Seattle Department of Transportation says that the work to create Olive Way ‘pedestrian improvements’ will cause some traffic issues this weekend:
Seattle Department of Transportation paving crews plan to work on Saturday, March 6 on East Olive Way between Boylston Avenue East and Harvard Avenue East, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. A traffic flagger will assist vehicles and pedestrians around the construction area. The crews will construct a small traffic circle and two curb ramps as part of the mitigation work for the Sound Transit tunnel.
SDOT tells us ‘No Park’ signs were set out Thursday and some prep work is happening today.
We reported this week on changes to bus routes 43 and 8 that are related to these improvements and a general overhaul of pedestrian and transit traffic in the area as the Sound Transit light rail construction picks up pace. We’ll follow up with Metro on progress toward improving the situation around the long stretch of bus-stop-less routes across Broadway. Thanks to neighbor Scott for providing this infographic-enhance picture of an Olive Way bus stop sign being removed.
We also got more information about improvements being made a block over on Denny Way at Boylston. According to SDOT, Sound Transit covered the cost of installing a ‘curb bulb’ at the frequently used crossing.
The curb bulb at E Denny Way and Boylston St is a-go. It is funded by Sound Transit and being designed and constructed by SDOT. The curb bulb project was temporarily on-hold due to some questions about the feasibility of constructing the curb bulb at Denny/Boylston and the median crossing island at Olive/Boylston within our budget, but they have been resolved and we are now able to move forward with both projects.
What’s a curb bulb? Check the CHS comments.
So now the cars will park against the new curb, sticking further out in the road making the turn that much more dificult.
I really commend SDOT for tackling this problem. I’m really happy with these changes. There are so many popular bars in the area and people walking around in diminished states of alertness. Given the hill/corner combo of the street you just don’t have good visibility as a pedestrian and that always makes crossing there risky (and there is just no where else to cross). I’ll use it a couple times a day.
ERF, cars won’t be able to park against the new curb bulb, that’s the point (they won’t block the crosswalk). And the side effect of making a turn more “difficult” for cars is that it forces them to slow down, which is also the point. Curb bulbs force drivers to take a tighter (slower) turn, thus improving the pedestrian experience. All this in addition to shortening the crossing distance for peds….all good stuff! Can’t wait, thanks SDOT and ST!
It seems that a number of “urban planners” with the city must have failed the class about having accessible bus stops. It is almost 6 blocks between the summit bus stop and the 11th bus stop. I have yet to figure out the reason for eliminating those stops. It is inconvenient, as well as unnecessary.
I appreciate this project! Boylston is a reasonable ped/bike route but the crossings of Olive and Denny are tricky… slowing the downhill cars will help.
I have started riding on Boylston because of the 5-year closure of Denny between 10th and Broadway. That block of Denny seemed the best way to get across Broadway while avoiding car traffic.
it’s two blocks from the summit bus zones to the former boylston bus zones. it’s two blocks from the former boylston zones to broadway. it’s two blocks from broadway to the bus zones at john and 11th. we’re a walking neighborhood anyway – good for metro for closing the boylston zones to improve the pedestrian crosswalk. the bus zone at broadway was closed because of the sound transit construction – if it’s a hardship or too inconvenient to walk from 11th then demand of the city and sound transit to keep the sidewalk and bus zone open at broadway
I’m happy this is finally happening…a year or two of emails and a SeeClickFix complaint later, and we got some pedestrian improvements. PS Thanks to CHS for putting up that SeeClickFix feature. It took a few weeks to get a response, but it’s still the fastest I’ve ever gotten a response back for pedestrian improvements.
An SDOT crew was out this morning at around 10. They were just marking the intersection, but at least it’s a start. For anyone not familiar with the intersection, three factors make it dangerous – the curve, incline, and width. The curb bulb will address the width problem by reducing it, forcing drivers to slow down.