Work is already complete to transform Melrose — but SDOT is going back to finish the job
The Melrose Promenade needs a redo. The Madison bus RapidRide construction has been a pain. With the Seattle Department of Transportation’s recent track record for the area, Capitol Hill businesses along the stretches of Pike and Pine being transformed to one-way streets with protected bike lanes are hoping for a smoother ride through the changes.
It’s not clear the hoped benefits of the work — wider sidewalks, better bike protections, safer driving conditions — have fully hit home as construction has begun and the changes are underway.
“They gave us a flyer letting us know that these changes would impact traffic in the area so we’re sending out messages to our clients to let them know of the change,” Chenelle Basurto, front desk lead at Vain Hair salon, said. “The area itself is already incredibly difficult to find parking and navigate for our clients. This is impacting us kind of negatively in that regard, it’s just an added stressor for the people trying to get to our location.”
The Pike and Pine construction now underway between I-5 and Bellevue Ave is the beginning of 18 months of scheduled work as the city will continue to install new bike lane protections, from downtown to Capitol Hill. The project itself came from a business focus group, Downtown Seattle Association started their Pike Pine Renaissance Project back in 2013.
“They did a lot of different engagements to talk about how to make the Pike-Pine Corridor sort of stand out,” Brie Gyncild , co-chair of Central Seattle Greenways, said. “A lot of that was done with the intention of making it a better environment for the businesses.”
Bike leaning rails are being added along the route. Guess what! They’ll also help protect riders from cars. (Image: Waterfront Seattle)
The interim bike lanes have been on Pike and Pine since 2018, and construction to further the project was delayed during the pandemic.
But the messages around improved and safer transportation for everyone hasn’t gotten around.
“We have staff who have had some parking issues and we have customers saying that there is only one access or that somebody has no access to parking, otherwise it’s not affecting a lot,” Sebastian Jose, supervisor for the Indian restaurant Zaika said. “It’s just the parking for the customers, for the staff, and for the drivers who come and pick up the order.”
Gabriel Newman, policy counsel for the GBSA, said the work starting during the busy holiday time is a temporary concern. Longer term worries are access to the area during construction and making sure there is “adequate signage to inform folks that businesses are still open.”
CHS reported here on the start of construction on Capitol Hill for the changes, ” the first step in making Pike and Pine streets one-way from 1st Ave to Bellevue Ave.”
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 to “improve east-west connections between the waterfront and surrounding neighborhoods” includes new bike lane protections and the overhaul to Pike and Pine in downtown and on Capitol Hill below Bellevue into one-way streets. The project will bring 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. The work includes the removal of parking to make room for the expanded resources.
Proponents say the changes will also be good for business.
“Many studies show that bike lanes mean business, they also calm the street which often makes it a more pleasant place for everyone,” Gyncild said.
But getting there can be a rough ride for local businesses and neighbors living in the midst of long transportation construction projects. CHS reported here on the major challenges along Madison as the $134 million bus rapid transit project’s construction shut down portions of the artery and sometimes left no safe way for people hoping to cross the area on foot or by bike. For those living and doing business in the area of the coming RapidRide G line, the planned 2024 completion of the project will bring major benefits including six minute service during most hours of the day between 1st Ave downtown and MLK Jr Way in Madison Valley with stops across First Hill and Capitol Hill along the way. But it may seem barely worth the years of construction to get there.
Changes along Melrose
The $4.3 million Melrose Promenade overhaul is complete and a nearby example of SDOT’s work to make areas safer for all modes of transport falling short of the mark. The project added a new protected bike lane between E Pine and Denny, reconfigured street parking on the west side of Melrose, added new crosswalks on Pike and Pine, installed new curb ramps, and made sidewalk repairs while also updating Melrose at Pike and Pine’s decorated community crosswalks.
But the ultimate project drifted from the community vision shaped a decade ago and a key raised crosswalk installed in front of the bustling Starbucks Roastery needs to be redone. SDOT announced it will give in and add safety bollards plus some strategically installed bike racks to keep drivers from illegally parking, the Urbanist reports.
Where Melrose meets the new Pike and Pine one-way change is also a concern for the new project, Central Seattle Greenways says, expressing worries about the bike lane transition at Melrose and Pike. Gyncild said the signal timing may delay individuals and cause them to take unnecessary risks to get across the street.
“We are afraid that people who are coming down the street will just continue going straight head-on into people who are coming up the street,” Gyncild said.
Meanwhile, other concerns are about the most dangerous element in any transportation plan — drivers.
Katie Tuohy, assistant manager at Victrola Coffee Roasters, said she is worried about frustrated drivers misusing the reconfigured roadway.
“Some customers have expressed concern that the change will encourage traffic in the bike lane so the customers that bike here, at least a couple of them, are concerned about that,” Tuohy said.
With Pike work underway, Pine between 1st and Bellevue is scheduled to become one-way westbound for vehicles sometime in early 2024 with work across the entirety of the project hoped to be completed before the fall.
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So many wringing hands for one city.
If you do a search on “Blur St, Toronto” check out the Toronto Sun’s follow up on the outcome of the bike lanes. They found that the pro-bike advocates didn’t ask questions that provided a full accounting of the outcome.
Businesses were negatively impacted and the vacancy rate climbed. Now there is failed move to gentrify the area to bring in new businesses
Not that any of this has mattered to the developers who want to build out properties that they can sell for a premium.
Biking is awesome, but it takes some serious privilege to believe that it is a lifestyle that open to a significant minority, let alone the majority.
Or, as expressed in other forums, this another bros in spandex point of view by the Urbanist.
I support lanes where needed. But frustrated when the spandex bike bros are riding in the middle of the road (or sidewalk!!!) instead of the concrete barrier protected bike lane.
Ok, I googled “Toronto Sun Bloor Street” (corrected your misspelling), and the two recent articles that came up were one with people complaining about car traffic that they blamed on bike lanes (even though cars create car traffic, not bike lanes), and one article about people angrily dismantling red light cameras. No mention of business vacancy, but a lot of complaining that there weren’t enough bike users, even though the bike lane project isn’t complete yet.
It’s also worth mentioning the Toronto Sun’s rightward leanings on and Toronto’s recent mayoral election where a Tory candidate (Mark Saunders) proposed ripping out existing bike lanes to “ease congestion,” including on Bloor St. Saunders came in third (8.5% of the vote), but the anti-bike, pro-car minority continues to loudly complain.
Bravo! Thank you for being so civil and adding to the balance. The DD in your name must stand for Decent & Discerning.
Bros in spandex aren’t the ones who need protected bike lanes; those are the guys who get out in traffic and practice “vehicular cycling” whether there are bike lanes or not. Building more bike infrastructure opens bicycling up to more people who can treat it as a healthy and economical mode of transportation, once they can stop worrying about being hit by cars. My wife, for example, has been commuting to work by bike for several months now, after discovering that there is a protected route.
Yes
Exactly this. I wear two hats – one as a “cyclist” who doesn’t mind taking the full lane (as allowed in Seattle) on a road bike, and the other as an “everyday rider” who carries grocery items, my daughter, or both, on an e-cargo bike. When I’m the latter, I’d much rarther ride in a protected bike lane. My wife, OTOH, is mostly the latter. She says she’s much more comfortable riding where there are protected bike lanes.
Bloor St in Toronto is probably the most extensively studied bike lane in the world. The evidence overwhelmingly points to the bike lanes having neutral to positive impacts on businesses, along with a major increase in the number of cyclists and both real and perceived safety.
“Following the bike lane installation some of the key study findings were:
https://www.tcat.ca/resources/bloor-street-economic-impact-studies/
Thanks for posting! I hope this study gets some eye-time within the Capitol Hill businesses. Last time I attended a neighborhood planning meeting on intermittent street closures multiple local businesses were opposed to any limiting of car access due to perceived negative impacts on sales. It’s worth noting that this perception might not backed by data
With these conversations there’s always someone very thoughtfully providing reliable research, data, of the benefits to safe and dedicated bike/ped/bus infrastructure including benefits to businesses, people of all ages who live, work and recreate in the areas, etc. etc.; versus the car enthusiast who blames urbanists, “bike-advocates” and/or ‘spandex bros’ for [gentrification/increased business vacancies/being developer shills/hating disabled people/etc/etc].
Anyways, thanks for the actual research!
I have totally lost faith in SDOT to do anything right. They are by far the most dysfunctional city department.
Example #1: The Madison Rapid Ride. Millions of dollars spent, extended disruption of multiple streets during construction, frustrated drivers and pedestrians….and, for what? A few less minutes of transit time along the route. What a debacle!
It’s called the Madison RapidRide project, but it’s actually a massive replacement of utility infrastructure under Madison and some side streets. So, the blame for disruption goes to the transit project, but the high expense and extended disruption is due to other factors.
I mean I hate SDOT too, but as DD15 points out, it was a larger project that used the RapidRade opportunity to do a lot of additional needed infrastructure work, and isn’t even completed yet! There are thousands of people moving to the area every year, and this is like the one project actually being done to provide a dedicated and rapid public transit option to them. Given how packed buses are during the “rush hours” these days, it’s sorely sorely needed.
Whenever I hear people complaining about parking in the most dense and transit connected neighborhood in this state I just get a loud ringing in my ears and want to scream. Break out of your car-brained thinking and try to realize how much better our neighborhood could be with less emphasis on space hogging cars and more emphasis on people.
Yes!! People who want “easy parking” should get their hair cut at a strip mall in Lynnwood. The rest of us want to live in a dense, walkable neighborhood that isn’t completely taken over by cars.
I once got killed by a white male bicycle that zoomed through a red light on its way to CHOP. After it hit me, it yelled “housing is a human right” and spat in my face. The bike lanes should be removed and replaced with 3 new driving lanes–and no more buses to clog up traffic.