Cascade ←→ Uptown Neighborhood Bicycle Network Recommendations

The Seattle Bicycle Master Plan (BMP) did a good job designating all ages and abilities north-south routes in the Cascade, South Lake Union and Uptown neighborhoods. These routes are protected bike lanes on 9th Ave N, Dexter Ave N, 5th Ave N, and the couplet of 1st Ave N and Queen Anne Ave N.

Unfortunately, the BMP only designated one all ages and abilities friendly east-west route - a neighborhood greenway on Thomas Street. Thomas Street goes directly through the Seattle Center’s Space Needle tourist area, and is not an appropriate location to put the primary east-west bike route for several thriving employment centers with dense commercial and residential development. But without the Thomas Street greenway or other designated bicycle street, there is no usable east-west all ages and abilities route for people who bike.

In July 2015, Seattle Neighborhood Greenways brought together a group of stakeholders to scout and recommend better east-west connections between the Cascade and Uptown neighborhoods for families and people of all ages and abilities to navigate the fastest growing part of Seattle by bike. The scouting ride had representatives from the Seattle Bicycle Advisory Board, the Seattle Department of Transportation, the Seattle Department of Planning and Development, Seattle Parks, Seattle Parks Foundation, the Lake to Bay Loop Coalition, Seattle Bike Blog, Queen Anne Greenways, Cascade Bicycle Club, Lake Union Greenways, Central Seattle Greenways, and the Seattle City Council.

People on the scouting ride proposed a number of east-west all ages and abilities routes based on observations and discussions during the ride. Their collective recommendations may rectify the BMP deficient east-west connections through Seattle’s geographic, economic, and artistic center.

   

We identified the streets in the map below as the most promising key east-west connections. These proposed connections are described in the pages that follow.

When combined with the North-South routes already in the Seattle Bicycle Master Plan, we believe the scouting ride recommendations would create a connected, usable network of family-friendly streets in Cascade, South Lake Union, and Uptown - shown below. Only portions of the proposed BMP lines were included in the map below to illustrate the core network. Some of our additional recommendations are also omitted to avoid visual clutter, but described in the following pages. The map can be viewed at: http://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/cascade-to-uptown-bike-ride_42762#14/47.6206/-122.3430

Top Four Recommendations

#1 Roll Out the Green Carpet: The Mercer Street Underpass is an excellent and important all ages and abilities route across Aurora. Extend the “green carpet” east, west, and south in order to connect South Lake Union, Uptown, and Seattle Center. Considerable space can be found for these protected bike lanes by simply narrowing lanes to 10’, which is rapidly becoming the world-wide safe streets best practice.

#2 Lake to Bay - Broad Street must be all ages and abilities

Sharrows on Broad Street are not an acceptable level of safety or comfort for this major redesign proposed by the Lake to Bay Planning effort. While confident adults may feel comfortable taking the lane on bicycles in traffic, the majority of people do not. One-way protected bike lanes on each side of the street would make the Broad Street connection safe for people of all ages and abilities. Of highest importance is the segment between 5th Ave N and 1st Ave N.  

#3 Upgrade the Thomas Green Street to neighborhood greenway standards.

Thomas Street between Eastlake Ave E and 5th Ave N could be a world-class east-west bike route once the Aurora overpass is built. Importantly, Thomas Street will not have on-ramps to highway 99, unlike Harrison Street. Participants felt the existing Thomas Street Green Street Designation needed to also be officially designated as a neighborhood greenway to accommodate people biking and to slow and discourage vehicle through traffic. If Thomas Street cannot be improved as a greenway because of  vehicular volumes or speeds, then a protected bike lane should be constructed.

The streetcar tracks between Westlake Ave N and Terry Ave N were flagged as a potential hazard. One potential solution would be to prohibit car access to Thomas Street where the streetcar runs to allow people biking to navigate the tracks slowly without the fear of collision with a vehicle.

#4 Build a Greenway from the Thomas St Overpass to the Seattle Center.

How to get from the waterfront to Seattle Center by bike? The best route scouted between the beautiful Thomas Street Overpass and Seattle Center’s August Wilson Way is a zig-zag route mapped below. Heading northeast, the route goes from W Harrison St to 2nd Ave W, 2nd Ave W to Republican St, then Republican St into the Seattle Center.  This route is a prime candidate for neighborhood greenway construction, perhaps combined with an SDOT Neighborhood Slow Zone (see other recommendations below).

Seven Additional Supporting Recommendations

#5 Upgrade Roy Street bike lane: Change the buffering of the bike lanes on Roy to provide a safer and more comfortable experience. The protected bike lane should be continued to Queen Anne Ave instead of ending at 1st Ave N. Provide family-friendly connections to the Mercer Street protected bike lane (green carpet).

 

#6 Connect slowly through the Seattle Center: When the Memorial Stadium site is repurposed the Seattle Center Plans to make a multiuse path on August Wilson Way (Republican St) through to 5th Avenue. This path is intended for slower people on bikes, and is not meant to be a major fast commuting route.

A stub trail from August Wilson Way to Mercer St on 2nd Ave N is also recommended to provide connectivity. Alternatively, Warren Ave could be designated as a neighborhood greenway (not shown), but this would necessitate a further extension of the Mercer Street protected bike lane. 

The scouting group felt a potential interim route through Seattle Center could be marked, that followed the north side of Harrison St west of 5th Ave, turning right on the east side of the covered walkway and then left along August Wilson Way to Republican (not shown).

#7 Terry Transformation: Create a car-free zone between Thomas St and Harrison St on Terry Ave N. Optimally, Terry Ave N would be car-free between Denny and Mercer, allowing the streetcar to have clear access to one lane, with the rest of the street dedicated to people walking and biking. Some sort of crossing at Denny would help Terry Ave N better integrate into the Denny Triangle neighborhood. Discussions are already in the works about designating this segment of Terry Ave N a Festival Street.

#8 Harrison Hill Climb and/or bike lane:  Previous Seattle Bicycle Advisory Boards have advocated for bike lanes on Harrison St in South Lake Union. Harrison bike lanes would give people who want to bike fast a place to do so without interfering with the calm atmosphere desired on Thomas Street. Numerous driveways and potential bus lines make negotiating through Harris St complex and more difficult to install a protected bike lane.  Our scouting ride noted that Harrison St also has an easier grade than Thomas, and a less busy connection to the popular Eastlake Ave commuter bike lanes than Thomas St. The most valuable segment to make safer would be the significantly easier hill climb between Terry Ave N and Boren Ave N. Even if a bike lane the full length of our recommendation cannot be installed, simply calming traffic on this small segment would provide considerable value (volumes east of Westlake Ave N are fairly low).  

#9 Connect the Emerald Mile to the Seattle Center: The proposed Emerald Mile that begins at Denny and 5th Ave N (not shown) could be connected to the 5th Ave protected bike lane, the Thomas Street neighborhood greenway, and the Broad Street protected bike lane by either continuing the lane on 5th Ave N or building a short protected bike lane on Taylor Ave N.  

#10 Slow Zone: People on the scouting ride saw the potential for an SDOT Slow Zone in Uptown between 3rd Ave W, W Mercer St, Queen Anne Ave N, and Western Ave W. Slow Zone designation would allow engineered 20 mph speeds and allow people walking, biking, and living in the neighborhood a more pleasant experience.

#11 Rightsize 7th Ave N: Aurora will be rechristened 7th Ave N when the highway 99 north-portal opens. 7th

Ave N will still be a vastly oversized street for its urban context. Slimming it down to city standards and installing diverters at Thomas St to maintain greenway-level traffic volumes will help reintegrate this “new” street into the neighborhood and make it easier to cross.

These recommendations are endorsed by:

The Seattle Bicycle Advisory Board (see SBAB memo entitled Re: Cascade-Uptown Neighborhood,

dated October 9, 2015)

Brie Gyncild, Central Seattle Greenways

Catherine Hennings, Cascade Bicycle Club

Cathy Tuttle, Seattle Neighborhood Greenways

Gordon Padelford, Seattle Neighborhood Greenways

Mark Ostrow, Queen Anne Greenways

Michael Herschensohn, Queen Anne Greenways

Robin Randels, Cascade Bicycle Club

Schaun Valdovinos, Queen Anne Greenways