Complete a 45th Street Bikeway Before Light Rail

The Move Seattle Levy requires SDOT to make pedestrian and bicycle improvements to the 45th Corridor from Wallingford to the U District Light Rail Station before it opens in 2021. We have a simple proposal to at least get a connection within that short timeframe.

• At 8th Ave NE, add a crosswalk and half-signal traffic light (learn more).

• Across Bridge: 8th to 5th Ave NE

  • Westbound: remove unnecessary vehicular lane and add a protected bike lane.

  • Eastbound: add “shared lane markings” in the outside eastbound vehicular travel lane across bridge from 5th to 8th Ave, and add 2’ buffer along southside sidewalk.

• West of Bridge: 5th to Latona Ave NE

  • Westbound: remove unnecessary westbound vehicular travel lane and add westbound protected bike lane.

  • Eastbound: multiple potential options for eastbound bikeway (click on illustrations below).

This proposal should have minimal costs. It should also have little to no impact on vehicular travel as the outside westbound lane is vastly underutilized as it merges back into one westbound lane at Latona Ave NE.

Diagrams of Proposed Channelization

Channelization Across Bridge

Here’s what the cross section would look like across the bridge, looking west.

Here’s what the channelization could look like across the bridge, before and after.

Channelization on Either Side of Bridge

Below are illustrations of potential channelizations that extend the bikeways across the bridge to the west (Latona Ave NE) and east (8th Ave NE).

For the eastbound bikeway from 4th to 5th Ave NE, design alternatives could include: (1) a standard bike lane along the southern curb with a bike/walk-only traffic signal phase at 5th Ave NE; (2) a bike lane that crosses to the left of the right turn lane for vehicles; or (3) shared lane markings (i.e., sharrows). Similar considerations may be necessary for the westbound bikeway from 8th to 7th Ave NE.

Connections into the U District & Wallingford

The bikeway across the bridge would connect to the light rail station via a new neighborhood greenway on NE 43rd Street. SDOT is already designing this project.

Eventually, the bridge would connect to a wider network of east-west and north-south bikeways on either side of I-5.