don’t get stuck when lights change. What’s the point of having a dual lane road but the restricting it down to one lane without any real merge.
Definitely expect some driving into oncoming traffic NB… there wasn’t any notice of a change and there’s a bus stop right there.. people will continue to think they can go around the bus… some will likely continue to do it even after they realize it’s now oncoming traffic…
I also love that years after the change on 23rd/24th from 4 lanes to 2 lanes with a center lane I still see smooth brain seattle drivers stopping in the middle of the traffic lane to make a turn, ignoring the center lane entirely.
Thrilled that this is Comically overdue basic improvements at this intersection. What is the threshold of avoidable fatalities, injuries, accidents, and property damage needed to reallocate funds for a ridiculously obvious high priority intersection. An intersection on an arterial that just had millions injected into other “improvements”.
+1 to the other comments regarding the unpredictable lane mappings on 23rd approaching this intersection from either direction (abrupt merger northbound 23rd post-John, and abrupt right-turn-only southbound 23rd post-John). That combined with the red-light cam at an intersection with hurried end-of signal unprotected left turns for motorists is a nightmare for peds and cyclists who cross with a dated walk / don’t walk signal lacking countdowns.
I hope the literal run-for-your-life deathtrap that is Bellevue Ave E & E Olive Way is prioritized for improvement. Especially considering the massive upcoming construction project on its southeast corner.
Now do the Madison/John/24th shit show of an intersection
The DOT here is pretty slow and laughable compared to how things are in other cities at times.
What’s interesting about the curb bulbs is that they really do help… Until the posts get knocked down and never replaced, as they have along E Thomas between 15th & 19th. It’s one thing to set up the curb bulbs…. Another thing entirely to maintain them.