Traffic is increasing in Montlake. We experience gridlock and cut-through traffic routinely. The SR 520 project is adding pressure on the neighborhood at a rate unplanned for by SDOT and WSDOT. Various projects need to happen in order to mitigate the effect.
The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) has funded some of these efforts through Vision Zero Project. Additionally, Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) has given SDOT $250,000 for traffic calming work outlined in the Neighborhood Traffic Management Plan.
A few of the changes will be done before the next Phase of SR 520 begins in late 2018/early 2019. The Montlake Community Club has requested additional projects, however, at this time SDOT is unable to fund them.
This is a report of projects completed, underway or under discussion. We will also address the 23rd Avenue East Vision Zero project and the SR520 project in future articles.
| Identified Projects | Status | Funding Source |
| 3-way stop at 19th Avenue & Lynn | Complete except for trees and landscaping to come this fall | SDOT Safe Routes to School (part of Vision Zero Project) |
| Interlaken Park Path and Stairway Replacement | Construction started in July. This project includes stairs, a guardrail, and a bike runnel. | Seattle Metropolitan Park District Funds and SDOT Details here. |
| All way stop at intersection of Lynn/23rd/22nd Avenue | Based on neighborhood feedback the change will not be installed. In anticipation of installation, guidelines were spray painted on the street. These will fade with time.
|
SDOT |
| Lane changes – 23rd/24th Ave E between E John St and E Boyer |  Summer/Fall 2018 |
SDOT 23rd Avenue East Vision Zero Project |
| Crosswalk alignment at Lake Washington Blvd. and Boyer Avenue | Summer 2018 | Arboretum Trail Project – SR 520 Mitigation Project |
| Curb Extension – Lake Washington Blvd. at Miller Street | Completed | WSDOT 520 mitigation |
| Pedestrian Traffic Signaled Crossing at 24th Avenue East and Lynn Street | Preliminary design work has begun. SDOT will work on restricting left-turns on 24th Avenue. Work scheduled for late 2019. | SDOT 23rd Avenue East Vision Zero Project |
| Speed Bumps – 25th and 26th Avenue East between Boyer Avenue E. and E. Lynn | Completed | WSDOT SR 520 mitigation |
| Montlake Blvd. East at E. Shelby Street Sidewalk widening | Underway | SDOT |
| Potential Projects | Status | Funding Source |
| 5-way Stop: Boyer/Lynn/Delmar/16th | Improvement under discussion | SDOT- funds yet to be identified |
| Enhanced Crosswalk at Delmar and Interlaken | Improvement under discussion | SDOT- funds yet to be identified |
| Added speed humps along Lynn from 24th to 26th | Discussions with SDOT | Unknown |
| Traffic calming measure at 20th and E. Lynn | Discussions with SDOT | Unknown |
| Added Tunnel under Lake Washington Blvd. from 26th to the Land Bridge | Discussions with SDOT and WSDOT | Unknown |
| Roanoke Greenway from 20th to Lake Washington Blvd. | SDOT – Early Planning Stages | TBD (Greenways) |
| Pedestrian crossing at Roanoke and Lake Washington Blvd. | Discussed with SDOT/WSDOT. Potential NTMP Project – SDOT/WSDOT | Unknown (WSDOT SR 520 Mitigation?) |
| Other Suggested Projects | Status | Funding Source |
| Traffic calming measures along McGraw from Boyer to 18th | Discussed with SDOT | Unknown |
| Speed Humps along Lynn, McGraw, Calhoun and Miller from 23rd to 19th | Discussed with SDOT – Potential NTMP Project SDOT/WSDOT | Unknown (WSDOT SR 520 Mitigation?) |
Regarding public transportation, the 23rd Avenue Corridor is one of seven planned RapidRide lines in the City. The RapidRide Expansion Program is a partnership between the City of Seattle and Metro Transit to deliver convenient, high-quality public transportation options. It was originally scheduled for opening in 2024, but currently, no funding exists for this project. It is hard to understand the lack of funding when the #25 was discontinued and service of the #43 has been drastically reduced. Even with Light Rail, our community is underserved with transit options.
It is critical that all Montlake residents influence these projects. Please continue to put pressure on SDOT and ask them to fund all of the requested projects (email SDOT). When emailing SDOT please put “Montlake Traffic Calming Measures” in the subject line. You are encouraged to use the City of Seattle “Find IT, FIX IT” app (www.seattle.gov/customer-service-bureau/find-it-fix-it-mobile-app) to post any request you think should be addressed. That includes the items listed above. WSDOT, SDOT and the City of Seattle need to hear from each of us if we expect anything to be done.
If you want to learn more or get involved, reach out to the MCC, join the transportation committee, or attend one of our monthly meetings. Meetings take place at the Boyer Children’s clinic on the second Tuesday of each month (September-June) at 7:00 pm. We have made great progress, but it requires continued community involvement.
Thank you to everyone who has advocated for our marvelous, historic and lovely neighborhood.
glennfleishman says
I’m in love with the three-way stop at Lynn and 19th. We live a block away and the number of people we have almost seen killed in the McGraw crosswalk (kids and adults alike) by cars zooming at 40+ from the north, or whipping around the corner from the south is uncountable. (I’ve never seen anyone actually struck, thank goodness.)
However, I’m hoping the landscaping and rework on the east side of 19th near Lynn fixed the huge sidewalk puddle problem. It’s a small lake whenever it rains much, and it’s been that way for years. I’m unclear on which responsibility lies with the homeowners and which with the city, and have reported it to the city every year or so for several years with no response. It looks like they did some reconstruction work, as well as pulled out the parking strip there, so perhaps it will be fixed. But it would be a shame if they did all that and the lake returns.
JO says
SDOT has acknowledged the lack of Community outreach with the 23rd/22nd and Lynn intersection project. The Neighborhood almost unanimously rejected the original SDOT design. I suggested to SDOT not to kill the project but rather that they should re-engineer the design to match the Neighborhood concerns. Personally, I agree with the idea of installing a stop sign at the top of the hill at Lynn and 23rd as you head westbound. This would bring this intersection closer to the Greenways specifications. I like the idea the idea of speed humps along Lynn. I would suggest they be installed from 26th all the way to 19th. And if you look at it, the existing stripping makes some sense.
In order to be successful in changing the design, the immediate neighbors would need to come together to create a design that works for everyone. The neighborhood will need to forward the proposed design to SDOT (Montlake.Traffic@Seattle.gov) and to Dawn Schellenberg, (Dawn.Schellenberg@seattle.gov). No promises but it is worth a shot.
SC says
Neighborhood didn’t want stop signs at Lynn/23rd??!! Thats crazy. That has always been the scariest pedestrian intersection along 24th (people speed up and over the hill both east/west directions).
I don’t think we need 4 way stop, just stop signs on Lynn.
Stephanie says
Appreciate all the work on this, already the things that have been done are making our quality of life better. I will be sending those emails!
M Davis says
Narrowing 23rd/24th to 1 lane in each direction will make the back up from 520 much worse. More people will be cutting through the side streets. Fewer lanes with the same amount of overwhelming traffic solves absolutely nothing. This project should be scrapped.
glennfleishman says
Little tricky to see in the illustration, but if you click through, you’ll see they’re changing it only in part to 2 lanes heading north (towards 520) and 1 south plus a turning lane (which reduces a lot of dangerous turning). That’s only for part of the road. The rest remains 4 lanes (2 each direction).
It’s an extremely dangerous road, as noted by all the collisions (click through for that information, too), and this will likely have little impact on throughput, as it will maintain two lanes north for the entire road, but the turning lane will help in the section marked, plus non-skid pavement they’re installing.