(Image: Seattle Greenways)

In fall of 2022, CHS reported that the status of the “Healthy Streets” street calming program in the Central District was “under review.” Friday is the last day to provide feedback that will help shape what comes next.

The Seattle Department of Transportation has been collecting public feedback on the program — you can find the Healthy Streets Feedback Form here.

Advocacy group Seattle Greenways says Friday is the final day to add your thoughts about “whether you think the Central District healthy streets should be permanent and how they could be improved.”

Created during the pandemic to give more people safer options for walking, running, and biking but implemented with movable barriers and frequently ignored signs, some of the city’s “Stay Healthy Streets” routes across the Central District have already been reverted. Stretches including E Columbia and 25th Ave have been under consideration for possible updates to the program

SDOT says while many people provided positive feedback about the Stay Healthy Streets providing more safety, creating “a more enjoyable neighborhood,” and providing “more open space,” many complained of “difficulty getting around,” the “ineffective signs,” “safety-related issues” related to confusion and vehicles passing through the streets, and “feeling excluded.”

With a step back to greenway status, the CD routes would still be marked with signs and managed to encourage safer walking and biking as they connect with similar routes across Capitol Hill where SDOT opted not to trial the Stay Healthy Streets concept in the neighborhood’s more expensive areas of predominantly single family-style housing.

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