The city says E Madison will be closed to vehicle traffic through March 20th as the latest RapidRide G line project’s construction phase moves through the area.
Starting at 6 a.m. on Monday, March 6, we will fully close E Madison St between 12th Ave and 14th Ave. The road will reopen by 6 a.m. on Monday, March 20. There will be a signed detour for people driving and buses will be rerouted. The closure is necessary as we work on replacing a 120-year-old watermain.
What to expect:
· Eastbound traffic detoured to Union St and 19th Ave
· Westbound traffic detoured to Pike St and 12th Ave
· Southbound 14th Ave will be local access only between Pine St and Pike St. Southbound 14th Ave will be closed from Pike St to Union St
· Northbound 14th Ave will remain open. People driving on northbound 14th Ave will be able to continue northbound across Madison St or turn right on Madison St.
SDOT said pedestrian access will be maintained, “although there will be intermittent sidewalk and crosswalk closures through the work area.”
“People walking and rolling should follow signed detours and be prepared for closures and detour routes to change as the work progresses,” SDOT writes in the bullet.
CHS reported here on the challenges for pedestrians and bicyclists presented by the multi-year construction project that will reshape the corridor for bus rapid transit and eventual sidewalk safety improvements but remains a busy, messy construction zone in the meantime. The frustrations boiled over in one recent incident that gave officials the opportunity to remind people how to contact the project about issues like nighttime noise or safety concerns.
The three-year, $134 million SDOT-managed project has grown into a complete overhaul with everything from the city’s sidewalks and intersections to its water and sewer mains being ripped up and replaced along the 2.4-mile route. Relief is coming. 2023 brings what should be the final push of major construction as the system prepares for a 2024 start of service. Along the way, the construction schedule will shift the most intensive work up and down the corridor to hopefully give areas a break. When it finally debuts, along with what is hoped to be faster, more efficient bus service, the route will also have new curb ramps, sidewalks, and crossing improvements.
SDOT said last week that the construction project had reached the “50% complete” milestone.
HELP KEEP CHS PAYWALL-FREE
Subscribe to CHS to help us hire writers and photographers to cover the neighborhood. CHS is a pay what you can community news site with no required sign-in or paywall. To stay that way, we need you.
Become a subscriber to help us cover the neighborhood for as little as $5 a month.
What. A. Disaster.
and to think it’s currently just a halfaster according to SDOT.
How is it a disaster…? They are making necessary updates to the water main and roads. There is no way to do that besides tearing up the street.
Exactly, a disaster would be letting the water main deteriorate until it breaks and causes massive flooding and then requires this work, but rushed and not getting all these other improvements 🤦♂️
The rapid ride line will connect one of the richest parts of the city (read: filled with people who prefer to drive their cars) with downtown (read: the part of town people _arent_ commuting to nearly as much anymore).
They should have taken the money and just used it to improve the existing bus services around town.
No, it’s connecting the densest parts of the city with frequent transit along the main artery, and creating a dedicated lane for that transit by taking space away from cars. Might even make it less convenient for those rich people to drive their cars 🤷🏻♀️. I’d call that a win.
They didn’t even extend it all the way to Madison Park, because that might let the poors enjoy the beach.
The nice thing about BRT is that it is very easy to expand, would love to see this go all the way to the beach!
Agree! I wonder how much of the $134 million total cost is for the unnecessary bus line? Probably a significant amount.
I’ve lived in Tokyo, Seoul and Shanghai. All this work would have been done in days, not years.
“When it finally debuts, along with what is hoped to be faster, more efficient bus service…..”
“Hoped” to be? It damn well BETTER be, for all the lengthy disruption and huge expense.
The disruption and huge expense is to make major infrastructure repairs, BRT is just icing on the cake
That’s an interesting take, but I thought this project was originally going to be funded by the MoveSeattle levy that we voted on about five years ago. If it’s not about MovingSeattle, but infrastructure improvements instead, why would it be funded by that levy?
Because then we would get a large matching federal grant for making transportation improvements that would also help fund the infrastructure improvement, seems smart and efficient to me. My recollection is that the federal $ was significantly curtailed and delayed during the Trump administration, which added complications, but it’s a very common practice to try to make the most of local spending.
Just close it to cars permanently. The RapidRide will be much more rapid as a result.