Reopening W Green Lake Way N

Since our post a couple weeks back, there’s been a lot of activity around the closed W Green Lake Way N issue. I was about to post a lengthy update including the city’s response to our blog post, the mayor’s interest in “connecting the parks” through a permanent road closure, and Councilmember’s Strauss’ consistent advocacy for reopening the road immediately with a plan to create a two-way protected bike lane.

Instead I’m pleased to share with you the following update from the Seattle Department of Transportation/Keep Moving Streets team about the plan to reopen the road this fall. 

Thanks to all neighbors who shared their voice on this issue (the petition received over 4,800+ signatures). I hope that there will be more opportunity to share the community voice as plans for the reopening and road adjustments are finalized.

July 28, 2021

You’re receiving this email because you’ve reached out to our team to share support or concerns about the Green Lake Keep Moving Street on W Green Lake Way N, or have expressed interest in nearby City projects.

The Green Lake Keep Moving Street helped us get through a global pandemic by creating more space for people to walk, roll, and bike. It also provided an opportunity to reimagine how W Green Lake Way N could support human powered transportation and reknit a divide between Woodland and Green Lake parks.

Based on community feedback, Vision Zero safety goals, and desire to provide more travel options, we’re pleased to share that early design shows we have enough street width to accommodate both a 2-way walking and biking path and 2-way vehicle traffic at reduced speeds. We plan to make this change early this fall.

Creating a more seamless connection between two major parks 

Beyond returning vehicle traffic lanes to W Green Lake Way N, we’d like to explore creative solutions for making the street less of a divider between Woodland and Green Lake parks. We have a rare opportunity to build on the Keep Moving Street and reimagine how W Green Lake Way N can serve multiple functions.

We’ll seek community input on how to improve connections between the parks by keeping speeds calm and including possible solutions like more crosswalks, additional walking improvements, decreasing the speed limit to 20 MPH, and temporary changes in street operations to encourage community use and celebrations.

Schedule 

In February, we opened the street to one-way traffic and created a path for people to walk and bike on the northern half. This configuration caused confusion and some people drove on the path. So, prior to reopening W Green Lake Way N, we’ll finalize a design that includes 2-way vehicle lanes, reduces confusion, and ensures safety. Once the design is complete, we can grind out the current street markings, shift the posts, and install signs.

We anticipate completing work early this fall. We’re aware of increasing calls from some neighbors to reopen the street to vehicle traffic as COVID restrictions are lifted and activities such as sports, boating events, and summer camps return to the parks and will look for opportunities to accelerate the schedule if possible. We’ll also work with Seattle Parks and Recreation on how we might increase access to parking lots.

Studying a full outer Green Lake biking and walking loop  

As we work on the final design for this near-term change, we’ll begin talking to neighbors about how we might expand a walking and biking path connecting around the lake, building off the recently completed Green Lake and Wallingford Multimodal Paving Project.

We’ve heard a lot from the community who are interested in creating a full outer loop for people to walk and bike around the lake, including repurposing the eastern-most lane of Aurora Ave N adjacent to the lake. We will be gathering feedback and sharing concepts with WSDOT (Washington State Department of Transportation), our partners in the corridor. Simultaneously, we’ll support Seattle Parks & Recreation in gathering feedback on reopening the inner loop of Green Lake Park to biking and other wheeled uses.

To stay informed and engage with us, join our project email list (check the box for Green Lake Keep Moving Street) and share this information widely with your neighbors.

Thank you,
Keep Moving Streets team

Email: [email protected]
Web: www.seattle.gov/stayhealthystreets