By Joe Veyera
The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) will host an open house next Thursday on building a north-south neighborhood greenway in Ballard from Salmon Bay to Soundview Playfield.
The open house rungs from 6 to 7:30 p.m., with a presentation at 6:30 p.m. in the Ballard High School Commons Room.
After gathering input from a public meeting in March, SDOT has recommended a greenway along 17th Avenue Northwest from Northwest 90th Street to Russell Avenue Northwest and along Northwest Dock Place between Russell Avenue Northwest and Ballard Avenue Northwest.
“Recommendations include traffic calming and access and crossing improvements at major streets; as well as stop signs facing east and west on residential streets, wayfinding signs, sharrows, reduced speed limit signs from 25 MPH to 20 MPH and pavement and sidewalk repairs,” wrote Dawn Schellenberg, Community Engagement Liaison, Traffic Management for SDOT in an email.
The greenway would not be a car-free zone, would not add bike lanes, and would have minimal if any on-street parking impacts. As part of the greenway, SDOT is also looking at a safety improvement at the intersection of 17th Avenue Northwest and Northwest 57th Street. A safety island at the northeast corner is designed to reduce cut through traffic while improving post office drop-box access. But while 17th Avenue Northwest will continue as a two-way street, northbound traffic would be directed to turn either left or right at Northwest 57th Street.
For more information on the neighborhood greenways project, which is funded by the Bridging the Gap Levy, click here.
That sucks for the people that live between 57th and 58th on 17th.
@Anon, I think it would be great for those folks and everyone north of there. Fewer cars driving by.
@DrewJ Now the people that live off of 17th, north of 57th get to make a dangerous left turn across 15th. Put stop signs, chicanes, speed bumps that work, anything to slow cars or discourage cars that are using 17th as a cut through, but don’t block the usage of a road. Severing a part of a grid system is never a good idea.