Create AAA Bikeway with Route 44 Corridor Project

Funded by the Move Seattle Levy, SDOT’s Route 44 Transit-Plus Multimodal Corridor Project aims to improve the reliability and speed of the King County Metro Route 44 bus between Ballard and the U District. These improvements will include new bus lanes, bus bulbs, and bus prioritization at traffic lights, and are expected to be constructed by 2024.

Currently SDOT plans to make no pedestrian or bicycle improvements across the 45th Street Bridge as part of the Route 44 Project. We find this unacceptable.

After making the simple improvements to provide a bikeway connection to the light rail station opening in 2021, SDOT should conduct a more comprehensive traffic study and design process to build an “all ages and abilities” bikeway across the bridge.

Not only should SDOT take this two-step approach, it must. The Move Seattle Levy Ordinance specifically requires SDOT to design and implement pedestrian and bicycle improvements in the 45th Street Corridor from Wallingford to the U District Station prior to it opening. The Route 44 Project will not be complete by then. SDOT must, at a minimum, implement some improvement across the bridge prior to the light rail station opening.

The Complete Streets Ordinance requires all transportation projects to improve conditions for pedestrians and bicyclists, and the Move Seattle Levy also requires that any transit corridor project (e.g., Route 44 Project) to meet the city’s goals to eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries and improve access to schools. Given the number of traffic collisions on 45th Street and the proximity of the John Stanford International School, it’s critical that the Route 44 Project include a bikeway across the bridge to connect Wallingford to the U District.

Given the simplicity of the first improvements, these initial changes will not impact the ability to install more significant changes later.

We do not know what will be the best design. Planning, engineering, and community engagement are needed first.

But we do believe there are many workable possibilities. Here are a few.