(Image: Office of the Waterfront)
The work to install new bike lane protections and rework Pike and Pine in downtown and on Capitol Hill below Bellevue into one-way streets has crossed I-5. The city has announced crews will begin the major changes work beginning soon to permanently remove the westbound lane on Pike between Bellevue Hubbell.
The Seattle Department of Transportation says the work should begin “as soon as November” to complete new roadway painting and update traffic signals.
“Once work is complete, you will see the following improvements between 9th and Melrose avenues: wider sidewalks buffering pedestrians from freeway noise and higher railings with integrated lighting on the bridges over I-5, increased landscaping and protected bike lanes separated from traffic by curbed buffers and planters,” the city says.
CHS reported here earlier this year as the expected 18-month project began. The $17.45 million project from the City of Seattle’s Office of the Waterfront and Civic Projects in coordination with the Downtown Seattle Association and SDOT will “improve east-west connections between the waterfront and surrounding neighborhoods.”
The Pike Pine Renaissance project envisions streetscape changes to Pike and Pine between 1st Ave and Bellevue, with the one-way street configuration in downtown extended all the way up the Hill. Sidewalks in several areas will be expanded. The gaps between the existing protected bike lanes will be filled in, with the bike lane barriers beefed up with more solid and durable materials.
The city says the vision is a set of “shared streets” between 1st and 2nd Ave on Pike that have been designed to maintain vehicle access and parking.
Officials say the work will improve the Pike and Pine streetscape by adding greenery, new seating, and consistent design from end to end. The improvements will include one-way traffic on Pike and Pine streets, with Pike being one-way eastbound and Pine being one-way westbound. The city has already started reshaping traffic flow with new 4-way stops up and down Pike and Pine above Bellevue.
With the work reaching the Hill, you can expect daytime work, 7 AM to 5 PM, Monday through Friday, with pedestrian access “maintained at all times” but with alternating crosswalk closures possibly in place. Drivers will encounter shifting lane closures on Pike between Boren and Minor during work hours. The work will include pavement removal, grading and restoration “which can be noisy and cause vibration.”
Learn more at waterfrontseattle.org.
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One way I get but will it be 2 travel lanes or one each direction for cars because the roads as it is today can backup for blocks which would also impact buses.
Bus only lanes! Car drivers need deprioritization in the biggest way.
Once the transit improves. The east link and rapid bus route G will eventually reduce cars a bit then naturally. Otherwise buses aren’t gonna get you to the east side easily.
This will probably be nice when done. But honestly how much street construction can one neighborhood handle all at once? If I try to head south on the hill, I hit the Madison Rapid Ride boondoggle construction. If I go north or over Lakeview to downtown, I hit the Montlake interchange construction. Now going downtown on surface streets will also hit construction. SDOT has the worst planning–it is like none of the people who work at SDOT live here themselves or care what residents experience–hmm maybe that is exactly true.
am I crazy or were these streets both one way downtown, made to be two-way like 10 years ago, and now we’re reversing that?
Yep… when I moved here Pike and Pine were one way in opposite directions downtown and Pine was blocked off as a pedestrian mall in front of Westlake Center….