SDOT’s Green Lake & Wallingford
Paving & Multimodal Improvements Project

In 2020 and 2021, the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) is repaving East Green Lake Drive/Way, 80th Street, 50th Street, and 40th Street (see project webpage). The project includes elements to improve conditions for transit, bicycling, and walking.

The Good ASPECTS

Improvements will include:

  • New protected bike lanes on Green Lake Drives/Ways and Stone Way from Aurora Avenue to N 45th Street. Around Green Lake Park, a two-way protected bike lane will run adjacent to the park. In the other segments, the protected bike lanes will be one-ways on either side of the street.

  • Speed limit reduction of 30 to 25 mph along Green Lake Park.

  • New bus bulbs and bus stops along East Green Lake Drive.

  • New traffic signals at the intersections of:

    • Green Lake Drive N, West Green Lake Drive, and East Green Lake Drive (near Duke's Chowder).

    • East Green Lake Way N, West Green Lake Way N, and Green Lake Way N (adjacent to the Pitch & Putt).

Thanks to our advocacy, SDOT significantly improved its designs of the intersections at: Aurora Ave N & Green Lake Dr N; Green Lake Dr/Way and Ravenna Blvd near the Starbucks and Greg’s Cycles; and at the East & West Green Lake Way neat the Pitch & Putt. We were also able to preserve a median cut-through for bicyclists to get from East Green Lake Way to Meridian Ave, maintaining easy access to the Tangletown business district from Green Lake Park.

Missed Opportunities

Unfortunately, the project will not include two key bikeways that are prioritized by the Bicycle Master Plan.

  • Protected bike lanes on 50th Street from Fremont Ave to Stone Way & Green Lake Way.

  • Bike lanes on 40th Street to create a connection from the U District into Wallingford.

In addition, the City missed opportunities to:

  • Create a protected signal phase for north/south-bound bicyclists at the intersection of Green Lake Way.

  • Build a trail-like bikeway through the Lower Woodland Park parking lot.

  • Create a two-way protected bikeway circumnavigating Green Lake Park.

  • Install raingardens along Green Lake Park to manage stormwater on the road and the park’s running path.

  • Add bike lanes on the 50th Street Bridge over I-5.

  • Implement 20 mph zones on the streets along the schools and parks in the project area, and install traffic cameras to enforce the speed zones. Schools include Interlake Child Care, Seattle Waldorf School, Daniel Bagley Elementary School, La Escuelita Bilingual School, John Stanford International School. Parks include Green Lake Park, Woodland Park, Meridian Playground, University Playground, and the Olmstead Median of Ravenna Boulevard.

more about our advocacy on this project

Learn more about some of our initial proposals and advocacy in our Urbanist article and our blog post.