posted 04/22/09 01:52 PM | updated 04/22/09 01:59 PM
Views: 1865 | Comments : 14 | News, etc.

Pike and Pine street improvements to include new bike lanes, sidewalk, bus bulbs

By jseattle
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Though their fixation on the 'bus bulb' part of the project kind of misses the point, Slog does remind that Pike and Pine below Broadway are getting a series of pedestrian-friendly improvements in coming weeks.

Here is the roster of improvements planned by the city on Pike and Pine streets between 8th Ave and Broadway:

  • Installation of signal-related improvements
  • Installation of “bus bulbs” (mid-block curb bulbs) to improve passenger loading and unloading, and the speed of transit service along the corridor
  • Construction of curb bulbs to narrow crossing distances for pedestrians
  • Installation of updated curb/wheel chair ramps to meet City and ADA standards
  • Construction of a new sidewalk along the north side of Pine Street (on the bridge structure over Interstate 5) between
  • Terry Avenue and Minor Avenue that provides a much needed pedestrian walkway
    Installation of continuous, well-marked bicycle facilities

The city's before and after images are a little subtle -- in the overpass rendering, look for the addition of the sidewalk on the left side of the after image. In the bus bulb image, you can see a modest outcrop of sidewalk at the crosswalk.

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Bus bulbs
Bad idea or terrible idea? So from what it looks like on the summit to belmont picture, it looks like it'll make vehicular traffic unable to pass buses and the buses will block the bike lane. Sounds pretty dangerous to me.
Comment by Brant P
April 22, 2009
RE: Bus bulbs
if there's no traffic coming from the other direction you can pass, if not, you can wait or take another street. besides what's dangerous about having to come to a full stop behind a vehicle that's stopped in front of you? if someone were crossing pine at summit vehicular traffic would need to stop for them and one of those vehicles could be a bus in front of you; is that dangerous? should we ban pedestrians from crossing the street to prevent this dangerous situation from happening?

and sorry, users of the bike lane? you are considered vehicular traffic which means you stop like every other vehicle.
Comment by zeebleoop
April 22, 2009
RE: Bus bulbs
My favorite diagram of who should get priority in a transportation system based on space allocation efficiency:
http://imaginativeamerica.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/ima
1. Tossup between bus and peds
2. Bicyclists
3. Cars
Comment by Wes Kirkman
April 23, 2009
phew
I'm glad you added the little blurb at the end indicating what to look for in the two pictures. For a while I felt like I was playing that video picture match game; my brain was straining to find the differences!
Comment by Karen
April 22, 2009
Curb Bulbs
great to hear about the curb bulbs, pike and pine definitely need them. It looks to me like that second before/ after picture is actually of curb bulbs rather than bus bulbs, since they're at the intersection and have crosswalks coming out of them. Bus bulbs would be in the middle of a block instead of at an intersection.
Comment by cheesecake
April 22, 2009
RE: Curb Bulbs
Look halfway up the block on both sides, the bus bulbs are there...only less than a quarter inch at this scale.

BrantP: Call me a social engineer, but they are a great idea. Ever been on that 10 that is crammed full at this exact stop sitting there waiting for a break in traffic? Utterly insane for a transportation system to work against the vehicle full of 50+ folks while working for a half dozen folks all alone in their own vehicle.
Comment by Wes Kirkman
April 22, 2009
RE: Curb Bulbs
yeah I see the bulbs... i still think they're curb bulbs though not bus bulbs. If they were bus bulbs they wouldn't have crosswalks coming out of them.
Comment by cheesecake
April 23, 2009
RE: Curb Bulbs
I agree with cheesecake -- those are curb bulbs, not bus bulbs. Either way, I fully support both.
Comment by wave
April 23, 2009
Bus Bulbs
Good idea. You can wait to pass. It is safer.
Comment by Mike
April 22, 2009
RE: Bus Bulbs
You have to wait, it's the law.
Comment by AJ
April 23, 2009
RE: Bus Bulbs
University Way NE has had bus bulbs since the Ave reconstruction five years ago. They do speed up the buses and make the sidewalks more friendly-looking. The Ave project also eliminated half the bus stops; not sure if that's planned here. So there used to be stops on 41st, 42nd, 43rd, 45th, 47th, and 50th. Now they're on 41st, 43rd, 45th, and 50th. I'm not sure how the bus bulbs affect motorists since I don't drive, but I'd guess it improved circulation slightly. The bus bulbs did displace some parking spaces.
Comment by Mike Orr
April 23, 2009
Pine Street
So much to be done to make Pine a more livable and loving street. Best would be no cars from First to 15th, but certainly restricted auto use from I-5 to 12th from about 6:00 AM to 7:00 PM along with the proposed bus and ped bulbs, wider bike lanes, lots of trees, benches, tables, maybe even a brook downhill from Broadway to the dog run above I-5 as was proposed on Vine St in Belltown several years ago. etc . Pine could and should be a model of what our post-autocentric streets could be.
Comment by Mad Park
April 23, 2009
Greening
Who can I pester to encourage the addition of some planters to the Pine sidewalks over I-5? No amount of new pavement or concrete is going to make that a pleasant walk.
Comment by gerwitz
May 04, 2009
yes!
I second the planter idea, looking at those photos and walking across it feels so barren there and very unpleasant. Pine and/or pike should be a pleasant view-y connection between downtown and CH. Instead they are miserable and dangerous. I am very happy these improvements are being made as more and more people cram into CH..more bike racks are needs on these streets as well. These are relatively inexpensive things that can be done...I'll sadly sacrifice olive and Denny as car-based zones--they will most likely always be, but the other two can be excellent.
Comment by matt davis
May 06, 2009