Overview of Transportation in Greenwood Rob Fellows GCC President

Overview How we got here? Walking, Biking, Crossing, Busing, The legacy of streetcar suburbs Where are the sidewalks? Walking, Biking, Crossing, Busing, and Driving… And How can neighbors make a difference?

Quick, obvious observations When you’re in someone else’s neighborhood, transportation is about getting somewhere you need to go When they’re in your neighborhood, transportation is about the effect they’re having on your life Streets are more than conveyance; they are also where community happens

A Streetcar Suburb South of 85th St., we have a legacy of streets built for walking To streetcars To shopping We are lucky to have businesses to walk to If everywhere was so lucky, Americans would drive about half as much as they do

Sidewalks North of 85th, sidewalks, drainage, streets all need help According to a 2010 P-I article: Before the great recession, annexations were coupled with local improvement districts taxing homeowners for infrastructure During the recession, homeowners couldn’t pay those bonds and city was on the hook for payments When the North Seattle annexation occurred in the 1950’s, Seattle balked at new LIDs and bonds Adding sidewalks now would cost a lot more. Still …

Complete Streets Policy When major projects funded, the project manager fills out a “complete streets checklist” of all project elements needed Greenwood transit project triggered sidewalk improvements as well as upgraded bus stops New sidewalks on east side Designed by unfunded on west side Not triggered for Greenwood Ave. in Broadview or Aurora repaving projects

Other approaches to funding sidewalks New development funds sidewalks on their property Grants can fund one block at a time Incorporated into bond measures LIDs are still possible, but require a vote of affected property owners Property owners can fund sidewalks on their block Seattle could reduce costs to property owners by financing, contracting, funding drainage components

Issues for Walking Sidewalk condition Tree Canopy Waze and cut-through traffic Long waits to cross 85th Bike riding on sidewalks Blockages

Biking Seattle’s Bike Master Plan changes how streets work Cycle track on Greenwood Neighborhood greenways on 83rd (to Green Lake) 90th (to new schools) 100th (to Link station) Fremont Ave Less significant greenways on many other streets

Biking Greenwood cycle track Fremont greenway Will it work through business districts? How are Roosevelt neighbors feeling about theirs? Is it necessary to have a greenway and cycle track one block apart? Fremont greenway Could it connect better to Interurban Trail to Lynnwood? Has there been enough done to divert through traffic? Could it run behind the zoo and connect with Fremont Ave. to downtown?

Biking Issues 1st Ave NW Nobody knew it was coming (not that anyone was upset) Who is target user? Is it safe for 8 year-olds through the main entrance to Fred Meyer and Bartells? How will kids interact with cars in narrow sections? Why not make sidewalk improvements too? Could we concentrate in a few places for better results? Do people know how they’re supposed to act when they see bicycle markings, or why they’re there?

Bus Riding Buses are getting more full Buses are getting slower and less reliable More riders means more delay and variability Unless in a bus lane (and sometimes not then either,) buses are subject to traffic delay Seattle has raised local funding for transit service, but it’s not enough

Bus Riding Greenwood has direct bus connections to downtown, Shoreline Community College, Green Lake and University Ballard, Northgate and Fremont require transfers that are not always convenient Running Route 40 through Greenwood would connect all three Link won’t change much for Greenwood when complete Requires a feeder bus across town to Roosevelt or into Ballard

Crossing Accidents happen at crossings Especially important component of Safe Routes to Schools New schools on 90th and Meridian opened last Fall SDOT and the School District pointed fingers at each other Community members raised a ruckus Some crossings improved, others still need improvement Stairways also connect neighborhoods A stairway here would provide access to Greenwood Ave and transit

Crossing Crossing Greenwood Avenue is becoming more challenging between 80th and 85th where a new park is coming between N 81st and N 82nd streets. People want to cross at 81st for the Library, and Seattle installed a crosswalk at 84th Need to cross through queued traffic at 80th and 85th Drivers can’t see people crossing behind the queue Pedestrians can’t see fast-moving traffic in the turn lane 82nd would serve the park, while 83rd is on the proposed greenway and serves the Post Office

Driving Aurora has become a barrier for east-west trips Backs up for several cycles, even weekends Equally true for transit Overall our radius of accessibility is shrinking Safety means slower, and multimodal means less capacity Parking in Fremont and Ballard are more challenging Poor signal maintenance reduces efficiency Bad turn detection, old timing plans Interesting changes to reduce cut-through traffic On 90th at Dayton and Linden What will unintended consequences be?

Driving There’s not much evidence cars are going away 1/3 of Seattleites work outside of Seattle Shopping trips Soccer games Visiting across town Out late at night with friends Getting out of town How will we accommodate cars? How will driverless cars affect neighborhoods? Climate change can’t wait Electric vehicles will arrive long before land use changes sufficient to make a dent

How to be involved Get involved in the Community Council! Be our transportation chair Represent us at Greenways meetings and other groups Monitor transportation issues and update the web page Organize meetings on a transportation topic Propose GCC communications and actions Join the local Greenways group or other transportation advocacy groups Write your elected leaders Let us know how we can help