SDOT has released updated design work for the Beacon Hill bike lane project, which includes two options for 15th Ave S as well as different options for handling bus stops.
As Ryan Packer reported for the Urbanist last month, the project team has also confirmed that construction is now scheduled to begin in spring 2024, a year later than initially scheduled. The project timeline calls for another five months of planning followed by about nine months of design. Since it is usually best to avoid construction during rainy winter months, that puts the start of construction at spring 2024.
Many safe streets advocates, including Seattle Bike Blog, expressed frustration with this delay. We wrote that Mayor Bruce Harrell and SDOT Director Greg Spotts should “push the department to treat the project with the urgency it deserves.” The latest update from SDOT seems to acknowledge these frustrations, saying, “Our project timeline recently shifted to being in construction later than planned. We’re looking at ways to reduce the overall timeline and get these improvements implemented sooner.”
Regardless of how the project got delayed, the team has clearly been working through the design. This is not a simple project. They spent much of the early community planning work looking at route options between the Jose Rizal Bridge and Beacon Ave S before settling on 15th Ave S. Since then, they have developed two major alternatives for 15th: One-way bike lanes on each side of the street or a two-way bike lane on the east side of the street. Both options would be separated from general traffic lanes using concrete barriers. You can see an overview of the options below or look at the full map in these PDFs: Alternative 1 and Alternative 2.
